RUNNING BACK CHRIS RODRIGUEZ JR.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
(On the free agency process and why he chose Jacksonville) “Yeah, how quickly it came
about, honestly I talked to my agent probably early in the day, what was it two days ago I
guess you would say? And he’s like, ‘Just stay by your phone at four o’clock. You never
know.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, that’s cool.’ And then at 4:15, I was actually boarding a plane. We
were flying to Virginia, and my phone was blowing up at I think 4:10. My phone was blowing
up, agent was calling me. Liam [Head Coach Liam Coen] was calling me, and it happened.
It all happened so fast. Before I even touched down, my agent is like, ‘We just agreed to
terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars.’ So, I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s do it. I’m so excited.’ And as
far as to why Jacksonville, I think it’s an opportunity. I feel like it was going to be the best
opportunity for me. I know Liam and he knows me and I know the type of standard he
expects, and I feel like we can get that done.”
(On his relationship with Coen) “Oh yeah, for sure. Honestly, when Liam got to Kentucky, he
had to be one of my favorite coaches up until that point. Obviously, I have high school
coaches who I’m super close with, but when I got to with Liam and my running back coach
at the time, those guys were amazing. I feel like that whole time, I guess you could say it
was only a year, but it felt like a lifetime knowing that guy. I got cool with him and Ms.
Ashley, his wife, and honestly, they’re good people. What I learned about Liam is he knows
who you are. He knows your best self and once you show it to him, he expects nothing
less.”
(On if his receiving ability is his ‘secret weapon’) “No, I wouldn’t say it’s a secret weapon.
Hey, ask any of my coaches that I’ve been around, they would tell you, I can catch the ball.
At Kentucky, we had another running back who was maybe a little better at running routes
or had a little more speed, so they never asked me to actually do it. I feel like I can catch, I
can run routes, might not be as clean as some of the other guys but I can definitely run
routes and catch the ball.”
(On when he first realized that Coen was ‘different’ than other coaches) “Yeah, first
moment with Liam, well, I’ll tell you so at Kentucky our offensive coordinator was actually
the running backs coach, so it was already different from that perspective. We had a coach
who was coaching us and staying in the room and then we would go to an offensive
meeting and then we have Liam who’s coaching everybody. Liam, man, the first interaction,
he honestly seemed cool. It was easy to click with him. You didn’t have to force a
conversation with him. And if he saw you, it was a conversation. He’ll stop, have a
conversation with you, talk to you, ask how everybody’s doing. I’d say it was an experience.
I think he only got upset with the Kentucky team a few times. You hate to see that side of
him come out, but that’s him coaching you hard.”
(On the differences of how Coen runs an offense) “Yeah, he wants to see everybody shine.
It’s not all one-sided. When I was at Kentucky, crazy story, we were playing some lower-
level school or whatever it is, you do those little games at the beginning of the year. We had
our quarterback who had a hundred and something. We had two receivers that went for a
hundred and I had 90 yards or something like that. And Liam comes up to me, he’s like,
‘Hey, you’re going to go in and you’re going to get 100 yards. Better go do it on two plays,
that’s all you got.’ So, first play, I think I only had one yard but the second play, I end up
getting I think probably like a 20-yard gain. I think it was New Mexico State maybe it was.
After that, it’s like, ‘Damn, appreciate that, man.’ So yeah, I feel like his offense is well
rounded. He expects efficiency and he wants everybody to shine at the end of the day.”
(On if he has made contact with any other Jaguars players) “I haven’t really talked to any of
them yet, I would say. I played at Kentucky with Josh [DE Josh Hines-Allen] for one year. I
haven’t texted him yet. Then there’s one of the tight ends who actually trains where I train at
in Georgia, Brenton [TE Brenton Strange]. So, he trains in Georgia where I’m at. I’ve talked to
him a few times, just out catching, whatever we were doing but other than that, I haven’t
really talked to anybody else.”
(On the opportunity to build on the team’s success last season) “Yeah, clicking with those
running backs, I would say. Figuring out what it is that can help make us more efficient or
not even just as a running back, but as an offensive standpoint. That’s a conversation that
we have with the guys and going into the season we’ll figure out what we need and how we
can improve. It’s going to be a competition every day with those guys. It’s one thing I like to
do; we like to compete. So, I feel like it’s going to be a fun process.”
(On how he sees his role as a veteran in the RB room) “I guess being one of those dudes
that they can call upon. If they have any questions about anything, I’m here to answer
them. I know these guys were in great hands before with another veteran in the room and
now going into Liam’s second season, I know he’s done well with them as well.”
(On if he is excited to see Coen as a head coach) “Yeah, I actually am and I was just talking
to him about it. Being at Kentucky, he was there for one year, then he left my last year, and I
told him I had beef with him (laughs). That’s my guy, man. I’m excited for him, especially
going into his second year. He was Kentucky, then he went to the Rams and back to
Kentucky and now to being a head coach going into his second year. Great guy. He deserves
it all.”
