Monday, August 12, 2019
(On what playing Philadelphia means to him) “It’ll mean a lot to see those guys pregame and catch up with a lot of those guys. They’re family to me, always will be. So, it’ll be good to see a lot of their faces and talk to them, see how they’re doing. I know they’re grinding through camp as well, so it’ll be good to catch up with a lot of them.”
(On if it surprised him to see so many Eagles fans with his jersey in Baltimore) “That’s just sort of how it is. They travel everywhere, they’ll all over the place and when we were in Baltimore, there was a lot of my old Eagles jerseys in the stands and a lot of signs. It’s very humbling. I’ve said that’s an emotional place to me, but it was cool to see that we were able when I was there to impact a community, and that’s why ultimately being here our goal is to grow together as a team and then continue to energize the community. And ultimately that’s how we handle ourselves on and off the field and how we handle ourselves on game day, so that’s what we’re working towards here in Jacksonville.”
(On if he’s chomping at the bit to see game action) “Everyday we come out here and we’re going to do what coach says. There’s a method behind the madness, so we trust that. But you’ve all seen practice, we’re competing every single play. We’re pushing through, we’re grinding through, we’re playing at game speed, we’re talking through it and we’re working to get better. So, we’re getting those game reps out here. Obviously, it’s not in a stadium, it’s not under the lights and that is a different animal in itself, but we’re getting a lot of work and when we do take the field, when coach decides that, we’ll be ready to roll. There’s always some butterflies when you get back out there and play, doesn’t matter what game you’re playing in, but I know our guys are working hard right now.”
(On if he would be disappointed if he didn’t play in a snap this preseason) “I’m going to leave all of those things up to coach. All I’m going to do is handle what I can control and that’s coming out here and competing with my teammates, working hard, studying the film, working in meetings and walkthroughs and whatever he decides I’ll go with.”
(On the team’s reaction to Cam Robinson rejoining the team today after being taken off of the Physically Unable to Perform List) “Everyone was super excited to see him in pads. He’s a big man, he’s a powerful man and just to have him healthy, have him on the field—I know he was excited, I know he’s been working his butt off rehabbing to get back out here. So, just to get him healthy, get him acclimated, it’ll be exciting to have him in the huddle.”
(On how well he feels the team is connecting on the deep balls) “We’ve been able to hit some deep balls, we’ve missed a few as well. But we’re getting there, we’re improving, we’re working on things. We’re seeing a lot of different coverages from our defense that dictates a lot of different things, but our guys are making some really good plays and we’ll keep improving on it.”
(On the challenges of getting into a rhythm with the tight ends) “Sometimes part of football is injuries and it’s unfortunate. You’ve got guys coming in and out, but the guys that have come in, we have three new tight ends and they’re doing a nice job stepping up in a really difficult situation when most of the playbook is in for training camp. That’s not easy, but they’re doing a nice job.”
(On what the culture of this team is and on why discovering it was important) “Just the opportunity to come here and go into a locker room with a team that obviously has been building in the last couple years, a couple years ago made it to the AFC Championship and obviously last year wasn’t what they were wanting. Going through that builds character and allows you to go because it’s not easy, so I was intrigued to come here and continue to help build the culture. It’s more than one player, so it takes a bunch of different pieces of the puzzle, and ultimately it takes starting the season and playing games. But it intrigued me to have an opportunity to come to a place and help impact a culture.”
(On the growth he’s seen from DJ Chark Jr.) “DJ’s been tremendous. He’s come out here, he works his butt off every day and he’s an extremely talented receiver. I’m excited about what he’s been doing, how he works, how he runs his routes, the explosiveness he has when he’s catching and he’s just a great teammate, a great guy to have in the huddle. It’s been a joy to work with him.”
(On how much of Jaguars Offensive Coordinator John DeFilippo’s offense is new to him) “There’s probably like 50 percent of it I was familiar with and the other 50 [percent] I’ve acclimated to and feel really comfortable with. I feel really comfortable running it right now. We’re still in training camp mode where you’re installing everything and now as we get going, we’ll fine tune it to get ready for the season. And obviously we have three preseason games to go, so we still have some time to acclimate and get ready, but we’ll figure out our identity as a team and ultimately that sometimes starts during the season as you go.”
(On if he’s ever been in a camp with so many players out with injury) “I can’t say I have. I know it’s part of training camp and ultimately if you ask guys about training camp usually they can’t remember training camp because it’s a blur. But we have quite a few guys that are a little banged up right now that I know are working hard to get back and I’ll be excited when they’re back.”
(On why he changed his shoes) “My shoes are the same, just a different color. Switched them out halfway through practice just to make sure these things last as long as possible.”
(On if it feels like he’s been here for longer than four or five months) “It’s amazing with everything that’s gone on, it’s a concentrated four or five months. There’s a lot of things that have happened, but ultimately, I have really enjoyed living here, being here, going into the locker room and getting to know the guys. It takes time, but I’m really enjoying it and just grinding through training camp. This is the part where we just have to keep pushing, keep loving on each other and keep competing. That’s what we have to focus on. You could tell today it was hot and we were really competing. I was getting excited, trying to take a couple shots down field, just letting our guys make plays. But it’s been a crazy several months, but looking forward to what’s ahead.”
