April 8, 2020
(On him and his girlfriend, Treyleanna’s, donation to Feeding Northeast Florida) “Really the thought of it all got started going back to my days at Vanderbilt. I studied sociology and just ever since then, I have grown a passion for [helping out] areas with poverty, people with poverty and low-income areas. Last year, I did an event in my hometown, Chattanooga, Tennessee where I fed a couple hundred people at a soup kitchen. Since then, I have made it a point to try to do something like that every year where I can help out a community that is going through those kind of things. With this virus going on right now and knowing that I am a part of another community, I felt that helping Northeast Florida in any kind of way … Those who may not be as fortunate to have money for meals and have to use their money for hand sanitizer and other supplies to protect themselves. I felt it was a great opportunity to help out another community that I’m a part of.”
(On his mentality heading into the season and being more of a leader and how much COVID-19 could impact the secondary’s chemistry due to missing time) “I think those guys [Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye] did a great job mentoring me while I was there. Jalen was my locker mate my entire rookie year and the whole time before he was traded. That was a time for me to learn from him and grow from him during the times he was sitting out and I was playing his role. He kept giving me tips, study habits, those kinds of things. A.J., we kind of have the same story with being undrafted guys. He’s always been a motivation for me. Out here in Georgia, I train with A.J. every other day, so I’m still getting those tips from him. He’s been in that big brother role. As far as missing this time, of course we can’t get together face to face and sit down and talk playbook-wise, X’s and O’s. It could work against us kind of, but I feel like everyone in the DB room has a veteran kind of mindset. I know guys like Ronnie Harrison, J-Dub [Jarrod Wilson] – we are all tapped into film trying to clean up the things that may have been missed during the season and just going over the playbook just to keep a fresh mind. Whenever we do get a date and when we do return, we will be on top of it. I do not think it is affecting too many people as far as playbook stuff. I feel like everyone has the mindset that we want to come in ready to go when the time is.”
(On if he is optimistic that the season will start on time and how it has been without sports) “We don’t really know when we are going to get back, so that timetable for me is just waiting for a word from anybody. During this time, we are staying at home. The gyms are closed. I’ve been able to go to parks, I’ve gotten our strength and conditioning staff to send me some bands to help me with those workouts. It’s back like the old days when you are a kid and going to the playground on the monkey bars doing pullups, pushups on the benches and abs. I’m trying to keep myself upbeat any way I can to kind of substitute for missing the weight room, using bands for resistance and that type of things. It has been kind of fun to find new workouts that I probably would have done back in high school before I was able to lift weights.”
(On if he’s receiving workouts from the team to do at home) “No, I just have some equipment. Just some bands to help myself with my workouts that I created myself. I go on Pinterest. Instagram has people full of workouts, and I can kind of go in and make my own thing. I know what I need to maintain as far as strength-wise and being able to be creative with my workouts and having those bands and stuff helps me out a lot. I’ve been on the stairs, running stairs, doing squat jumps on the stairs. It’s been a fun time for me.”
(On the communication between teammates and coaches during the pandemic) “I’ve talked to coaches a couple of times, just saying hello, just touching base with them, my DB coach. As far as players talking, I haven’t really talked to any guys, not from a football standpoint. We may link up on Xbox sometime a couple times to catch up with each other. As far as on the football side, we haven’t really talked much. I feel like once dates come to where we get a feel back to where we’re going to come back to the facility and have a date to where we know we’re going to get back in the swing of things, we’re definitely going to link up and talk about goals for the season, what we would usually talk about with the time that we’re missing during OTAs and stuff. Just talk about goals, write that down, just feel everybody’s mindset, knowing who’s going to be a leader in the room, who’s going to lead the way and just converse over those things so that when we get in front of the coaches, we’ll be ready and already have that platform set.”
(On the benefits of having a strong locker room and continuity within the coaching staff) “It can definitely help because we all know each other’s tendencies. We know how to communicate with each other. We know how to help each other. I feel like having that chemistry in the DB room as the years go on definitely can be nothing but a positive when we go into scenarios and games and stuff that we’ve seen before, those same guys on the field to be able to communicate and handle it with ease.”
(On the strides that DJ Chark has made) “When I came in as a rookie, we were in the same class. I knew he was a drafted guy and being undrafted, you kind of have to make a name for yourself. You have to show that you can play at a high level. Chark was one of the guys that I actually tried to get in one-on-one reps in or when we do seven-on-seven or team, I was always hyped to be on his side because he’s a drafted guy and plays at a high level. When you can compete with him, it shows your work as well. His stats speak for themselves, Pro Bowl this year. He’s definitely made a lot of strides as far as coming in as a rookie, being on special teams and then making that stride in his second year. Like I said, being a Pro Bowler, having a lot of clutch catches and being a main target for our offense. I have definitely seen him grow as a player.”
(On why he chose to support Feeding Northeast Florida) “I’ve never done anything with them before, but our CR [community relations] team does stuff with them, so I’ve seen that they’ve done things. Like I said, I want to expand my giving back. I had in mind doing another thing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but with our team in Jacksonville doing that. I just wanted to try to be a part of another community that I’ve grown towards and grown to love being with the Jaguars.”
