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Press Pass | CJ Williams Media Zoom Call | 2026 NFL Draft · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: DJ congratulations.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Just you know, at what point or maybe at what
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: point in the process did you realize that the Jaguars
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: might be interested.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: In you if they have it all? And then just
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: what do you sort of bring to the table here?
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, I mean, I appreciate you, Demetrius saying gratulations.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: I'm excited to be here in Jacksonville and to obviously
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: fly there here soon, but I'm excited to be a
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: part of the organization, be a part of the city.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: But for me and my process, it was kind of
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: early on I threw out Jacksonville was interested in My agent,
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Kevin Connor had came to me and told me, you know,
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: the GM Gladstone had asked about me, And you know,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: I had heard from previous schools obviously I was at Wisconsin,
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: previous staff places like UH at Stanford that they had.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Asked about me.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: So it was kind of lingering in the back of
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: my mind that Jacksonville was interested. And I'm excited at
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: the fact that they selected me, and even throughout the
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: whole process, I was excited for them to be interested
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: in So that's enough, And what did you and I'll
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: bring the table? I think I just yeah, of course,
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: the maatures a competitive football player, like a complete guy,
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: right place, right times type of guy. I don't think
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: the staff is ever gonna have to worry about me
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: being in that playbook. Trevor's never gonna have to worry
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: about or any of the quarterbacks for that matter, you know,
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: dropping balls consistently. Like I just want to be a
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: complete guy that competes and adds to the room in
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: whatever way possible. There's just first year playing special teams,
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: whether it's you know, doing whatever, competing every single day
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: and just bringing a competitive schwagger is the way I
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: like to use it. When I put the helmet on,
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: I'm a different guy than I think I am when
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: I do interviews or you meet me in person.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: So that's what they're probably gonna see on a day
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: in and day out. Basis awesome and congrats again thanks
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to fatures. What's up, CJ.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Jacksonville. Man, Well, what was this moment, like
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: what was the lead up to the draft and finally
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: getting that phone call like for you, Yeah, of.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Course, thanks Jabal. It was stressful. I think that's the
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: best word to use for it.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: Like I think if that's anyone and everyone that was
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: in my situation with feeling the same kind of way.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: But for me, when you're in it, you don't really
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: know how stressful it is until you're actually in it, right,
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: And so sitting here day two and day three and
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: really day one, just trying to see what receivers are
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: coming off the board, what direction A lot of teams
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: that I spoke to are trying to go, whether they're
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: going to.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Get small guys, fast guys, big guys like you.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Know, I'm really just it was a stressful time, you know,
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: a lot of calculated decision making, I think from Mayan
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: as far as you know, putting down names and trying
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: to figure out, you know, what's the best situation for me.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: But overall, I mean, I wouldn't trade it for the world, right,
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: the opportunity to play football at the next level, and
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: not a whole lot of people get to do it,
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: so and especially as out of a place that was
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: obviously just in the playoffs, the place that has a
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: great culture from everything I've heard and everything I've researched
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: on them. So you know, I'm excited. I'm grateful to
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: be exactly where I am. I'm blessed. And that's really
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: all I can say beyond just distress. I mean, it
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: was completely worth it.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you put your kind of own swag to it,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: But is there a receiver in the league now that
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: you let you like watching, or that you try and
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: model or take tips from.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, these past months you might have heard me
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: say this, Demetrius. I mean, I kind of knew that
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: Jacksonville was interested. So I watched our whole slate of
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: games from last year. That was kind of the luxury
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: of having like a guy that came from the NFL
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: as our head coach, Like we had all those games,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: and I just love how Jacoby and Parker Washington play
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: the game football like they come out there with the
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: physical tenacity. You can tell that they have intent when
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: they're walking, especially when they're run routes.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: They're consistent guys.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: So those are two guys I think specifically on the
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: Jaguars that I love. Obviously, everyone everyone in the world
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: loves BTJ but like the little things I think Jacoby
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: and Pat and Patrick Washington do consistently, Like those are
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: my kind of guys. And then beyond that, I think
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Jays and obviously had a great year, right. I think
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: he plays with a really good pad level and he's
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: a route running guy. That's what I kind of strive
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: and want to be. And he plays consistently. And then
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: the last one, I think I'm gonna give shout out
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: to a legend, but Larry Fitzgerald, Right, he was coached
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: by my head coach on the Cardinals.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: He was his receiver coach. So I mean he's just
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the epitome of consistency.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Like great, you got to be consistently good to be
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: great at one point in time, and you need to
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: achieved that.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: So you know, I aspired to be like that.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Congratulations to CJ.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Appreciated man. Thanks Jamal, I appreciate you. We'll go to
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: MI then to O'Halloran.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: I SEEJ. Nice to meet you. Congratulations. Can you kind
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: of walk us through your college journey because you were
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: a top one hundred recruit, right and then almost was
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: a Notre Dame and kind of a couple different stops
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: along the way, so kind of walk us through the
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: last five to six years.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, h I mean for me, I mean
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: just like I think this journey kind of uh subtenly
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: slimmed down right, the journey of going to the NFL Draft,
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: I means a lot of ups and downs. Right, started
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: off as a top one hundred recruit, committed an order
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: dame in high school for for a long time, probably
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: two and a half years, ended up decommitting, you know,
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: right before signing day, committed to USC went there. Had
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: had a receiver coach that I committed to pass away,
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: so I ended up transferring, went to Wisconsin, and uh
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: and uh. It just wasn't always the best situation, I
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: think offensively for a lot of receivers. You know, we
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: have a lot of guys that ended up transferring and
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: being in the situation I'm in right now, getting drafted,
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: hearing their name call, and we're all grateful, and we're
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: also keep in touch.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: And then finding my home, like my home, my true home.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: At Stanford and you know, a place that I loved
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: being at, being coached coached by coach Frank Reig, being
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: coached by being coached by Andrew Luck Like, you know,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: it was the best cap to on my journey.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: I think it was the best.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: End and it really worked out just from the way
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: that obviously I was around like minded individuals in the
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: locker room. I had a receiver room that was extremely close,
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: and then a receiver coach and a head coach and
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: offensive coordinator that you know, believed me and trusted me.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: So for me, I mean ebbs and flows in it,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: and ups and downs.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: But like I said, I think earlier, I mean I
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: wouldn't trade any of it for the world, regardless of
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: all of it.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Obviously, people have expectations.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: I had my own expectations of how this workout, and
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: it doesn't go how you think it will. But you know,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: I'm grateful for it all and I'm happy to be
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: a part of Jacksonville.
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: We were joking about it in Jeff C J. But
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: I am curious knowing you did spend your first year
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: of college at USC. Any interaction familiarity with Tony Boselli
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: prior to the process.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Oh, I actually I did meet him when he was
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: uh yeah, he was around when I was getting recruited
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: in high school, right, maybe earlier on. I want to
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: say I know the name, but I don't think I
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: have a complete interaction with him.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: Okay, we were wondering just because there's a couple of
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: USC connections obviously, and of course knowing he's the EVP
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: here with the Jags. So appreciate you.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: SEJ. Congrats, of course, thank you. You appreciate you.
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: C J.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: Ryan o'hillern from the Times Union. You mentioned Reich and Luck.
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: How much of a pro type culture do you think
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: they built there to help you with the transition in
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: the NFL?
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, great question.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: I mean it was completely and fully of pro style,
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: a pro style, offensive, pro style system culture and everything.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: The way that we treated things was like, you know,
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: you got to be on your best type of time.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: I guess you could say you got to be on
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: your bed pro behavior every single day. You got to
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: come into the facility ready to work. And you know,
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: I'm grateful that it was such a serious and although
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: we enjoyed football all the time, like we enjoyed being there,
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: everyone there enjoyed it. But it was it was you know,
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: it was serious. It was it was it was our job.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: And especially with Stanford guys, you know what I mean,
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: we all kind of committed to that and dove into
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: that pretty well, and we had good results, I mean,
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: regardless of overall record, Like we put the program in
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: a better place than it was before.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: And I think coach Raig did a good job of
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: doing that as well, and so yeah, I mean.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: I think it's going to help me going into the
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: future being a part of a system and a style
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: of coaching, a style of just being managed by a
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: GM that was very, very pro oriented.
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: I would say, last thing for me, you went for
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: eleven one thirty against San Jose in September. What kind
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: of springboard was that for your season?
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Of course.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: I mean if you ask anyone, and I told a
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: lot of coaches during this process of obviously interviewing things
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: like that, I think that San Jose game was was
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: one of my worst games, even though it kind of
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: catapulted me from going obviously not the best stats in
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: the first three initial games. That's the fourth game of
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: the year, and from that point on, you know, I
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: had you know, pretty consistent games day in and day out,
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: or game in and gay out, game out, Like I
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: dropped two crucial balls on third downs that they trusted
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: me on. And so I'll say that wasn't one of
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: my best games. But I mean as a team, we
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: put it together. As a team, we won the game,
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: and you know, I came, it came, came and clutched
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: down the stretch for the team, and that's.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: All that matters.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: But it definitely did help, I think, put confidence in
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: the team and made us realize how how good and
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: how good we could be as an offense, you know,
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: because that's a rival for us. So it definitely catapulted
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: me and put me in a good position to finish
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: out the year strong.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: Thanks CJ with see a couple of weeks.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Thanks Ryan, appreciate you