GENERAL MANAGER TRENT BAALKE, HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON AND WIDE RECEIVER BRIAN
THOMAS JR.
INTRODUCTORY MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
THOMAS JR.: (On expectations a rookie on the team within the receiver room) “My expectations are to
just come in, earn the trust of the quarterback, earn the trust of my teammates and coaching staff.To
know when an opportunity presents itself, I’m going to go out there, give my all, go out there and make
the play. I would say that’s my expectations coming in.”
THOMAS JR.: (On the level of excitement when Jacksonville called) “I was super excited to be on my way
to Jacksonville, just being able to share that moment with my parents, have my family there. It was a
great experience for me, it was a great time just to have them there with me. Jacksonville is somewhere I
felt like I could fit in at, so I was very excited.”
THOMAS JR.: (On living up to expectations of other LSU receivers in the NFL) “I’m just trying to be
myself, I don’t feel like I have to live up to any expectations. I’m just going to come out there, work hard,
do what I can do to the best of my ability.”
THOMAS JR.: (On what number he will be) “You know what number I want to wear, but as of right now,
I’ll be number 80.”
THOMAS JR.: (On his first interaction with the Jaguars) “My first interaction was at the combine, I had a
formal meeting that went well to me. I came on a Top 30 visit and I left here pretty confident knowing
that I had did the best I could do. I would say that, yeah.”
THOMAS JR.: (On what it was like being in Jacksonville today) “It’s a great feeling, just being able to
experience this with my parents and my family. It’s a great feeling just to know I’ll be here in Jacksonville
in not too long. This is where I’ll be staying. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
THOMAS JR.: (On when he determined football was his sport) “Football has been my sport since I was
six years old. I just took a year off my ninth-grade year just to get stronger. I came into high school, I was
a little leaner. I just took a year off to get a little stronger, but football has always been my main sport.”
THOMAS JR.: (On relationship with his father as a mentor) “My dad, I got a great relationship with. I
wouldn’t say he focused more on basketball or anything, he really left it up to me. Whatever I wanted to
do, he would support me one hundred percent. Whatever I wanted to do, he would be there for me.
He’s continued to do that for me.”
THOMAS JR.: (On his experience last night after getting drafted and into today) “Night was pretty long,
had a lot of interviews and stuff. Once I got back to the hotel and got back to the room, I chilled out a
little bit. I was able to go to sleep, get a couple hours of sleep. Came in this morning on a private jet, that
was my first time experiencing being on a private jet. It was amazing.”
THOMAS JR.: (On what he showed to the team about his football IQ) “It came up with just taking the
little test or whatever, how they test you to see how you remember things, how you learn things. I would
say it came up during then. I would say my football IQ is one of the biggest things that helps me out
when I’m out there playing.”
PEDERSON: (On what stood out about Brian Thomas Jr. with football IQ) “The things we saw on tape,
and when you talk to coaches and people close to Brian, you know the level of comfort there and
understanding his offense. Understanding his role in that offense and being able to run just about every
route in the route tree. I said last night, there’s going to be some different routes that we’re going to ask
him to do and utilize his skillset that way. It’s going to take some time, it’s going to take some new
learning with a new system. But I’m very confident, we’ve got rookie minicamp coming up and then the
rest of the offseason program. We’re going to do everything we can to get him caught up to speed as fast
as we can and get him plugged in.”
PEDERSON: (On what Brian Thomas Jr.’s skillset will do for the offense) “I think the number one thing you
see is the speed on film. You see the ability to get behind secondary and the second and third level
defenders. That’s big in our league. Again, I mentioned last night too, there’s going to be some different
coverages that he’s going to see here at the NFL level. A lot of teams try to keep that at bay, they try not
to get receivers behind you. But, it’s our job as coaches to make sure that we create opportunities to do
that and utilize that speed. What that does then, is open up the second level area. That’s where those 12
to 15 to 20 to 25-yard ranges are really important. That’s where you can spend a lot of time and make a
lot of catches in those areas with what we saw on tape with Brian. Being able to separate at the top of
the route and use that athleticism and use his strength and his size to create some openness there in
that second level.”
THOMAS JR.: (On if it’s sank in yet that he’s a first-round draft pick) “Yeah, it’s getting there. As the time
goes by, it’s sinking in more and more.”
BAALKE: (On having big play capabilities on the offense being a priority) “I think yes to all of that. It was
certainly something that we targeted within the system. Again, as you talk to coach, we’re looking for
ideal fits. He’s an ideal fit for what the coaching staff is looking for, for what we feel we need to expand
offensively. All of it, and a culture fit. Like we talk about, bringing in the type of guys that fit into this
locker room, fit into this community and he checked all of the boxes that way.”
BAALKE: (On if he anticipates staying put with the upcoming draft picks tonight) “Well again, we’ve
already reached out. There’s a chance we do some things to try to move up, there’s no guarantees that’s
going to happen. We feel good at the pick we’re at that we’re going to get a good football player. If the
opportunity arises and we can move up, we’ll do so. If we stand pat, we’ll do that. There’s a chance we
move back. Everything is on the table right now, we feel the board is in good shape, we like a lot of the
options that we have in front of us. We’ll just see how the early round goes.”
BAALKE: (On if the league turning into more offensive picks than defensive in the future) “Every draft
takes on its own identity, this one was obviously slanted towards the offensive side. I think as you move
further along here in the second round, you’re probably going to see a lot of defensive guys start to
come off the board. It’s a need-based league right now, not that it always hasn’t been. I think there’s
value in this second round, there’s going to be a lot of guys that come out of this second round that end
up starting in the National Football League. I wouldn’t discount this day, it’s an important day for us and
it’s an important day for a lot of teams around the league.”
PEDERSON: (On how much being a two-sport athlete impacts a player’s athletic profile) “I like guys that
play multiple sports growing up. I think it just makes them more of a well-rounded athlete. Different
skillsets, but at the same time, I think it benefits the player. It just gives them that athleticism you’re
looking for. I’m all for guys that play multiple sports, whether it’s big guys that wrestle, or things of that
nature. He’s not a wrestler, but a duel-sport guy or a track guy. It’s just a different skillset that turns them
into really good athletes.”
BAALKE: (On what separated Brian Thomas Jr.’s talent ability and a need for a receiver) “I think it’s a
combination of everything. Again, when you look at Brian and where he’s been, the type of young man
he is, the ability to check all the boxes as far as what we’re looking for in players. There were a lot of
good football players on the board, he happens to be one of them. Not to discredit anybody else, but at
17, like we said last night, Brian would’ve been the pick and he ended up being the pick at 23. We’re just
fortunate to have him and looking forward to getting him on the grass.”
BAALKE: (On having nerves on draft night) “I don’t get nervous, I had to settle coach down. There’s
always some angst when you trade back and you’re looking at a board. We just felt really good about the
way the board looked. Like I said last night, the teams that were in between 17 and 23 and their needs,
you can’t control someone else trading in between you. But, you just do the best you can to analyze the
situation and you hope for the best once you make the trade.”
