HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2026
(On players coming back into the building) “Yeah, it kind of feels like the ‘26 season kind of
getting started, getting a kickoff in a lot of ways. Great to get them back because so much
of the work that gets put in throughout the offseason with the coaches, you start to get sick
of it. You want to get some of that stuff put into practice is really what I mean with
fundamentals, techniques, concepts, three better, three best with our players. Like you’re
kind of chomping at the bit, especially like I mentioned last time, after you go to the owner’s
meetings and it gets a little bit more competitive and ready to go.”
(On setting the foundation and getting the locker room together) “It’s huge. Mentioned that
this morning to the guys that we have to attack our relationships, the communication, the
way that we operate with each other on a day-to-day basis. Because there are new faces,
there’s a lot of familiar, which is great, continuity, which is awesome, but we have to attack
our relationships in the way that we approach every single day at a high clip for us to be
able to go where we want to go.”
(On initial feelings about participation) “Great. Really good participation. The guys were
locked in, answering questions in the meetings, very engaged in the team meeting.
[Strength and Conditioning] Coach Eric Ciano got up and spoke about the Iron Jags and
went through that, went through some of the draft that’s coming up for that this week. And
then both offense, defense split up, both those groups and coordinators were able to talk to
the unit, showed a lot of examples of good stuff and then areas in which we can improve.
And then they broke up individually to the position groups and then started to dive into the
three better, three best to the specific player. And while those guys were meeting with the
coaches, the other coaches, assistant position coaches, took the rest of the group and
started to kind of get through some initial remembering of terms and concepts and things
like that.”
(On if there were a lot of guys attending) “Absolutely. Look, it’s voluntary so we just
appreciate guys taking the time and anybody that’s not here, it’s totally been
communicated and understood. There’s no surprises. The guys are all seem like they’re in a
good place.”
(On what he looks for to see if a player is ‘ascending’ this time of year) “You can see
obviously the guys that are putting in a little extra time maybe. Especially, last year so much
was new, and so you could see the people, the players that ascended a little bit earlier, how
much maybe time they were putting in extra, meeting with coaches as much as they could,
just chomping at the bit to get down to the fundamentals but also take it to the next level to
go make a play. We were just worried about lining up in a lot of ways. So look, there’s so
many guys that have that opportunity, and that’s the beauty of this time. It’s not really like
we’re judging every single thing for competition on the depth chart, and we’re trying to
compete in everything we do, but it’s so much more about learning the toolboxes now that
we can maybe move forward past lining up in bunch right. We can get into some of the
details in the toolbox kit for these players so we can go and take our next game and this
organization’s game to the next level.”
(On if they did ‘three better, three best’ with the coaches too) “Yeah, so I basically did
something like that with the coaches where I met with each coach in all three phases and
sort of gave them a little bit of a three better, three best, and maybe it was two or whatever
it was for each coach to go and work on throughout the spring and in the winter time. So,
when we do meet again, come May, June, before we cut out of here, we can touch on a few
of those areas in which maybe we’ve challenged coaches to improve, to grow, to lean into
things in areas in which they did well as coaches and staff members. But I know Tony
[Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli] and James [General Manager
James Gladstone] did a lot similar with a lot of the people in this building and we did no
different with the coaches.”
(On his ‘three better, three best’) “My boss, the owner, he tells me (joking). We obviously
talk about a few areas in which you want to continue to grow. I think one being, as a first-
year coach, you’re so concerned with the time management piece not just in your day-to-
day, but also on game day. What that looks like trusting the people around you and coming
to the conclusions and not looking back and whatever decision you make to live with it and
to not dawn on it too much and worry about what you did. And sometimes I think as
coaches, we have a tendency, especially myself, to look at too many of the negative things
and you start harping on that and ultimately you can only do your best.”
(On the trade of DL Maason Smith for DL Ruke Orhororo) “No, it wasn’t necessarily
anything. I have a lot of respect for Maason Smith. I hope he has a heck of a career. He did
nothing but what we asked him to do from a work ethic standpoint, from doing the right
things and what we asked of him, and we felt like we had an opportunity to potentially get
an ascending player that can provide a little bit in the rush. It’s hard to find big men that can
move like that on the interior part of your defense without giving up in the run game. That’s
something we want to continue to be top notch at which we were in the NFL this past
season, but something we want to look at that Ruke gives us an opportunity to—big man
that can move, that can get in the rush plan as well and showed the ability to get to the
quarterback a little bit. So that was something that we felt like was going to fit for us.”
(On if Orhororo attended workouts today) “Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, big man. He was good.
We talked briefly after the team meeting and just what a fresh opportunity, fresh start. For
us being in our second year as an organization together with this group, it’s a great time to
come in as somebody that we can lean into that’s got a ton of talent that we want to be able
to help get to get his game to the next level.”
(On the health of the team injury wise) “I don’t have exact timelines on some of those guys.
I think obviously Travis [WR/DB Travis Hunter], Cole [OL Cole Van Lanen], those guys aren’t
going to be probably doing too much throughout the offseason program, in terms of
practice. They’ll be doing a lot of rehab, getting on the side, being able to utilize some of the
virtual meeting room downstairs to get some mental reps in there. That’s a way that we can
kind of facilitate some of the reps that they’re missing. Specifically, off the top of my head,
let’s see, who else could be —[CB] Jourdan Lewis, J-Lew similar ballpark. We’re not
expecting those guys to probably hit the grass this spring in competitive situations, but
they’re going to get a ton of reps. We expanded the downstairs with that virtual meeting
room to make it a little bit more realistic. And so those guys are going to be able to utilize
that room a lot of times during practice to be able to go get some mental reps and I think
that’s going to be huge for those guys this offseason.”
(On what he wants to see out of QB Trevor Lawrence the next two months) “Yeah, I think,
when we get out on the grass specifically is that the expectation is, that he is kind of playing
at the level in which he was towards the end of the season. From a footwork standpoint and
ownership of the system, communication, cadence, overall command, and also throwing
and catching the football. I think that that’s something that is important for us to go take a
next step as a receiving group, as a tight end group, running backs. Everybody that’s
involved in the pass game specifically. But for him, the leadership, the command, and also
the way that he was throwing the football towards the end of the season, the expectation is
that, hey, we pick up there and let’s roll.”
(On areas the offense can improve this season) “Explosives versus negatives. How many
negative plays do you have per game versus explosives per game? That’s something we’re
always looking at. It’s hard to execute 10, 11, 12 play drives without something bad
happening or a negative play occurring and what a negative play actually does to a drive.
And then also improving in situational football, specifically third down on offense and
defense and also in the red zone on, both offense and defense in terms of scoring
touchdowns versus not allowing your opponent to score touchdowns. So, you look at, ‘Hey,
how can we be more explosive? Limit some of those negative plays?’ whether it be by
penalty, sack, negative yard rush, and then get better in third down or red zone are
definitely some areas we’re looking to improve upon.”
(On if he can notice the difference of the team this season) “Yeah, probably less guys
looking at me like I got something on my forehead (laugh) when I’m talking and just guys
speaking the same language, understanding what the standards are. In terms of the way we
operate the meeting room, the way that we communicate with each other, that was very
clear within, this half a day we’ve been here so far that guys are serious. I’ve heard the word
win a lot, guys are telling me, I just want to win some games. And so, if we have a ‘we above
me’ mentality, which I believe that room of guys does, and they do it the right way, you can
definitely feel maybe a little bit more confidence in the standard and confidence in the
continuity of how we operate. I think I saw [TE] Brenton Strange’s quote the other day was
like, it’s nice at least know the schedule, know what’s coming every day. And that doesn’t
necessarily allow for complacency it allows for ‘Man, I can go attack other things because
I’m not stressing the day to day and what’s going on every minute of the day.’”
(On balancing how much to change in year two and also focus on what was done well in
year one) “Honestly, if anything, we really looked at the self-scout throughout the
offseason. Where are the areas in which we can improve? And what’s not even worth it. So
honestly, if anything, it was addition by subtraction. I’ll be honest, it was a lot of man, ‘How
can we get better at these core concepts? And what’s not worth it,’ especially not in the
spring. Maybe something that we can touch on when we have more time in training camp or
when you have a little bit more of practice and then a walk through at night. So, really it was
a lot more subtraction this offseason and looking at what rung concepts do we not need
right now to just go get good at a few things and try to emphasize those things. Same thing
with the pass game on offense is, alright, how can we continue to do what these guys do
best? We need to improve here to attack people in the fall versus man, that’s not something
we need. And it goes to the same on defense. It’s like, okay, how can we get better in all
phases on defense without adding too much to these guys plate depending on how try to
subtract and refine.”
(On how to improve the screen game) “We’ve talked about that a lot. You can use, obviously
I love the screen. I’ve always been a huge fan of the screen game, not just because of how it
attacks the defense, but because being a little bit of a breather play for the quarterback,
helps your Oline out on the pressure. It’s 100 percent going to be of importance this spring.
We’re going to do multiple different circuits, we’ve got to come into subtraction. Let’s
subtract all of these other ones that we put in last spring that we never even really got to, all
that did was water down the ones maybe we were somewhat good at. So that’s a huge area
in which we’re like, what receiver screens are best? And then who do we want to promote
the receiver screens to? And let’s work on that. Okay, what are our best running back and
tight end screens? How do we try to simulate that in the offseason without a real rush and
without pads because so much of the screen game is being a good actor and if you don’t
get live reps at being an actor all the time, then it’s hard to sometimes go simulate that in
even a course of a week of practice against your scout team because you tell it the
[defensive] end to rush, well what if it doesn’t feel real to them? Now we’re asking our scout
team to do something that’s not realistic and now your screen sucks. So, it’s an area I want
to improve on and I think we can improve on it.”
(On how much more can be accomplished this offseason with a healthy QB Trevor
Lawrence) “Yeah, I think that’s a great point. He wasn’t even throwing for a long time, we
were working so much more on above the neck and the waist down so much of last spring.
If we can start where we left off in a lot of ways, for him to be able to take that next step of
complete ownership of what we’re getting accomplished pre-snap, that whole operation,
so we don’t snap it under five, and then to be able to execute once you get the ball in your
hands, because look, so much happens for the quarterback, pre-and-post snap. It’s true,
we would like to be able to give him more ops to play faster too. There’s that fine line
between being in the perfect play, having a number of different cans and kills and alerts
versus man, let’s just call and run it let those guys just go play and I think if anything we’d
like to lean more into that this spring because that now makes the quarterback, ‘Okay,
alright, post-snap I’ve got to have the three-deep answer or quarters answer, man answer
too’ and I’ve got to know where those are and find a completion. Sometimes when you live
in the can and premier world, you’re almost—I don’t want to say paralyzing the player but
you’re not letting them maybe be as creative as possible and you’re dictating to him where
the ball should go. So, it’s that balance. There’s a lot of good things that we can learn from,
but if he can take that growth of complete ownership this spring, I’m excited about getting
an opportunity to do it.”
QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2026
(On reuniting with DL Ruke Orhorhoro) “It was great. We were just talking in the locker
room, catching up. I haven’t talked to him in a long time. Obviously, we’ve both grown up a
lot since then. So, seeing him now, it’s kind of crazy. But I texted him the other day. We
talked when he was getting drafted and he mentioned he wanted to come down to
Jacksonville, of course go somewhere with some familiar faces and we hadn’t talked since
then. So, I texted him and said, ‘well, you’re down here. Probably not how you would’ve
imagined it, but we’re back together.’ I’m excited. He’s a great guy, excited to get him in the
building and a good addition for us. Yeah, it’ll be fun.”
(On going into the offseason healthy) “Yeah, a lot different. I think just from training, I guess
physically first and foremost, it’s a lot better not having to recover from a surgery and injury
and trying to get back just to where you can train like normal and throw and do all the things
that you want to do. So, that’s obviously a plus being able to just start my training and be
healthy back in February. And then I’d say the mental part of it too is not having to
completely relearn a new system. Like that’s a bonus as well because you can really fine
tune some of the things and you can get into more of the details instead of just trying to
learn stuff for the first time, you’re a lot further along. So starting today, I feel like obviously
we’re a lot further ahead than we were last year and a lot of work to be done. We have to
build a bunch of chemistry, we have new guys and there’s a lot of guys to get up to speed.
But as far as I think our core and guys that were here, the comfort level with the offense,
with each other, the chemistry, all that stuff is a nice carryover, but you still have to go and
like I said, put the work in this year.”
(On the importance of chemistry to team building) “Super important. There’s all the rules
and guidelines and all the stuff where you can’t practice competitively against each other
for a while. So, that’s the best time I think to have that structure and practice where it’s all
about fundamentals, technique as far as all the stuff that we can control on offense. The
operation, making sure we’re clean, operating quickly and doing all that stuff at the line of
scrimmage and practicing all the things that when you do start to practice against each
other, go against each other and get competitive, some of that stuff can kind of slip a little
bit. So I think now is the time to hone in on all the details and kind of iron out all the stuff in
our system and get guys along that might need some help as far as they’re learning for the
first time or whatever it is. There’s a lot of chemistry throwing too, think about routes and
timing and now’s kind of the best time to do all that before it gets really competitive and
you’re going against each other.”
(On how his familiarity with Head Coach Liam Coen helps going into year two) “Yeah, I think
that’s a big part of it is just when it’s your first time with a new staff and new players,
coaches, all those things, when it’s all new, there is a level of just discomfort I would say
and you don’t really know how things are going to go or what the schedule’s going to be and
you haven’t built the relationships yet with all the new staff to where you know each other
really well. And I think now that we’ve had a year of working together, there is that comfort
in the relationship piece of it and being excited to be back just because you know these
guys and I’ve worked with them and I’m just excited to get back in the building and work on
all the things I know we need to work on and get better and improve. And I think we’re all on
the same page as far as we know what we need to do and we have a lot of work to get there,
but we have this optimism about the work we’re going to put in, in the future. I think all that
stuff’s exciting and this time a year ago it’s all new and you’re trying to figure it out, learn
each other and learn the system and all that stuff.”
(On the losing RB Travis Etienne Jr. in free agency) “Yeah, definitely weird. We have a great
running back room outside of Travis, obviously those guys are awesome. And our team is
really a tight group, but for sure tough not having Travis. I’ve talked about it, I think before,
but happy for him and that situation. He deserves everything he’s gotten, so I think it’s a
good thing for him and his family. But yeah, we were at eight years, so going to miss that
guy. But life keeps going and I know he is looking forward to the opportunities he’s going to
get in New Orleans and we’ve got a great group that we’ve got to work with here and we’re
going to be just fine, but definitely miss that guy.”
(On the pronunciation of Etienne) “So, that was something. I was like, wow, I’ve known him
for eight years, and I think what happened was I came in a year after him at Clemson and I
guess he told all them his freshman year, but I wasn’t there I was still in high school. So,
when I came in, I guess he just conceded that it was going to be ETN instead of Ay-CHAN. I
was like, I’ve known him for eight years and didn’t even know that. Anyways, yeah I guess he
didn’t mind too much.”
(On DL Travon Walker’s toughness) “Yeah, I think even playing different sides of the ball,
you’re not necessarily talking game plan and working with each other through the week and
the season, but you see all those things. Being around him now for four years, that’s
something that all of us know about him and that he plays the right way. Just to keep a guy
like that around I think is the right thing for our team and just the right thing to do because
of the energy he brings, the way he works, he’s one of the hardest workers on our team,
great player, has the right attitude, he is a great teammate so I think he has all the traits that
you want for a guy that obviously you’re going to pay a lot of money to and that’s going to be
here for a while. I was really happy to see that. Just happy for him and he’s a great player. I
think his best football’s ahead of him too. I got all the faith in the world in him, so I’m
excited that we get to be together for a little longer.”
(On where he wants to improve in year two) “Yeah, I think there’s always—I’ve talked about
it in the past, there’s always little things technique wise, whether it’s footwork, movement
in the pocket, looking over at the season, I think I got a lot better at some of my footwork
that I changed throughout the offseason last year as the season went on. It just takes a lot
of reps and then the game reps too changes a little bit and I got more comfortable as the
season went on. I thought that got a lot better. And then some of the pocket movements as
well, just being poised in the pocket, subtle movements, staying in a position to throw. I
also think that got better as the season went on, but there’s a lot of clips where I know I can
improve and get better. I’d say just the consistency piece of it. I felt like as an offense and
personally, individually, kind of hit our stride towards the end of the season. But just putting
that together for 17 weeks plus playoffs and being able to do that consistently down the
stretch to win these big playoff games, you look at all those things and just excited for the
opportunity to put together an even bigger stretch of good football for our offense, our team
and I think that’s the challenge is doing it every week and just excited for that opportunity.”
(On the NFL Draft and his advice to prospects) “Yeah, it’s such a great weekend for all the
guys that get drafted and just the opportunities that you get. It’s a cool experience. You’re
around your family and coaches and everybody does it a little bit different, but family and
coaches and all the people that mean a lot to you and such a big moment of years and
years of work and it’s not even for me—it wasn’t the dream necessarily to be an NFL player
when I was five, I just loved football. And then, I woke up when I was at Clemson as a 21-
year-old and found myself with the opportunity to get drafted and come here to Jacksonville
and it almost feels like a dream just because you’ve worked so hard for so long and then
you’re here. Obviously, it’s just the beginning, so there’s a lot more work to put in, but I think
celebrating that moment is huge, especially with your family and a lot of people make a lot
of sacrifices. I think that’s the biggest thing, it’s not just about the player, it’s the families
and the coaches and all the people that believed in you and sacrificed for you to get there.
That’s the cool part.”
(On Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski returning) “Yeah, me and Grant have a great
relationship. I’ve talked a lot in here with you guys about just what he means to our offense
and our team and the way he operates. I love that guy. I’ve got so much faith and belief in
him and how he works and just how smart he is. I know he’s made me a better player, so I’m
really excited he’s back and he brings a lot of value to our team. So yeah, we just started
today, kind of did some intro stuff so we haven’t got into the weeds of the installs yet, but
just excited to get into that. I know he’s worked, he talked about today, they work all off
season, the coaches to get ready for all of us to come back because that’s what they love
doing is coaching. So, I’m excited to see all the things that we’re going to talk about this
offseason, all the wrinkles and adjustments that we can make.”
(On further developing his rapport with WR Jakobi Meyers) “For him, just being able to be
here with the guys for a whole offseason to get that work. One, me and him, that chemistry
to continue to build on that, we had to try to pick it up midseason, which is a lot of credit to
him. He was really easy to get in sync with and he was a super hard worker, so we got it
going pretty quickly, but that can be hard to do. So, now to have a full offseason together.
Then I think just the relationship piece to be able to hang out with his teammates and get to
spend time together and have the weekends and be here and get to know your teammates.
I think that’s a big piece of it too and get comfortable where you’re living. He moved here in
November and just came and played with us, I guess a few days later in Houston. So, it was
kind of a crazy quick turnaround. So, I think he’s probably, you’d have to ask him, I’m sure
he is probably excited to kind of settle in and get this offseason program to really get some
good work in, but also get to know his teammates a little bit better.”
(On his goals for the offense this season) “That’s not something I’ve thought about as far as
our offense, how many points per game we’re going score, necessarily. I think as many as
possible is always kind of the goal. Every game’s different, of course you want to improve
every year, so we want to think that that number’s going to be higher this year. And you look
at our season, like I talked about earlier, we got so much better towards the end of the
season. So, if we can put ourselves in a position and use this offseason to get better at the
things we need to better at and continue to do the things well that we were doing well at the
end of the year, you’d like to think that that average will go up because we didn’t start the
season scoring as many points as we did at the end of the season. So, like I said, when you
guys asked about me individually, what I want to get better at, it’s also for our offense, is
having that consistency throughout the whole season. Obviously, every week is a little bit
different. You might only need to score 20 to win, but there’s going to be weeks where you
need to score 35 to win. So, I think being able to do whatever you need to do to win is the
most important.”
DEFENSIVE END JOSH HINES-ALLEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2026
(On DE Travon Walker’s extension) “What he means to the team, he brings that Georgia
football breedline, I guess. Guys who just come in and work, selfless guys, team-first guys
and he puts on his helmet and comes to work every single day. I’ve got a lot of love and a lot
of respect for him. And I know everybody on this team as well, coaches included, obviously
our front office as well, because they wouldn’t have paid him if they didn’t. And the funny
thing about it, too, this isn’t going to change him. He’s still going to come in and attack the
same, attack the day as if he was getting drafted again. And then what he means to me,
man, that’s my role dog. That’s a guy that as soon as he came in, we locked in and we
became brothers and also fierce competitors as well. He pushes me every single day and I
try to do the same thing as well. We want the best for each other, and we want to be the
best duo in the National Football League.”
(On the energy being back in the building) “It feels good to be back, man. The energy is
super high. I think the first team meeting went how I expected. Having Liam [Head Coach
Liam Coen] going up there talking to the team, still have that fire built up. It’s awesome to
hear. It’s awesome to get back to Camp’s [Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile]
meetings and kind of getting back to the basics. I know it’s day one, but I’m excited for what
tomorrow holds for us. Even, the workouts outside, we’re getting really good work, so I’m
excited to be back.”
(On his offseason training) “For me, Arizona. I still go to Arizona. I just timed it up differently.
But for me, man, outside of what my contract says, and what we talk about there, I’m not
going to argue that. But outside, being with the guys. It’s just good to be back. I think we
have a really good locker room, a really good presence. A lot of the young guys, man, just to
see how far they’ve gone, be around Danny [DL Danny Striggow], be around B.J. [DL B.J.
Green II], and just kind of act like we never left. Guys would know, guys that age out, and
they always look back and say, what do you miss the most? You miss the locker room. And
right now I’m in that moment of let’s continue to embrace this and let’s continue to carry on
from what we had before and take it to the next level, and I’m excited about that.”
(On what he remembers about being drafted) “I mean, where’s the draft this year?
Pittsburgh. Shoutout to Pittsburgh. Shoutout to those guys though, man. This is a lifetime—
for me, man, me being frank, me being real, for me, I didn’t think I was going to go to the
NFL until my junior year of college. So, for me to be able to put that work in and then to sit in
those seats after my senior year of like, damn, I really achieved this at a high level and now
I’m at an opportunity to be drafted. It was just a surreal moment. The anticipation is kind of
going to be crazy. I thought I was going to go higher, obviously I went seventh, but still, for
me it was just like, oh my gosh, when am I going to go? I don’t know who’s at the five, I don’t
know who’s at the four, what’s happening, what’s happening? And you have other guys that
are in situations that they can’t control that. And I know everybody probably thinks, yeah, I
had a good meeting with this team, I think I’m going to go to this team, but it’s actually the
team that never talked to you. And then you’re like, oh my God, okay, where am I at right
now? Okay, where am I going? So, coming in day one after you get drafted, coming in and
just settling in, being with the guys, kind of just embrace yourself early, I think would
probably be the easiest transition for guys coming into the league. Everybody doesn’t like a
standoff guy, guy that’s kind of feeling it, man, come in and be yourself and compete at a
high level because that’s the first thing that we’re going to see. For me, if I come in, that’s
the first thing I noticed with Danny and B.J. Those guys competed every single day with
each other, with me, with Tra [DE Travon Walker]. And you can’t do anything but respect
that. That’s what I’m kind of looking forward to with these guys. I think James [General
Manager James Gladstone] does a heck of a job on bringing good players in here and good
high value players and I’m excited to see what the draft looks like for us this year.”
(On how much more at ease players are this year knowing what to expect with Coen)
“Nobody’s at ease. I think we should all still be on our—we’ve got to come in with the
expectations of this is a business at the end of the day, and if you come in complacent,
then things are not going to end well for you. So, for me, man, this is a day-to-day operation
for me to come in and execute and be at a high level, come in with a smile on my face
always, but know that this job doesn’t last forever and take advantage of each moment. I
think we all know that, too. But it’s a good feeling to have, it’s a good feeling to know that at
least those guys making those decisions are guys that communicate with you and guys that
want to win and guys that want the best for the team. If you are on that roster when we do
make the roster or the practice squad, they believe in you. And so, for me just to come in
every single day and be ready to work, that’s the only thing I can do. And that’s the only
thing everybody else feels like they can do as well.”
(On what motivates him going into this season) “I mean, for me, it’s validation, and this can
go two ways, you know what I’m saying? Because people can be chasing—everybody
should chase greatness. But for me, I’ve been one of the best guys at my position for the
last couple years and I don’t get talked about as much. Again, it’s a lot of media, but if you
turn the film on, I’ve been one of the best guys, but the validation of being named with
those guys that are—[Texans DE] Will Anderson just got 50 million, being [Browns DE] Myles
Garrett, and you hear [Raiders DE] Maxx Crosby, [Steelers LB] T.J. Watt, [49ers DE] Nick
Bosa, when you have a list of those guys of who’s the best in the league, I want Josh Hines-
Allen to be one of those guys that come to the top of the list. And for me, that’s just keep
producing. I know sacks have been a huge thing in my position. For me, I don’t think about
it. I’ve been up here before and I’ve always said, man, that’s not a thing that kind of carries
me, me turning on the tape and me knowing that I’m whooping the guy in front of me and
that guy knowing that as well, and coaches knowing that, coaches knowing I’ve got to play
against him. That’s what kind of drives me. But again, man, I did a lot of things from last
year, knowing things I need to do better, to finish better, and I’m looking to improve on those
aspects to get the job done.”
(On Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile returning) “I love Camp. You always want
the best guys in the building at all times. I think he’s a young coach coming up on his
second year going to DC and to have a good coach in the building, you can’t beat that.
Having a good coach with good players, that’s a recipe for success to me. When I can come
into a situation knowing that I’m coming in and giving it my all and I’ve got a coach that’s
speaking to me, giving it his all, it’s a recipe for success. Not only do I feel like that, but all
the other players as well. So, we love Camp, we’re going to fight for him. Now we kind of
know what he’s about, and it just brings the love and trust a little bit further.”
(On if he knew DL Ruke Orhorhoro before he was traded to Jacksonville) “Yeah, I did. We
definitely crossed paths a few times. Great kid, I talked to him in his draft process. I talked
to him when he was in, I think I was still in Kentucky, and he came on a visit and we
chopped it up and ever since. I just saw him in Arizona, too. This was before he got traded
here. Every time I see him, he always gives me a lot of love, a lot of respect, and I’ve always
followed him. Every time we played against him, we always touched base. For him to be on
the team now, to know what type of value and character that he has, he’s going to fit right
into what we’ve got going on. I’m excited to rush with him. I’m excited to play with him. He
kind of knows what we’re about, and again, like I was just telling about the rookies, come in
here, be yourself, compete at a high level and you’re going to fit right in with us. And he has
that type of mold and I’m excited to get going with him.”
(On the next step for the defensive front after leading the NFL in run defense) “Lead the
league in sacks.”
(On JC Tretter being named executive director of the NFLPA) “I mean, JC brings a lot of
personal experience. He’s a former player, was NFLPA president. A guy that fought for us. I
was in those meetings and it was a long debate to see who we were going to choose. But at
the end of the day, man, we all collectively chose to go with JC because he was the best fit.
He was a guy that, with things coming up recently, now in the next couple years, is going to
fight for us, a guy that understands what we need. He gave me the confidence that we’re
going to be in good hands, but he also needs a good staff around him as well, and he needs
a good support on each team that’s going to help fight with him. And so, if I can help in any
way, I am, to support him and to support us, essentially. So, I’ve got a lot of respect for JC.”
(On if the defense can get a head start having the continuity of a returning defensive
coordinator) “I mean, yeah, I would think so. But again, we’re starting back at phase one. I
think once we get back on the field and we start going into what these meetings look like
more in depth, maybe we can skip over a few things and maybe we can talk a little bit more
broadly about what are we expecting from each other and take that next step of like…
Maybe we don’t have to do it by the book right now because we did it by the book. Maybe
we can do it by experience. How do we feel? Secondary, how do you feel? Up front, how do
you feel? Linebackers, how do we feel about communicating things? So, there’s a lot of
different nuances I feel like we’re going to improve on. Like, hey, look, let’s not do that right
now. Let’s gravitate toward this. And then having that year with the back end as well, it kind
of worked. So, I’m excited about that. I’m excited to see what our defense looks like going
into year two under Camp. Knowing the things that we did well last year, knowing things
that we didn’t do well last year, I think that’s important as well. And just improving on all
facets so we can be the best defense in the next football league.”
(On if he provides input on what players and positions he thinks the team needs) “Yeah, I
just play football here. I just play football, man. I try to stay in my lane, and if they ask me
what I would want to do or my opinion, then I would give them my opinion. But for me,
again, just to have that trust, I think that trust is needed to be had. James and Tony
[Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli] are going to do the right
things to bring the right people in to help benefit and uplift this team—well, this ecosystem
[laughs]. I’m a part of that ecosystem that needs to uplift those people, whoever they bring
in. So, if we don’t bring anybody in, we’re going to rock with the guys we’ve got. If we do
bring somebody in, we’re going to rock with whoever we bring in.”
(On if how last season ended is a motivating factor) “I mean obviously, you end with a loss.
Only one team’s going to end with a win, and we were one of the teams that finished with a
loss and the way we went out, I think it was a learning experience for us. There’s never any
moral victories. We kind of got that out of our way. I think we’re all old enough to know that
losing is a part of it, but how can we get better? I think it was a learning experience. We
played against a good team, a well-experienced team at that. Did they make more plays?
Probably. Did they make exciting plays? No, but they just didn’t mess up from my
understanding of how the game went. And that was a good lesson to have, so when we play
against experienced teams, man, we can’t beat ourselves. That’s every week. But in the
playoff games, man, you can’t beat yourselves. We stopped the run, I feel like we contained
Josh [Bills QB Josh Allen] to not scramble as much as he typically does, but he just made
the right plays. We learned a lot of experience and I can’t wait to get back in that phase
again and take it to the next level.”
