CB D.J. HAYDEN
(On the difficulty that the defensive secondary faces with the recent changes the roster has seen) “It’s definitely not easy, just because of how we missed out on OTAs. Usually the OTA time is where all the new people get acquainted with the defense, and guys mesh and gel. That’s just not the case this year. This year, we are working, making the best of what we have. We have got some good players out there, some great new faces, and I am excited for them. I feel like, we are working hard now. I know we are working hard now. We are putting in the work and just have to ball.”
(On his initial thoughts on C.J. Henderson) “I like C.J. [Henderson] a lot. I actually saw him do a couple of breaks today. You can tell the way somebody moves and how they come out of their breaks, whether they have something or not. C.J. [Henderson], yeah he definitely has some amazing talent.”
(On expanding on C.J. Henderson’s mechanics) “He breaks fast. Out of his breaks, he’s boom, boom, like a little cat or something.’ He’s nice.”
(On the decision he faced with his family to remain playing this year as opposed to opting-out of the season) “I definitely thought about it because I do have two younger daughters. I felt like this year is a big year for me. I did not want to sit the season out. With [the pandemic], I did think about it and consider it, but I think the best thing for my family is for me to play this year.”
(On the leadership responsibilities he has in his position unit) “Yeah, I am the old fart in the room. I am the oldest person on the team now, I think. I am just going to embrace it. I am going to lead them the right way, tell them right from wrong, almost like a big brother in there. We have a lot of young talent, and I am excited for these guys. They get to show the NFL what they can do and it’s a great opportunity for them, and I am happy for them. We are going to do it all together.”
(On whether any rookie has separated themselves) “Not at the moment, but I am pretty sure they are coming. We have a great group of young, solid rookies with C.J. [Henderson], and [Daniel] Thomas, and Josiah [Scott] too. Josiah [Scott] is very smart as well. I am excited for these kids. I am excited for them. It’s time to ball. Can’t talk about it, we got to be about it.”
(On CJ Henderson’s speed and if anyone has raced him yet) “No, no we don’t really race him like that. Maybe if somebody puts some money on it, they might race.”
(On Tre Herndon) “Over the years that I’ve been here with Tre, he’s shown a lot of grit and he works very hard. Probably one of the hardest workers on this team. Just to see him come from his rookie year just doing special team stuff then, his second year when the whole Jalen [Ramsey] thing came on, he kind of got thrown in the fire, but he accepted it. He was ready, played well and I’m excited for him. He’s definitely going to play a long time in this league.”
(On how much being familiar with the schemes helps him) “It helps so much. I’ve been doing it the last two years so now I get a third year to do it again. I know the checks; I know the defense so I can play even faster this year and I’m excited and ready to go.”
(On if he felt things speeding up as he got familiar with the defense these past two years) “Yes, of course. It was my second year on defense I had a bit of an understanding. Now I have an even better understanding.”
(On whether he’s talked to Yannick Ngakoue recently and if he has an idea of if he’ll be back in the locker room after changing his agents) “You probably know more than I would. You just said he changed his agents and I didn’t even know that. I don’t know, I haven’t talked to him [Yannick]. Maybe you guys should message him on Twitter and ask him what’s up.”
(On if he’d play college football with the circumstances with COVID-19) “Would I play? Me back in college probably would’ve played because I love football that much, me sitting around not doing much is just going to be like, ‘What am I going to do with myself? Should I get a job?’ I want to play football. A lot of those kids go to school for football. I do understand the whole health aspect just because [COVID-19] does affect different people in different ways and it could impact someone’s life seriously. It’s so up and down, but for them to cancel the season? I didn’t think they would cancel the season but hey, safety first and football will always be here, but we have to take care of ourselves first.”
JAGUARS RUNNING BACK LEONARD FOURNETTE
(On if he’s talked with teammates about taking further action in regards to protesting social injustice) “Oh most definitely. We always talk about it, even to this day. We know how important that it is and the platform that certain players like my caliber and other guys have. We’re just trying to do as much as we can with the little schedule we have. We still talk over the Zoom meetings. If Chris [Conley] wants to talk about a situation that popped up and asks us our whereabouts and how we feel about it, we discuss it as a whole team – coaches and the players. We’re still moving forward and we’re finding bits to make a change and to be whole.”
(On his mindset coming into this season) “I mean just do what I did last year. I don’t think I had a bad season last year – 1,700 total yards, whatever I had – and like I said, everything is going to take care of itself. Despite everything that happened and what’s going on, at the end of the day my job is to play football.”
(On why is it so important to see other running backs be successful) “I think with certain teams, certain running backs hold certain value to teams, like you see what [Christian] McCaffrey got, Derrick [Henry] what he did with the Titans, Zeke [Ezekiel Elliott], I could go on and on. Like I said, these teams that have these running backs, they should pay them because without those guys, a lot of looks they get, schemes, wouldn’t be successful without them starting in the backfield.”
(On what he did this offseason) “I was kind of on a world tour. Wherever the corona was at, I ran away from it. I was in Atlanta at first, it got there. I went back to Baton Rouge, then it came to Baton Rouge. Then I went to Dallas and then after that I just stayed my ass home because it kept following me everywhere I went.”
(On what did he focus his workouts on this offseason) “Speed, everything I always do, speed, my weight, strength, eating right, the same.”
(On how he plans to find the scoring efficiency he had during his first two seasons) “Hopefully just run into the end zone more. There’s nothing you can describe about that as long as the offensive line and the running backs are both on the same page, coaches too, I think everything should get back to normal.”
(On if he’s seen any changes in Gardner Minshew II over the offseason) “His hair got long. He’s got a little more toned, most definitely he kind of defined his body out over the workouts he did in the summer so like I said we’ll see how everything comes together once the season comes.”
(On if Gardner Minshew II appears in more command now that he’s the guy) “I hope so. He’s the quarterback.”
(On what he’s seen early on with new Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden) “Not just me, I think he’s going to let every athlete on the offensive side who has the talent and the ability to make plays – I think he’s going to do a great job of kind of passing that ball around and showing guy’s talent. He has a great personality and I love him as a coach right now. He’s outgoing and he’s uplifting guys. He’s positive in everything he does. There’s not a day you go around where you see him looking sad. He’s smiling, he’s joking 24/7.”
(On if he’s had to face Joe Schobert yet) “Yeah, I killed him in practice. (laughter) I killed him on the wheel route. Ask him what happened on that wheel route. I ran past him and he said ‘ohh.’ What I like about him though is he’s quiet, you have different leaders who show actions. He’s quiet, he plays his role, he’s very athletic. He’s a sideline to sideline guy. He’s very smart, too. He’s definitely a guy I’m going to look out for this upcoming season.”
(On if this offseason has been more challenging mentally) “No. I don’t put too much stress over it. Me and Demetrius, we always talk and I talk to him while playing Call of Duty and just talking to him outside of football, we don’t really know you guys, we don’t know your household, your families, your kids, none of that. When all that was going around, I kind of took a step back from football and I had to realize it’s bigger than that, it’s a lot bigger than that. I talked to Gardner [Minshew] during the whole thing that they made it a big deal when I asked for Cam [Newton] and he understood where I was coming from. At the end of the day, I want to win. Who doesn’t want to win? I came from a 2017 season with a team who was 10-6, we had talent level and then the next couple of years went down the drain. So I just want to address a lot of things, too, especially since the media came out and said I was an angry guy. Number one, would you be angry if you’re losing week in and week out? That is one of my biggest problems, I do get upset when we lose and it takes me awhile to get over it. I expect, just like anybody else, if you put the work in, you want the W, but a lot of times last year it didn’t go like that. I guess they kind of misinterpreted that, and don’t get me wrong, I was upset from the losing, but that’s just the winner in me. That’s any guy who plays this professional level of sports.”
(On if he thinks he’s been painted in a bad light) “Yeah, I think so. [Teammate] Chris Thompson, he said, ‘You ain’t nothing like people say you are.’”
(On what Chris Thompson said people say about him) “Like I was always upset about things. Most of you guys know I’m always joking and playing, that’s just me. I think it kind of got out of hand so I just wanted to get that out there. I’m not a jerk but when it comes to football and winning, I’m all in for that.”
