QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDENSDAY, APRIL 19, 2023
(On if he broke a score of 90 in golf this offseason) “I did last offseason, but not since then. I’ve been
trying to play more though. We’ve got a big golf outing this weekend with some of the guys now that
everybody is back in town. It’s going to be fun. I think we’re playing two or three rounds and do a little
competition, so it will be good.”
(On how not having to learn a new offense helps him and the offense get ahead) “There’s some comfort
in knowing that I already know the system and our guys, our core group of guys already know it. You’ve
got Calvin (WR Calvin Ridley) and some guys up front and some new running backs and all that that need
to get up to speed, but that’ll happen, and we have so much time to do it. I think it was nice this
offseason being able to focus a little bit more just on the physical side of training and getting my body
right, especially after a long year with some lingering maybe injuries, little stuff from the season. I had a
chance to take a little break that helped some of that heal up and really just work on my body, and
obviously, prepping, and there’s things, you watch tape and you figure out some of the weaknesses
from last year individually, as an offense, some of the strengths, so you kind of figure out the stuff that
you want to work on. I was able to focus more on that than I’ve got a whole new system I have to learn,
and I don’t really have to start from scratch. It’s nice having that comfort that I know the system, and
that’s not an obstacle I’m going to have to really face this year, but now it’s just how do we take that
next step for myself and for the offense.”
(On what he watched the most over the offseason) “It’s a lot of cut-ups just of our season, organized by
concept, whatever that is. We have different names for different groupings of stuff we do, so it’s looking
at all that, every play we ran in certain families and seeing what were we good at, what did we struggle
with. Obviously there’s things we did really well that we kept coming back to throughout the season,
then things that maybe we tried to do a few times that we weren’t great at, or even just for myself,
what were my consistent misses on certain throws, was it mechanical, just a miss, was it because of
pressure? Just all those things you look at and talk to the coaches and kind of see where we are on the
same page with those kind of things, and a lot of them lined up, and that’s kind of what we’ve been
talking about in our meetings the last few days how we start the offseason. What do we want to work
on? Obviously, you start from the ground up, especially because you do have new guys that have to
learn the system, but you can move a little faster because the majority of us already know it.”
(On what it’s been like getting to know and work with WR Calvin Ridley so far) “He’s been awesome.
He’s hungry. He’s excited to be here. He’s got the right attitude. I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve
noticed, then on the field, he’s a freak, just the way he runs routes, how explosive he is. He has great
hands, seems like he’s picking stuff up. Obviously, we just started, but it seems like he’s picking it up
pretty quickly. He has the experience, he’s played for a few years, so he’s used to having some new
systems, and some stuff carries over through offenses. He’s been great. I’m just excited to have him be
part of our room. It seems like he’s really gelling with the guys great. It’s not the hardest group to gel with. Christian (WR Christian Kirk) and Zay (WR Zay Jones), all those guys are awesome. I think they treat
guys well, and they’ve brought him in. it’s going really well. He seems super hungry and ready to go.”
(On if it is easier to loop someone into the offense when most of the guys around him already know it)
“Yeah, for sure. Obviously it’s easier for me because I don’t have, one, I’m not trying to learn it myself
because I already know our system, but then I’m also not trying to communicate that with ten different
guys. It’s really just a few guys that are new that you’re trying to explain, whether it’s footwork or how
we run certain routes or kind of what we’re thinking, and I can say, “Hey, we’re running this route,
watch Zay (WR Zay Jones), watch Christian (WR Christian Kirk), that’s how we’re running it, and they can
kind of tell you all your splits and all that stuff.” They can help him just as much as I can, so it’s nice
having that support, too, from those guys along with C.J. (QB C.J. Beathard) and those guys, too. Having
all that makes it a lot easier to get guys up to speed, and it happens just that much faster.”
(On working out with TE Evan Engram and working inside and outside of the Jaguars facilities) “It’s been
great. We threw a few weeks ago. He looks great, he’s in great shape. Obviously, it’s good to see him.
We have a really good relationship, and I’ve been staying in touch with him. He’s doing great. I know
he’s taking care of business on his end, and he’s doing a great job, and you can tell he’s going to be
ready when the time comes. Obviously, in my position, I don’t have any control in that, and it’s just
something they’ve got to work out, and I’m just here ready for whatever that day is he comes back. With
a guy like that, you guys have all seen it, his work ethic, and our coaches and staff feel the same way.
You don’t worry about him. He’s taking care of business, and he’s going to be ready. It’s not something
you worry about, obviously, it’s a guy you want around just because he’s great for the locker room, and
he’s a great player. We know that’s going to come.”
(On QB Jalen Hurts’ contract) “That’s a big one. I think that’s awesome for guys to be rewarded for their
play, and not even just their play, but just, I don’t know Jalen super well, but it seems like his character is
great, and he seems like a great leader. I think it’s always awesome to see guys get rewarded for that
and for a team to obviously believe in him that much and kind of go all in on him, so it’s cool to see
obviously a big number, which is good for the future of guys playing that position, so I think it’s really
cool.”
(On how much more comfortable and assertive he is with suggesting plays now that he is in his third
year) “I think that’s another step to take this year, now it’s my second year, finally my second year in the
same system, so we have that experience of having a full season, and got to that toward the end of the
season, we got to where we did that a lot, I did that, made some checks, made some changes,
recommended things, so that relationship with the coaches has grown a lot to where I’m comfortable
doing that. It’s so early in OTA’s that’s not really where we’re at right now. We’re still kind of just laying
the groundwork, like general information and getting on the same page with the new guys, then we’re
going to start installing soon. We’re not quite there yet, but I think that’s going to be something that
takes off way sooner this year because we have so many guys that have been in the system, including
myself. You can start day one or whenever you start going against the defense, if it’s not a look, if it’s a
look I don’t like for that play, you can just change it because the guys know it. Being able to start there
instead of like last year, you have a play, it’s not a good look from the defense, but we’re still learning
the system, we’re not checking anything, then you go in film like, this is not really what you want, but
here are some things we could do, now we can kind of start there. I think that’s where we should see the progression this year, which will put us even further ahead once we hit training camp then August
and September.”
(On how higher expectations this season impact the offseason and upcoming months) “I think we can’t
really focus on the expectations. Obviously, you’re doing something right when the expectations raise
for your team. That’s just a by-product of the success we had last year, but still, last year didn’t end the
way we wanted it to. Obviously, it was a good year for our team, for this city, for this organization, but
there’s more out there, and I think we’ve set a new standard of who we’re going to be, the team we’re
going to be. We’ve got to start that way this year. That’s the mindset I think. We don’t really think about
those expectations much because all we can do is try to keep getting better, and we know, for us, that’s
the floor. I guess the only expectations we think of that are for ourselves, but I just don’t think it’s good
to pay attention to that stuff. We know what we’re capable of, and we’ve added more talent, and the
sky is the limit for us, but we’ve got to get better every week, and we’ve got to focus on what is right in
front of us. You can’t talk about winning the Super Bowl right now. You’ve got to look at getting better
this week and keep stacking those for four or five months, and when the season comes, that’s how you
put yourself in the best situation to be your best every week and just keep getting better.”
(On if there was much football-related communication during the offseason) “I was around right after
the season and we met and talked, I guess kind of broad vision of the season. Obviously, none of us,
myself or the staff, hadn’t really looked through the tape at that point but just talked about the season
and everything and we took some time apart. I think that’s healthy. We’d been with each other for
seven months straight, here every day almost all day, so we took some time, took a few weeks, then
once I started getting back in town, started working out again, I’d come by once a week, and we’d sit
down and talk. There’s been a lot of things that me and Mike (Quarterbacks Coach Mike McCoy) and
Press (Offensive Coordinator Press Taylor) and Doug (Head Coach Doug Pederson) have all talked about.
Philosophy things we’ve looked at, like how do we want to change, what were we really good at? We’ve
had those conversations, I wouldn’t say as much of, “Oh, this is a play I just thought of,” but it’s more
like something we might have ran once last year that I liked that was kind of a game plan, weekly play,
but let’s kind of make that more of what we do. There were some definitely conversations like that.”
(On what it can add now that he and OL Luke Fortner have had a season together and built a
relationship) “I think it can add a ton. Obviously at this point last year, he wasn’t here, and when he got
here, him and Shat (OL Tyler Shatley) were kind of going back and forth with reps, then I guess at the
end of training camp at some point he kind of took over that starting role, but he’s still, as smart as he is,
he’s still a rookie, he’s still trying to learn everything, and you can only go so fast, especially at that
position, you can’t try to do too much, so I think there was times where he just had to keep it simple so
he could play his best. Then seeing the growth throughout the season of just stuff that he sees. There
was one example of one game where he’s calling out “Cover Zero” before I even saw it, so then I’m that
much faster, and I make my check. That doesn’t really happen much with guys up front. They’re not
usually seeing all that and taking in all that information. He’s got all the ability in the world as far as
processing, so now to see him take that next step, and he already knows everything, and he can direct
traffic, and he’s playing with three or four other guys that have been here, so I think that group is so
important to have chemistry, and they’ve built that chemistry throughout the season and played really
well, and that’s obviously really nice to be able to start there instead of having to rebuild that all over
again.”
(On if he has done anything differently this offseason compared to previous offseasons) “It’s definitely
changed. Like I said, it’s not about necessarily getting in the playbook and learning everything, it’s about
looking at last season’s tape and what we did. Last year I would look at, really briefly, the 2021 season
just to see some mechanical stuff that maybe I didn’t do well or some areas that I can improve on, but
that’s not going to be my offense, so I’m watching the tape, and the plays don’t matter because that’s
not going to be our terminology, we’re not going to run those plays, a lot of our guys are changing. I
wouldn’t say, the tape wasn’t useless, but to some degree, it was hard to use that to plan for this
season, but now we have a full library of whatever, 19 games from last year that we can use and see this
is our offense. This is who we became throughout the year. A lot of the guys are the same. Obviously,
you want to evolve and get better, but you can look at stuff that, ‘Hey, what can we do better?’ We have
Calvin (WR Calvin Ridley); how’s that going to change our offense? What’s stuff we could do with him?
Me and Press (Offensive Coordinator Press Taylor) talking about Calvin’s tape and what he’s done in the
past and what’s he been good at. There’s just so much stuff that you can do, and you start at a different
level when it’s not a new system.”
(On how it mentally helps going into a season without as many questions and distractions) “I think it’s
really cool. And not even that, Obviously that’s part of it, but I think just having the relationship that we
have and going through what we did last year and going through a full season with these guys. It’s just a
really tight group, and we have these great relationships. I think my first year, obviously, then going into
my second year, you kind of have to rebuild a lot of those because a lot of guys, some carry over, but a
lot of those guys aren’t there anymore, and you have new faces coming in. That’s always going to be the
case but to be able to limit it like we did, not a ton of new guys, I think it’s helped us a lot, and like I said,
we can just start way ahead of where we were. There’s things I can talk about with Christian (WR
Christian Kirk) and Zay (WR Zay Jones) and Luke (OL Luke Fortner) and Brandon (OL Brandon Scherff) or
Tyler Shatley or whoever it is that maybe I couldn’t have a year or two years ago because we’ve now
played together for two years or a year for some of those guys. You just start at a different place
relationship-wise.”
(On if he ever feels compelled to give information about players who are entering this year’s draft class
and if the staff ever asks him about players) “It depends. I’ve had conversations, even with our coaches
about guys that I’ve played with in the past at Clemson that are coming out or maybe guys that I’ve
played against but moreso played with and what I think about them. If it’s someone that we could
maybe be interested in, whether that’s early or later in the draft or if he’s still available, whatever the
case is, I think it’s more about character and stuff like that because obviously the tape is the tape. If they
don’t think a guy is good enough, it kind of ends there, but if they do think he’s a good player and have
some interest, then I can speak on, alright I played with this guy for two years or a year or whatever,
maybe three years, then I can attest. Even one of them like K.J. Henry is a guy I lived with. That’s just an
example. I haven’t talked about him necessarily with our staff, but that’s just a guy, I literally lived with
him for a year and a half my freshman and half my sophomore year, so if they were to ask me, I kind of
know the person he is and stuff like that, so that’s just an example.”
(On if he ever jokes with GM Trent Baalke about draft suggestions) “That’s never a bad thing. We’ve got
some picks this year, so we’ll see where we land. We crushed it last year, and a lot of the guys played
really well, and really the last two years, so we’re doing something right. Just to try to keep doing that
and adding to this locker room. I think the biggest thing that I said is the character piece. You’ve got to
have guys that think the same, and I think they’ve done a great job of bringing in guys like that, and I think that’s why we had the success we had last year as much as the talent, more so the mindset and just
the culture we’re building.”
LINEBACKER FOYESADE OLUOKUN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023
(On how the offseason went) “What did I do? I saw some of my friends, kept up with my Yale
connections, saw my family, my brother, my parents, I went back to Saint Louis just to chill out there and
get a good and calm headspace. Then eventually, I started working out a little bit here lightly, then I went
to Denver to really start moving again. That’s kind of my routine. I saw some of my friends on the
weekends if I felt I needed to see some people. I just stuck to my routine, always about being better than
I was last year going forward in my career.”
(On what he learned last year to improve on in the offseason) “First, it’s going to be understanding our
scheme and how people attack our scheme. I think when you play more years in a scheme, you can
understand where people are going to be sitting down exactly or down-and-distance. Where I should be
looking at, what plays I didn’t make last year. We’ve already started looking at them and I’m over here
kicking myself. Taking time off and coming back to it, you’re coming back to it as a student, and you want
to be able to apply what you learned going into next year so I can play faster and make more plays for
this team.”
(On WR Calvin Ridley brings to this team) “First, he’s a good dude. Very respectful dude, I heard him
talking about that, but he respects the game for sure. He’s going to come in and he puts that work in.
Even with all the talent he has, he’s a hard worker. He came in and even during OTA’s he looked ready to
go. I talked to some people running routes with him and they say he looked ready to go. I’m very excited
for him and I hope he gets all the success he needs here because I definitely believe in all of his talent
and ability. Obviously, he’s going to be a weapon for us on offense. Whenever he gets the ball, you know
he can make a big play out of it. I’m excited to see what the offense does with him.”
(On what his shirt means that he was wearing, saying ‘Think Takeaways’) “This shirt man, this is what the
defense believes in right here. We were down and out. Then, we started talking about thinking
takeaways. Coach Bob Sutton [Senior Defense Assistant Bob Sutton] said if you want to become an
effective defense in the league, you’ve got to take the ball away. So, we all came back after OTA’s, and
this was in all of our lockers – think takeaways. Me personally, I want more takeaways. Elevate my game,
elevate this defense, and we got to be thinking it at all times. You go to sleep thinking it, you wake up
thinking it, it’s going to happen for you. We’re going to get more takeaways, I think we were top ten, top
five in the league, maybe number four, we just went over it. Takeaways man, get the ball in your hands
and good things happen.”
(On what gives the defense confidence to improve after last season) “It’s really understanding the
scheme, understanding my teammates next to me, and we can all communicate together. I’ve been in
the league a long time, it’s not what I’m seeing or what I’m anticipating. It’s bouncing ideas off of each
other before the play, seeing what we’re seeing during the play, like this guy is coming under, expect this
guy coming over, you know what I’m saying? Kind of the experience we all have of playing together and
within the same scheme being able to play faster, play one step ahead of what we were last year because I definitely want to improve on what I did last year as a defense and what we did last year. We
got to make more things happen.”
(On how big of a transition a player can make from year one to year two) “A big jump, just because you
understand where you’re supposed to be on every play. You’re going to watch all of this film, all these
cut ups of plays you might have messed up on technically. Now, you’re going to see the same formation
next year, so now it’s like, ‘Alright, I know I’m going to be here. I remember from last year they ran these
kind of plays out of this formation.’ Just being one step ahead of the game now. Making sure you’re
retaining information, learning from your mistakes, and just kind of applying that to be a better second
year player. That’s how it goes.”
(On the offseason being a good time to build stronger relationships) “Gelling process, culture, keep the
culture up. Obviously, we need to enjoy it, we definitely have fun out there, but everybody is working.
We don’t take the workouts lightly, I’ll put it that way. We have a lot of fun out there, guys jawing back
and forth at each other. Making sure we’re keeping the comradery up, but we’re definitely lifting our
weights. If you need to get a little extra as this OTA period goes on, seeing what you feel like you need to
improve on, working that into your workout as well.”
(On if culture can carry over with the same group of teammates) “All I know, Atlanta went to a Super
Bowl two years before I got there. I’m pretty sure the brotherhood and stuff when I first got there was
very similar, but we weren’t winning. I just want to make sure we’re keeping up with the same standard
that we always tried to preach about in Atlanta when I was first there. That same standard that we had
going into the end of last year and how we approached things, how we make no excuses about things.
The same thing has to come to anybody new coming to the team, anybody who is on the team last year.
Remember what got us there and even improve on that. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, we got it now. We surprised
some people then.’ But they’re going to be ready for us. We got to have that same standard of improving
on it to make a leap from last year. Definitely preaching that.”
(On what can be improved on defense from last year) “We just got to finish. We got to finish plays, finish
tackles, tackle better. Better communication pre-snap, just trusting your brother on their assignment. A
lot of that was a new scheme, a lot of times we were going into weeks with new variations of plays. Now
that we have the same plays from last year and maybe tweak some stuff up, we understand where we’re
supposed to be, and we can disguise better. Now, we can kind of tilt this safety down or bring this safety
on a blitz because week-in and week-out if we run the same plays, they’ll know how we line up to it.
Now, if we get some more comfortability if that’s the word, some more suaveness and stuff in our call,
we can kind of play with it a little bit. Try to disguise it and make our play at the end of the day while not
having a tell for ourselves.”
(On if this upcoming season is a run-it-back situation) “Be better. I hope we do better than last year. Run
it back, we got the same guys, but we know we’ve got steps to take. I don’t think we can have success
with how we played last year. I think we have to be better than last year. I’m going to keep preaching that
to the guys. We’re definitely a young, malleable team, but we can be molded to any way we start going.
We’re got to make sure we’re going in the right direction. We can’t just line it up how we were last year,
we have to be better. We’re going to have that attitude the whole offseason.”
(On challenge of coming in last year as a free agent versus now) “I’m kind of a naturally shy guy, when I
get comfortable around people that’s when I can, I don’t want to say exert myself, but I’m comfortable
with people, people are comfortable with me. Lead by example at first, make sure I take care of how people view me, and then I can start leading them. A whole bunch of young guys, too, on top of that. I
had to start talking a little bit earlier. Now, I’ve gotten more comfortable with young guys and trusting
those young guys. They’re taking accountability with themselves to get better and understand the
defense. The sky is the limit for us, as long as we stay on the same page. We can stay comfortable with
each other, keep working on our connections, that way on the field, it’s the same way. It seems seamless
like we’re best friends out there and playing for each other.”
WIDE RECEIVER CALVIN RIDLEY
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023
(On thoughts of working out with QB Trevor Lawrence so far) “I’ve been here for about five weeks. I’ve
been here in the sun and running around, trying to learn the city and everything. Getting with Trevor,
that’s been great. I feel like we’re two good players and we got a bunch of great teammates that are
weapons to use. I think we’re going to be pretty good; we got to keep gelling, keep getting better, get all
that stuff out of the way. But yeah, looking pretty decent right now.”
(On receiving comments after his article in The Players Tribune) “Honestly, when I did that, I really did
that for myself. I did that just to let some people know what was going on because when I was on that
year suspension, I’d come outside sometimes and talk to certain people I wanted to talk to, friends. I
would just listen, I would be like, ‘Oh, that’s what you think and that’s what you’re thinking.’ For me,
personally, it was more of a way to get it out and say, ‘Alright y’all, I love football.’ I just had it hard at
that point, I was in my fourth season, and I didn’t want it to be that hard. I’m a great player who works
and needs an off-season in order to be great, most of us do. That’s kind of what I was saying. I was just
like, ‘I work hard. I was hurt. I’m not soft at all, at all.’ I was in a tough situation, a lot of people I
would’ve wished to see how you would’ve handled it. That’s all I was saying.”
(On struggles of his one-year suspension and writing his letter to The Players Tribune) “The thing that
made me more mad than anything was that I did it already. I was injured and played great. I kind of put
myself in that position where it was like, ‘Alright, why can’t you do it again?’ It was a little too much
right now. When you get to a certain point in your career, you got to look at yourself as a business at the
same time. I’m going to sacrifice for a while, I’m coming to you as a man and letting you know
something I don’t want to let you know. Let’s work this out. I’m going to be here forever, whatever you
want to do, I’m willing to sacrifice for whatever is important to me.”
(On having a clear mind after the past year) “Of course, I feel like I’ve always had a clear mind, but I was
injured. Once I got over that, everything went back to normal.”
(On confidence of performance after two years off) “Man, if I’m being real and being honest, I’ve been
good at football my whole life. I’m trying to be humble, like I said, I’ve been pretty good at football all
my life. I’ve not only been good, but I’ve worked to be good. They say two years off, but what about the
healing process that I got with the time off? What if I got faster? What if I got stronger? Obviously, I got
wiser, so why can’t I be better? I kind of look at it like that. Obviously, two years off, I have the leg
tightness. I got to go through all the crap. I see myself being a good player, I do.”
(On if he feels he got faster and stronger) “I do. With a broken foot, you’re going to lose a step. So, when
the foot got right and I started working out, I was like, ‘Okay. I’m definitely faster in that situation.’ I was
good, I had a broken foot, and I was still decent. When it started to feel good and be normal again, I was
like, I’m running fast!”
(On time taken to feel like he was ready to go) “I can’t lie, it took a while. I took the whole suspension. I
didn’t apply for an appeal; I didn’t do anything of that. I used the whole suspension to get myself, in
every category, back to Calvin Ridley. Once I felt like I was Calvin Ridley, I couldn’t go to the field and
show y’all I was Calvin Ridley. I just had to wait on Twitter looking at my team, the Jaguars, and I’m just
waiting for me to get back in that process. I’m in OTA’s, I got so much time to get myself better. That’s
the best part of this, I’m at the workouts, I’m with the quarterback, I’m learning, it’s just amazing.”
(On being out on the field with QB Trevor Lawrence) “It’s been great. Like I said, I’m not trying to get
into it too deep, but I love my quarterback right now. I love my teammates and the other wide receivers
I’m playing with. I think we can be something really serious as long as we take those steps to be a really
good team with a good core. I think we could do some big things.”
(On process of getting 1,400 yards) “When I put that in [the Players Tribune article], I know what I can
do. What I meant by that, is this: I am a 1,400-yard type of player. Guys are going to determine what
type of stats I am going to have. Football is not just – football is serious. You don’t just play 17 games
straight and think you’re going to be in every one of them and playing healthy in all of them. What I’m
saying is that I am a 1,400-yard receiver with a broken foot. That’s what I’m saying. I know that I can
make the plays and I know that I’m one of the better receivers in this league, that’s what I’m saying.”
(On if being traded surprised him) “No.”
(On if being traded to the Jaguars was surprising) “No.”
(On friendship with LB Foyesade Oluokun) “Of course. Definitely friends with Foye, we came to Atlanta
together. We were drafted there. Foye went to Yale, I obviously went to Alabama, so I was already like,
‘Nah, he’s got to show me.’ He showed me the first day and he’s been showing everybody ever since.
He’s one of the smartest guys that I’ve been around, fast, big, physical. Just a dog.”
(On impression of Head Coach Doug Pederson) “He’s just very cool, very happy, he believes. He believes
in everyone. He believes in me. He makes me feel like, ‘Alright, I could be here, I could play great here.’ I
got a great person who believes in me, and I believe in myself. He just makes me feel comfortable, I get
that from everybody else. Everybody just thinks he’s comfortable, smooth, just like us. That’s always
great.”
(On perspective of watching Jaguars while suspended) “People look at my situation like, alright. I looked
at it different. Y’all didn’t see me. I was healing, feeling, going to my workouts, feeling great. I can’t wait
until Sunday when the Jags play. That’s really all I had to look forward to. I wasn’t watching the other
teams. I was waiting for the Jags to play, and I was just putting myself in situations. I watched every play
maybe 10-12 times over and over, every play they ever did here last season. I was trying to just put
myself in those situations like, ‘They d— good. S—.’ I know who I am, I can help them. I really mean that,
I know I can move the ball around and what we have in that room, we should be able to move the ball,
as long as we get better.”
(On what the team was missing last season and what he can contribute) “Yeah, one of the biggest things
when I was watching was noticed they’re good, but maybe starting off a little slow. Getting a little
behind and then making a big comeback. What if you started off so amazing in the beginning and
finished off like that? Like wow, what a team could be. I was thinking that I know the player I am and the systems I’ve been in, I’m one of those players that they try to get the ball to, sometimes, on the first play
of the game. I’m always pretty much ready to crank it open, get it open, and I feel like I could help start
that energy and start moving the ball right away as soon as the game pops off.”
(On perception of Jaguars when he first heard he was being traded vs. the end of the season) “Trevor
Lawrence. It was Trevor Lawrence, because I didn’t know anyone. All I knew was that he could throw.
I’m watching it and I’m watching it, and then I like the core, the receiver core. Evan Engram [TE Evan
Engram], Etienne [RB Travis Etienne Jr.], I think Calvin Ridley added to that, Zay Jones [WR Zay Jones],
obviously we got way more to that. I was looking at that and thinking that I could be good there and that
could be a home for me.”
(On thoughts of Jacksonville as a city so far) “Oh man, I’ve made my way around a little bit. My face is
surprisingly well-known around here. I stopped at a couple of car washes, hanging out with dudes.
Letting them know who I am, seeing a bunch of kids. I am telling them, ‘Yes, it is Calvin Ridley’ when
they ask, because I’m semi-famous. They’re like, ‘Are you Calvin Ridley?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am Calvin
Ridley.’ I let them know who I am. It’s been pretty good; it feels like home. It feels good.”
(On what the best meal in town is) “I’ve been eating at the fish camps. I started at the fish camps; I’m
going to hit them all. Any fish camp right now, I’m going to eat at.”
(On importance of his family) “I have a house in Atlanta. When I got suspended, I was in Fort Lauderdale
and Coral Springs, Florida with my mom. I just remember the day they told me I got suspended I looked
at my mom and I was like, ‘Dang.’ On purpose, when it was time to get about ready to be reinstated, I
went home to my mom’s house. I waited; it took about two weeks. I didn’t know when they were going
to let me in or what day. I sat there and sat there, and they called and said, ‘Okay, you’re back.’ My mom
saw it. The day I got suspended, she doesn’t have social media, so she goes online and reads everything.
Then, when I got put back in, my family was probably more excited than me, for real. That was the
biggest thing, my girls, I got a daughter and a wife, brothers, they’re rooting for me. I’m so happy I got
back in there.”
(On having friends in the building) “Yeah, me and Christian Kirk [WR Christian Kirk] have been doing this
since high school. I’ve been knowing Kirk, seeing him at all types of camps. Like I said, I played with Foye
[LB Foyesade Oluokun] in Atlanta, Big Cam [OL Cam Robinson] and I were in Alabama. Everybody else in
the building is being really respectful to me. I did make plays in this league, and I’ve been making plays
throughout the course of my life. Guys respect me, I’m not a disrespectful person. I’m coming at
everyone with respect and just trying to make my way around, meet everyone, know everyone’s name,
and just get this thing going for me, personally.”
