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Press Pass | Jaguars Draft Day 1 Recap Press Conference · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Could you just talk a little bit about.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: How the deal sort of.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Came together and did did you think it was something
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: that was going to.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Be I don't know easy in any way, or did
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: you did did you have any reservation about whether you
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: guys could come to the terms that would satisfy both sides.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't know if I had any real
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: expectation for what that was gonna look like when we
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: first started to engage. It's uh, it's been something that
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Andrew Berry and I have been working through for the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: better part of two weeks. You know, got to give
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: him a shout out because you know, he made it
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: a seamless process. You know, certainly kept open lines of
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: communication for that duration, and you know, as I I
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: think think back to where we initially started with it
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and where we ended, it certainly included some back and forth.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: But along the way there was a pretty good pulse
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: for what the end was going to look like and
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: really what executing that once they were on the clock
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: would sort of shape out to be. And the fact
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: that it came to life as seamlessly as it did
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: once the bell rung is something that was fulfilling and
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: being able to sit here tonight with Travis Hunter as
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: a Jacksonville Jaguar is a vision that Liam, myself, Tony
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and the rest of our coaching staff and scouting staff
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: certainly have a collective vision for and are really interested
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: in getting him here, getting him to the city, letting
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: our fan base began to feel him, and ultimately his
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: teammates began to get to work with him. I certainly
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: wanted to take a moment because I know both Liam
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: and I our wives had a chance to spend some
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: time with the fan base tonight at Lemon Bar, and
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: they certainly felt like they were at home. Certainly enjoyed
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: that turnout. Gave us a shout to to make sure that, uh,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: we made mention of it, because uh, certainly this is
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: a an exciting moment in time for the Jacksonville Jaguars
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: and we look forward to us to come uh and
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: certainly appreciate the first question.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: From Wall to Liam, what is your what is your vision?
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Travis said?
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: The Travis gave a.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Very generic answer about how he would be utilized here,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: you know, basically saying, you know, whatever the coaches think
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: and what have you, what is your vision for him?
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Do you see him more as someone who would spend
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: more time on the offensive side of the ball as
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: a support for Trevor that you you and both James
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: and have sort of proposed in the past.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Or do you see him or you see.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: It as kind of a a will see type of situation.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Oh, it's a little bit more than a will see.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: But we do have to be fluid throughout right. Well,
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: we'll have a plan right now of you know, primarily
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: on offense, with with learning the defensive system and practicing
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: on the defensive side of the ball as well throughout
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: this off season program, and then as we continue to grow.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: We have to be fluid throughout this whole process. We've
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: had multiple conversations at length with athletic training equipment, sports science,
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: coaching equipment, everybody involved about this process and what it's
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: going to look like moving forward. So we have a
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: plan in place and that's really where we'll start.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: For both of you guys.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Just what is it about Travis that made it so
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: valuable for you guys to move up and gave up.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: A first round tick next year, second round pick? Just
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: all this pick?
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: What stands out about traps to make them that valuable?
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: You know, I think there's a lot of layers to that.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: I'll try and touch on a few things right first
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: and foremost, we mentioned the idea that a trademark of
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: this leadership group, when there's an opportunity to be bold,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: we're not going to flinch. I think this is a
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: reflection of that. In the same lens you've heard us
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: mention the idea of adding people who are intangibly rich
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: and Travis, in fact, as a player is rare, but
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: as a person, he's also rare. And beyond that, when
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: we say that, the idea of inviting people into our
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: ecosystem who, by being nothing more than who they are,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: elevate the space is the epitome of what Travis is,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: and we're not going to ask him to be any
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: more than him, because by doing so, he elevates not
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: only this football team, not only this city, but the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: sport itself. Right along the way right you can count,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: however many drafts you want to. There are players who
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: have the capacity to alter a game. There are players
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of a team.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: There are very few players who have the capacity to
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: alter the trajectory of the sport. Travis, while he has
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: a lot to still earn in our eyes, has the
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: potential to do just that, and so it's an exciting
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: step for us to take and obviously a lot of
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: work to be done, because while Travis's dream is now reality,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: he's still dreaming in a different way than most do.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: He prepares in a different way than most do. But
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: now it's time to bring you to life.
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: Just Liam, if you could just add on to that,
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: what stands.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Out to you from coaches perspective about Travis.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: First and foremost, the competitor, the ability to play on
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: obviously both sides of the football, is just the player
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: in general, the snaps that he takes, the preparation, the accountability,
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: the way that he's in the building at five am training.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: His body is a four point zero student and goes
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: out on the on the field and impacts the game
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: right on both sides of the ball. He impacts the game.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: He's got a great feel for the game itself. When
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: he's on the offensive side of the ball, finding zone
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: in the in the defense, he's got really good ball skills.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: He can do it, do something with it after the catch.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: And then on the defensive side of the ball, he
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: finds it, and that's ultimately what we're trying to do
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: here is continue to find people that can help us
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: get our hands on the ball on the defensive side
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: and and go impact the game in that way.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Sorry, he told us that he hadn't spoken no, no, no,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: that he hadn't spoken with anybody from the Jaguars's the combine.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Can you too recount your one on one or personal
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: interactions with him throughout this process. Yeah, that's an interesting
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: one because we hadn't touched base with him. We had
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: touched base with his his agents, his reps, uh, just
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: to get a pulse for what was gonna unfold over
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: the course of the first four picks with the idea
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: that we were sitting at five. But nonetheless, it's very
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: easy to feel that Travis has gravity and when he
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: walks into a room, the light turns on and regardless
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: of if the electricity is actually in fact switched up.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: But that was a moment that definitely resonated with us
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: and his engagement with our coaching staff. The questions that
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: he was asking as we were walking through some of
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: his film and some of the install specific to the
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: plays that we run, it was really telling of the
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: mind that he has the curiosity, the interests, and growth.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: There's certainly a vivid visual for why he is where
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: he is based off of that fifteen minute interaction. But obviously,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: like I've articulated in the past, the weight of a
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: singular touch point like that doesn't hold much in our
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: eyes as opposed to some of the sourced intel over
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: the course of a player's life, whether it's at Colorado
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: for him at Jackson State or back to high school
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: and earlier. So certainly feel good about that interaction, feel
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: good about the process, and not sort of tipping the
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: hands as it related to what we were going to
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: do here tonight. But that's that's probably where we're at.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Mike.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: When you guys were coming up with your draft plan,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: was it we're going to go get Travis or was
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: it more like, hey, let's call the Browns and see
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: if we can work something out. And maybe that's a
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: great question, because I think it could go either way,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and really the way in which it settled for us,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: we had our initial dialogue without that in mind, and
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: just wanted to discuss the players in silos, get the
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: take on how we would utilize each and really our
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: vision for their utilization. And you know, over the course
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: of time, as we began sleeping with our thoughts, right,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: the idea of this combination of players, or this player
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: in and of himself is now going to be a
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Jaguar once we make this selection. It got us to
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: a point where where Travis Hunter was most settling, and
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: we engaged in those conversations with the idea that, hey,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: this this is more than likely going to be a stretch.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: It's it's probably not going to be something that, uh,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: we'll be able to bring to life. Let's just go
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: in with that expectation, so we're not ultimately disappointed. And
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: when things began to uh sort of grow and accelerate
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: over the coach of those conversations, uh, you know, obviously
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: you get you become more firm in your your stance
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: and your pursuit and uh and so certainly happy with
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: the way that it unfolded here tonight.
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: Did you guys.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Get the framework of the deal done?
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: And there would essentially agreeing on officially today, yesterday, last
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: night or what was that.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I don't know when it was exactly. It wasn't today
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: or yesterday, so it was before that. But uh, you know,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: we had agreed on the framework, and then it was
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: just sitting with it, uh all the way up until
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: they were on the clock.
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: How you look at the draft capital reserve and you
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: pause about moving the.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Oh you know what, Uh, I probably got some familiarity
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: with the uh them picks uh sort of process. So
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: for our fans, I'll tell you, don't be scared. This
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: is uh something I'm uniquely positioned to navigate. And uh
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: we ended up with jack We ended up we ended
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: up bringing Travis Hunter to Jacksonville. And with that, uh,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: he is somebody who is deserving of a first round
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: draft pick as a wide receiver, and he is worthy
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: of a first round draft pick as a corner.
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: Uh.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Certainly look forward uh to each of those elements showing
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: themselves over the next few years while he's under his
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: rookie contract. But uh, yeah, we're excited about just getting
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: him in the boat, so to speak. You don't get
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: one chance to make a first empression.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Why is it so important to come away with the
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: splash to really start your tents?
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this was a a certainly a statement
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: for you know, how we plan to move, how we
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: plan to operate. I think we did a lot of
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: talking up to this point and wanted to make sure
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: that we showed through action exactly what those words mean.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: And I think that this is certainly a reflection, uh
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: of a lot of the catchphrases or so to speak,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: catch phrases that uh may have been presumed as much,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: but this is a uh, a real visual representation of
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: what all that means. A couple more just to lease
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: to meet him going through John Liam Uh, you know,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: adding obviously Travis or having Brian adding the homing free agency.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: This is the kind of support and firepower you envision
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: putting around Trevor when you first got the STOVL.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a little bit.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: You're always trying to add competition in in you know,
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: playmakers right as many there there's so many schemes that
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: you can devise and and execute and ultimately, when you
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: have players that can win on their own and do
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: something with the ball on their own, I can't really
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: coach that, and defensive court of coordinators can't really coach
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: for that. So ultimately you're looking for players can they
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: win on their own and can they impact our offense
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: in that way? Yes, he does, and that is what
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: we were looking to do in so many ways. Try
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: to address the ability to block up front in the
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: in the pro free agency and get some more help
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: there and competition at that position on positions on the
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: old line, and try to go get this guy here, Liam.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: If you've heard have you heard from any of your players,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: perhaps any fun anecdotes you can show.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Eric Armstead facetimed us right after and you could not
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: hear He could not hear us.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: It was crazy there, but he was like, hey man,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: this is I mean, he was He was great.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: He said, way to make a first impression, you know.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Josh Heinz Allen texted me excited Trevor. Trevor as well,
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: and so that's been fun.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: You're going to talk about being agile. So I think
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Eric was originally slotted to do that the second round pick,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: and he had hit me up at breakfast the other morning.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: It was like, all looking forward to the opportunity heading
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: up this evening should be a blast. Thinking in the
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: back of my mind, I'm like, should I give him
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the heads up? But they pivoted and they remained agile.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: They're in real time in Green Bay, and the atmosphere
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: there certainly looked great.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: James You've mentioned being bold and not flinching. But I
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: want to ask where does that confidence come from? Because,
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: as multiple people have alluded to, this is your first draft.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: It's going to be tied to your tenure here.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: So where do you get that confidence from?
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Oh, you know what, I think. I think preparation helps
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: with that. I think at the same time, you know,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: just over the course of your life, you probably experiences
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: experience moments in which you didn't do something out of fear,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: and you also experience the moments that you sort of
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: take the leap and begin to level and balance the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: sensations that come with each And I know every step
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: that I didn't take that related to fear, I regret it,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: and so that's not something I intend on doing the
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: rest of my life. So I think it's also something
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: that I would if ever giving advice to anybody, which
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: I don't say I should do all that often, because
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: each of us should sort of build off of our
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: own experiences or observing those of others. But not being
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: scared is something that goes a long way. Courage goes
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: a long way, I can tell you with that right
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: and within experience, that's where fear starts. To set in,
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: and the fear of the unknown is something that if
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: you can work past, there's no telling what you can
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: get to. And so I think certainly wanted to reflect
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: that not only into Night's actions, but in every action
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: that we take in our normal modes of operation. We
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: still have nine picks on the horizon, and as much
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: as we're excited about what took place here today, we're
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: excited about getting back to work and bringing those players
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: into this ecosystem to continue to level it up by
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: being again nothing more than who they are.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: Also, a football that you brought in. I've seen the
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: pictures of you holding it. What is there a story
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: there or you know what?
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: I don't know. It's probably it probably makes sense because
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Liam probably feels very similar, right when when you grow
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: up in a football family or in a world of sport,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: life feels a little better when a ball's in your hand.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: And so I guess you can just say it's some
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: version of a fidget spinner, right and so so Liam
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: and I it's also like the power of touch. It's
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: our version of touch with each other and toss the
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: ball back and forth, brainstorming. Uh, So it's become a
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: version of a bridge, right, it's I don't even know
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: what the game was. The game is called. But when
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: you're like an elementary school and you're in a circle
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: and you pass the I don't know whatever, the ball, yeah,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: potatoes up, but they like say something and then they ever, yeah,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: it's your turn. You introduce yourself to something interesting. It's
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: just it's a cool little mechanism that brings us together
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: in a way as well. But yeah, so no real
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: deep meaning behind it other than it's just a toy. Yeah,
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: last squatch. I mean he can catch it. That makes
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: more more than I have. It usually takes quite a
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: few time. Liam.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: How does Travis's extraordinary offensive talent pair with what Brian
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Thomas can do on the other side for you guys,
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: With the potency of those two guys, I.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: Think just adds another layer for the defense, right, for
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: them to have to defend against or not maybe be
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: able to double team one side of the field or
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: lean a safety which way, man VT working with him
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: over the last few days was really impressive, really impressive.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, freak.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: So that was exciting and to be able to have
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: this opportunity now to you know, continue to add to
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: that room because that room this week I thought did
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: a great job. All the guys, you know, Deanmi Parker,
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: all those guys that were out there competing did a
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: great job. And this just only adds to the competitiveness
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: in that room as well as to the team because
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: it's going to be multiple positions here. So yeah, it was,
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: it was.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: That was pretty cool. Word. Thank you,