DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023
(On what LB Shaquille Quarterman has to do to keep his spot on the roster) “Well, Shaq’s [LB Shaquille
Quarterman] a vet that we trust, so we know what he brings to the table. There’s competition with
everybody when you have a roster that’s this deep, you have bunch of guys that are competing for spots
and that’s just one of the positions.”
(On his son’s football talent) “Well, I know they’re working hard because they were working twice a day
this spring. It’s really a great school [Bolles High School], a bunch of good coaches over there and team.
I’m excited about him getting an opportunity to play this year, and just ready for them to get it going.”
(On discussions with his son on college football scholarship offers) “Really, I tell him just to focus on
being the best player he can be right now, get better every day, and the other stuff can take care of itself.
He has a level head on him and he understands that he has to put the work in. Then when he puts the
work in, he’ll have opportunities to do other things.”
(On having more comfortability in his second year, specifically in generating the pass rush) “I think when
you look at that, the way that question was asked, you really look at the person. They understand
themselves and we just try to put them in their best position. You go back and you look at it, certain guys
do certain things well, and we’ll ask them to continue to do that. The main thing is, going back to me
being comfortable, anytime it’s your second time going around, the first time everything is new, this time
everything is still new, but I have a little more confidence in being able to help the guys put them in
certain positions. At the end of the day, those guys have went back in the offseason, they’ve put in the
work, and now it’s time for them to let it show on the field.”
(On if OLB Josh Allen, OLB Travon Walker, and OLB K’Lavon Chaisson have a sense of urgency) “Well you
talk about it, competition. There’s competition up and down the whole roster. So, when you look at the
competition, guys know that if I’m not up to par, then there’s somebody behind me that’s pushing me.
That’s how a team becomes better and that’s how players become better. The more you have
competition, the better you’re going to be.”
(On CB Tyson Campbell’s growth as a player and leader) “Really, the leadership stands out first. He’s a
guy that came in, was a young guy, really talented, and he’s starting to put it together. When he puts it
together, he’s able to let his experience show to the other guys and help the other guys. Tyson is a guy
that has all the talent in the world and you can see the confidence growing in him. I’m happy he’s here
and I’m ready for big things this year.”
(On the importance of having players help guide younger players) “It’s always good to hear from a coach,
but when you have a veteran player that’s been there and you see him on the tape all the time doing it
and doing it well, then as a younger player, that’s someone that I tell them, ‘You outta get right behind
and listen to everything he has to say.’ Tyson [CB Tyson Campbell] is a type of person that he’s willing to
help anybody. Whether it’s staying at the field or watching extra film with them. Just being able to be
that example of, ‘I was a young guy one time, here’s the process I went through.’ Just help the guys
speed up their process.”
(On beneficial for CB Tyson Campbell to go against WR Calvin Ridley everyday) “When you go against a
good one, it helps you out, and Calvin is a good one. He’s one of the ones. It’s all about the competition,
whether it’s within your group or on offense, competition is what makes us the team we’re going to be.
We’re out there every day going against the offense, they’ll hit a play, we’ll hit a play. It’s just going back
and forth, and you learn from that. Then, that carries over into a game situation when something
happens in a game, you can get muscle memory of what happened in training camp and you’re able to
perform that way.”
(On DT DaVon Hamilton’s health status) “Right now, that’s a situation for Fergy [Vice President of Player
Health and Performance Jeff Ferguson] and he’ll handle that. He’s working with them and when he gets
back with us, he’ll be back with us.”
(On DT DaVon Hamilton participating in drills) “Yeah, he’s out there, and again, I’ll let you ask Fergy [Vice
President of Player Health and Performance Jeff Ferguson] that one.”
(On if OLB K’Lavon Chaisson is a late bloomer as a pass rusher) “When you look at K’Lavon, the tools are
there and he’s a smart and talented outside linebacker. He has ability to rush, he’s shown it, and we’re
just waiting for him to be healthy and get his opportunity to get out there and show what he can do.”
(On if he thinks OLB K’Lavon Chaisson needs to just stay healthy to improve) “When you look at it, he’s
never really had the chance for a full season. We’re waiting for him to be healthy. When you look at him
from the time we got here to now, the work he’s put in, it’s time for his hard work to pay off for him.”
(On talent of DL Tyler Lacy so far) “Tyler, he’s a guy that once we found him on film, we looked at him, we
liked the way he played the game, and it’s still showing. Now, we’re still in shorts and for a D-lineman in
shorts, you can judge them, but the game is played with pads on. We’re going to wait until he gets the
pads on, but everything we see from now, he’s a big, strong, athletic guy and we’re ready for him to put
the pads on.”
(On importance of bringing back OLB Dawuane Smoot) “To get Smoot here, last year the team really
gelled so well late in the season. Certain guys filled in certain roles, and he’s a guy that he has a role on
the team and we always wanted our guys back. It’s good that it took awhile to get him back, but now
he’s back and when he’s back on the field with us fully, that’ll be great. But we’re just excited to have him
back, his leadership in the outside linebacker room, defensive line room, he gives us versatility to be able
to rush inside and rush outside. He’s a guy that wears a bunch of different hats for us, and it’s always
good to have a veteran guy be able to do that.”
(On differences from last year to now with LB Devin Lloyd and LB Chad Muma) “I think you can just
watch it on the film. Last year, you might see a false step here, you might see a bad eye discipline, but
now, it’s starting to be more consistent. Still not there and as consistent as we want it to be, but it was a
play the other day, they ran a bootleg and Devin’s eyes were in the right spot and the play was really a
nonfactor because his eyes were in the right spot. That’s the progression you see, that he’s more
comfortable here, he understands where he’s supposed to look, able to do it, and that just enables him
to make plays for us.”
(On if OLB Travon Walker felt pressure last year as the number one overall pick) “You can look at it that
way, because if you think about it, he’s the number one pick in the NFL draft. He was taken number one
over everybody. So, you can look at that as pressure, but Travon and a bunch of guys in the locker room
they’ve been ‘the guy’ all their lives. The pressure, they’re used to it. But he just understands now that
‘I’m the guy, I’m the number one pick, but I’m also Travon. I’m going to be Travon on the field and my
Travon is good enough for the Jags.’ Because we trust in his ability and it’s going to show and it’ll pay
dividends for us.”
(On if OLB Travon Walker felt that confidence last year) “There’s two things that go into it. He’s the
number one pick and then he’s a rookie. In a rookie, you have to feel your way. His personality is that
he’s a real humble guy, but at the end of the day, he’s number one. He should have that on his shoulder,
he should be top dog and he plays like that in the run game, now it’s time for him to play like that in the
pass game which he has all the talent in the world and we’re for him to do it.”
(On if OLB Travon Walker is playing looser now that he’s in his second season) “Right now, because we
haven’t put the pads on, we haven’t gone against a different opponent, but you can see the confidence
in him, the way he moves around the field, the way he’s more vocal, making checks, and just the way he
aligns. It’s more confident and I’m excited for him, I’m ready to go.”
(On how young players have been able to push the vets) “I guess just early on in camp, it’s really about
like we talked earlier, competition. We’ve got a bunch of guys in different positions that are going to get
many reps out of practice. They’re going to get to reps and the cream rises to the top. You get your
opportunity, you go out there, you play and you perform, then you continue to get more opportunities.
There’s a bunch of guys out there that are vying for different positions. Again, like I said, competition is
great. Let’s go get it.
(On potential of opportunity for CB Gregory Junior) “I think the position that he came in last year,
throughout all last year, he worked on the practice squad some and got elevated up. You could see him,
to me, it looked like his body changed from when he first got here to the end of the season. His body
changed and the techniques he kept working on it and working on it, now it’s his opportunity to go out
there and compete.”
SAFETY RAYSHAWN JENKINS
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023
(On how training camp has been so far) “The first few days, you’re getting acclimated. You’re coming out,
getting acclimated to the heat, to your teammates, you got a few new faces but for the most part,
everybody’s pretty familiar with each other so everything is going pretty smooth for right now.”
(On how different the new facility is from the old one) “Yeah, this is a much more professional facility as
you can see. It feels good out here, the grass feels good, the turf, all the amenities and everything is just
top tier. It feels good to be treated like a pro which I’m not saying we weren’t, but it definitely feels good
to have all of this at our fingertips.”
(On what he wants to improve on from last season) “Just staying consistent, just continuing to come out
here and prove that I can do that game-in and game-out. I’ve been training and working and really
putting my best foot forward so I could be able to do that for my team in any given situation.”
(On if he did anything different in the offseason while training) “I would just say probably more
conditioning just so that when it’s late in that fourth quarter and everybody tired, like my mom said, it’s
to be the last man standing. If I can look as good as I did on the first play, then that’s all I will need.”
(On what he’s seen out of S Andre Cisco and CB Tyson Campbell so far) “Just true professionals. They
always want to get better, they’re always asking questions, and they’re not afraid to ask questions.
They’re both really good players. Sometimes, players that are that good, they tend to feel like they can
do stuff on their own, but they still come to the older guys like me and D Will [CB Darious Williams] and
just really continue to keep that open ear.”
(On how comfortable he is in Defensive Coordinator Mike Caldwell’s defense going into the second year)
“Yeah, really comfortable. It’s always good to come back into a scheme or situation that is familiar. I
know when I was with the Chargers, we were in the same scheme for all four years and that really played
to my benefit. I feel like the same thing can happen here as well. Last year, we were just getting familiar
with the play calls, the coaches, and everything like that. But now, we know the things that can beat us,
we know what plays to our advantages and what plays to our disadvantages. It’s always good to come
back to a familiar scheme.”
(On how to continue to produce turnovers) “Just like Bob Sutton [Senior Defensive Assistant Bob Sutton]
always says, you move towards your most dominant thought. So, it constantly has to be on your mind
when you’re out here on this practice field, you got to be thinking about the turnovers. You can’t just go
through the motions and say, ‘Hey, let’s just get through practice today.’ It’s, ‘Hey, I got to take the ball
away.’”
(On how good the communication is in the secondary) “It’s great. Just like I said, we got the same faces
coming back. We’re familiar with being around each other, our lockers are literally right next to each
other. So, even if we miss something out here, we can go back into the locker room and talk about
whatever we need to talk about. Our coaches always make sure that we understand our assignment no
matter what.”
(On if he sees anything different this year from OLB Travon Walker and LB Devin Lloyd) “They look way
more comfortable, a lot of the thinking is out of the game because we’re coming back into a familiar
situation, so they don’t have to do too much thinking. They can just come out here and go off of what
they were doing last year, but even better now because they can understand a lot more stuff.”
(On what he wants to show as a defense) “Man, that we’re a top-five defense in the league and that’s
just real. I feel like we put some good things on film last year, but this year is about being more
consistent. We had some highs, we had some lows but I don’t want to fall to 2-and-7 like we did last
year, just come out here and not play behind the eight-ball. Let’s just get things going early and have
people have to catch up to us.”
(On if the Jaguars are a top-five defense) “Absolutely.”
(On people not giving them respect across the league) “It’s all good. It just keeps that chip on our
shoulder and that just gives us another thing to come out here and work at. The critics want to say how
we’re not this and not that, I don’t even think we had any accolades on defense last year. But that’s just
another thing to keep working towards and we’ll get it.”
(On if he has taken S Antonio Johnson “under his wing”) “Yeah, absolutely. He comes and asks me like if
I’m out here and he sees something well or anything, he’ll come up to me and be like, ‘Hey Jenks, what
did you see in that play?’ I’ll break down the entire thought process to him because I want them to be
able to learn earlier than I did. I feel like I didn’t start learning the game until maybe year three. These
guys are at an advantage in my opinion because they really have vets that will teach them step-by-step
their thought process, the game, being situational, things like that. He’s just really eager to learn, good
kid.”
