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The O-Zone Podcast | Hunter Reflects On His Game, Life Outside of Football · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: The ozone welcome to the ozone podcast with jaguar's senior
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: writer john osher all right welcome into this week's ozone
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: podcast late week ozone podcast i'm senior writer john osher
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: uh and i'm here with analyst jeff logeman uh first
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of all logs the guest this week is uh travis
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: hunter really needs no introduction but um There's so much
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: involved with his game, and it seems like he's taking
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: strides in it. Just talk to me about his season
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: and what you're seeing of him in terms of improvement
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: this season.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: I think he's become what many people thought when he
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: was coming out of the draft, that he was a
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: shutdown corner or an.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: Elite corner, whatever you want to call it. Right.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I remember watching the film on him, and I was like,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: he can either be a premier corner or he can
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: be a premier wide receiver.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: No matter which way he was going to go. I
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: was thinking to myself, can he do both?
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: I think you're always a little bit pessimistic, but I
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: think he's really showing that he can have an impact
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: in both without necessarily playing full-time on both sides of
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: the ball. I think the evolution of his offensive side
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: of the ball is going to continue to grow, I
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: would believe.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: It's one final thing on him before we move on
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: to the game. You know, you sort of, you've been
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: following this league as long as I have. And when
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: you hear scouts talk about elite ball skills, like, well,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: everybody can catch the ball.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: No, not everybody.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Well, a lot of, et cetera, et cetera. This kid
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: has ball skills that are different than even elite guys.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's special. Yeah.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And perfect example at Wembley, the first catch that he had,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: I think it was, it was kind of back and
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: he just reaches back and he, and he makes it
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: look effortless. And I mean, when you're a quarterback, if
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden you have wide receivers that are
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: making catches like that, now all of a sudden you
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: have a level of trust in them that continues to grow.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: And so the ball's probably going to come your way more,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: but the, the interception that he made, I mean, it
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: was just, There's no double catching. I've never seen him
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: double catch a ball, which some people may not know
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: what that is, where it hits the hands and then
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: it kind of. is loose for a second and then
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: it's secured again. And he just doesn't do that. And,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: you know, a lot of defensive backs are playing defensive
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: back because they didn't have ball skills.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: But they had.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Great speed and probably were two-way players back in the day.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: But then once you get the higher level of competition,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: the hand's got to be a certain level on offense.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: And that's why some guys end up on the defensive
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: side of the ball because their hands just aren't there.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: And his hands are there. He's got– an innate ability
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: to just feel things. And when you watch him play,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: there's two things that I would say about him that
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: are just striking. When he plays defensive back, he has
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: no fear of anybody and anybody's speed.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: And that allows him to play literally in the hip
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: pocket of a wide receiver because he's not.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Scared of getting beat over the top. Right.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: And.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: He has the ability to make up ground. He made
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: that one– Nico made that one catch.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: On a long ball on him.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: He made up ground on a playboy.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: There was a little separation there, but then all of
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: a sudden it was closed, and he was contesting that catch.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: It was just a great catch by Nico Collins.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: And the other thing– is you never see him get
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: winded or tired or, you know, hands on his hips
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: and looks fatigued.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: I mean, and how does anybody do that? I mean,
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: how is that humanly possible?
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Well, he kind of said in the interview, which we're
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: taping this at a different time, I asked him about
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: it and I said, I asked him how much he
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: trained for it. And he kind of smiled. He goes,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: I got to be honest, it's, It's a gift.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: I can just do it. It's a gift.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: And I kind of like that answer because he could have.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: Said, well, you know, I'm training all the time. Yeah,
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: I do all this.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: And honestly, he obviously works. But it is kind of
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: a gift.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: I think it would be interesting if they studied him
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: somehow just to see why does he have that special ability–
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: that others just don't have.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: I mean, for me, John, I run down the hallway,
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: I'm gassed.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: He runs down the hallway 50, 60 times and he
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: never gets gassed.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an amazing thing. And it's cool to see
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: because there was so much speculation around him, so much hype.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: And you've been around as long as I have. Sometimes
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: when that happens, once it gets out on the field,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: it doesn't match up. And it's matching up, which, again,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: doesn't always happen. But you're starting to see all these
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: things come to fruition, and you kind of get the
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: idea you're only seeing the start of it because you
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: only played, what, 14, 15 games?
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it definitely is only the start of
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: it and the evolution of the offensive side of the ball,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: the evolution even on the defensive side of the ball.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: And we've seen that kind of evolve a little bit
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: so far. to where when he was first starting to
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: play full-time, he was a wide side of the field corner,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: and then Jarrion was the boundary corner. And then you
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: saw that change to where he was traveling this past game,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: which all great corners, you want them to be able
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: to travel to match up against the better wide receivers.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Then also, from a predictability standpoint, if you have guys
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: that are always in one spot.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: It's easier to game plan them.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: That part, I think, has been really good because he's
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: evolving not only on offense getting more snaps.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: He only had nine, but the impact was huge.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: But then on defense as well, he is evolving in
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: that position as well.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Don't want to shortchange the game. Colts, Jaguars, Sunday, a
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: lot of changes. For people who don't know, Colts have
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: traded Quentin Nelson this week, the offensive guard. They've traded–
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: DeForest Buckner. DeForest Buckner, all pro defense. Both of them
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: all pros. Key for the Jaguars offensively in this game,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: my thought is they are going to want to run
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: and establish that again. Big physical game.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Your thoughts?
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Well, I think the first thing you've got to do
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: is focus on you because if you're paying too much
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: attention to what the Colts are doing. Well, they fired
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: their general manager. They traded two players, and both of
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: them were team captains. Then all of a sudden you're
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: losing sight of what's important, and what's important is playing well.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: And so I think that's got to be the focus
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: of this team.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Worry about what you do. Don't worry about your opponent
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: in this game.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: And obviously winning the turnover battle is paramount, as it
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: is in every game, and the Colts have been atrocious.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: In the turnover differential category, and you've got to continue
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: to win that. And Jonathan Taylor is still an absolute stud.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: And so you better stop him.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Devon Hamilton and Foy Lewakin and... Josh and Trayvon and
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: everybody on that defense has got to play a part.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: You don't want them feeling good about that early, right?
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: No, and that's the other thing is that you'd like
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: to get off to a fast start, which you say
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: that all the time, but because even if you have
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: a fast start, if you have a slow finish, it
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but against a team like the Colts that's hearing
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: doubting outside, fast start, that is the one time that
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: you can sort of get a team to go away.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: is when they're hearing stuff on the outside, like late-season stuff.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: So it feels like that kind of a game. At
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the same time, those teams are the most dangerous when
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: you don't get the fast start. So that's going to
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: play out key for the Jaguars defensively. Let's get specifically
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: into the explosive play allowed, which is sort of the
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: theme of the week. Jeff Loggaman, the coach, how do
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: you improve that?
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: Just play better ball.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's not just one thing because, you know,
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: the explosive plays, two things happen on explosive plays.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: One, the quarterback's got to have time to be able
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: to get the ball down the field.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: But not necessarily even that because sometimes it's an underneath
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: throw and then all of a sudden you make a
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: couple guys miss.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Which has happened a couple times, right.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Which happened against the Texans. So tackle well to limit
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: the damage so that you don't have a– minimum game play,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: turn into an explosive play, be assignment, clean completely, and
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: do a lot of communicating. And Antonio Johnson's a little
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: bit of a question mark this week at safety. And
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: so if he can't play, you've got to make sure
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: that everybody.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: Who is in there is communicating at a high level.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: And I don't know what the status is of Monteric,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: but they've got to play better opposite of Travis Hunter.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Whether that's Jarrion or Monteric, both of those guys are
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: not playing at the level that I would like to
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: see them play at.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: And they've played in the past.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: And they have played in the past, exactly. And here's
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: the great thing.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: The Indianapolis Colts don't exactly have a wide receiver core
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: that scares you. And I'm not trying to be negative
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: about the Indianapolis Colts, but, I mean, you compare Noel
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: and Nico Collins with Houston Texans and compare that to
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Laquan Treadwell, who's been a journeyman– wide receiver, blocker, and then,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: of course, Keenan Allen, who has been an amazing player
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: for a long period of time, and he's a shoo-in
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: probably for the Hall of Fame.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: But he's not the guy that he was back then.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Right, he's not an eighth-year Keenan Allen.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: And he can't run by people. So got a good
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: tight end in Tyler Warren. But, yeah, just be clean.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Be clean and don't make mistakes. I mean, because that's–
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: how many penalties did the Jaguars defense have in the
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: last couple games that have allowed the opponent to have
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: first down?
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: The offense has had some of the same things. New
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: life in.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: This league will kill you.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: Clean that up.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: It absolutely will. Final thing, real quick, what do you
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: expect Sunday? I expect physical Jaguars try to establish on
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: both sides. What are your thoughts?
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I believe that, and I'm supremely confident that this team
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: will play well, and here's why. The bank is a
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: special place for this football team, and this is like
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: the only game in a window of 72 days, which
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: is amazing.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: That's a good point, good point.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: And Liam Cohen has led this football team to, I believe,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: a 9-1 record at the bank.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: And I believe they will play extremely well, regardless of
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: who they're playing, just because they have the ability to
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: turn it up at home and they understand how special
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: it is to play at home when you have one
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: game in a 72-day window.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: That's a cool thing, too. I mean, it's something that
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: has not been really talked about with this team a lot.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: I think it's 38 to 11 is the margin of
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: victory in the last six games here. Jeff, we've watched
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: this team for, what, we were together 15 years now
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: since I've been back. For 12 or 13, home field
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: was not always– and to have that turn is a
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: really cool side note of what's going on with this
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: team right now.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and just want to make sure that we clarify,
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: home field at Everbank.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Sure. Right.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Because, okay, the games that are at Tottenham, that's not
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: a home game.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Not home field.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Clearly wasn't a home game.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: No.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: Okay, the game at Wembley, kind of a neutral site.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Felt neutral. Okay.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: At Everbank, this is a home game. It's all home.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Up next, Jaguars wide receiver cornerback Travis Hunter. I'm excited
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: about this. We didn't talk to him last year because
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: he was busy and just getting used to the league.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: But I'm joined today by Jaguars wide receiver, cornerback, Travis Hunter. Travis,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: thanks for doing this.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: No problem.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: So, first, tell me about the mood of the team
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: as you come out of the bye going into next week.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Tough loss, but it feels like it's bounced back.
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: We're just really excited to be back. Really excited to
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: go in there and fix everything we need to fix
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: and just ready to play football again.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Now, I haven't had a chance to really talk to
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: you in this format since you got here. It seems
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: like you've really fit with this organization. What do you
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: like most about where you're at right now in terms
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: of the Jaguars, in terms of the fit here?
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: I just feel like home. Everything just feels right for me.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: I just feel like I can talk to the coaches
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: whenever I need to. They check up on me, make
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: sure everything, you know. They just put me in the
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: best positions possible, so it really fits well for me.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: And I remember James Gladstone, when they drafted you, said,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: all he needs to do is come in here and
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: be himself. Did you feel that immediately?
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: My thing was to come in here and get work done.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: So they chose me for a reason.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I got you. I talked to you a little before
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: we got on the air about going to see your
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: brother play this weekend. Travis, it's pronounced, correct? Tell me
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: about y'all's relationship. He's a player, a very good high
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: school player.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: First of all, how cool is it to be able
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: to go see him play because he's not that far
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: away from you?
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: I got chose to the right spot. It was just perfect.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: Everything was just perfect. He's two hours away, so whenever
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: he has home games and we get off a little
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: early on Friday and I got time, I go up
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: there and watch him as much as I can. It's
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: his senior year, so I try to show up for
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: him as much as I can because he was always
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: at my high school games and he tried to come
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: to every game that he can. So I just be
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: able to just give him that. that advice, you know,
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: because I play receiver too. So just be able to
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: go out there and help him as much as I can.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: When you watch him, do you see any of you?
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Or is that not fair?
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: No, no, no. I do. I do. We came from
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: the same dad. Same dad, same mom. So, yeah, I
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: do see a little me in him. He's just very competitive.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: When the ball is in the air, he's going to
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: get it, and he's got some speed on him.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Now I've heard parents say it's harder to watch their kids–
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: than to play. Do you get nervous watching him play?
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: Nah, I don't get nervous at all. I've been watching
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: him since he was little. I've been watching him play
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: football all his life.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: So you know he can play. He doesn't worry you.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Fair enough. I was going to ask you a little
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: bit about misconception because it seems like people perceive you
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: one way on the field and yet you play another way.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: I guess what I'm talking about is Grant Udinski today
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: talking about how well you block. I'm not sure that
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: was on the scouting report, but it seems like being
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: physical is something you take pride in.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: On the field. Yeah, I'm competitive in anything I do.
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: I mean, them guys go out there and block for me,
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: so why not go out there and block for them?
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: I like to see my teammates make plays and see
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: them get in the end zone. I like to see
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: all that. I don't want to be the only one
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: out there making plays. I like to see them make
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: plays too. So whatever I can do to help them
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: make plays and help the team win, I'm willing to
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: do it.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: On that front, where does the hit against Cincinnati this
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: year rank on the things you're most proud of this year?
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: The defense, you know, because people went crazy over that one.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't really got no ranking for it. Just
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: out there helping my team. That's the way you play. Yeah,
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: that's just how I play, play fast, physical, and just compete.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: What would, again, having really had a chance to talk
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: to you in this environment, so I've been wondering this
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: for a while, What would the version of you sitting
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: here now tell the Travis Hunter who was drafted a
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: year and a half.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: Ago about the NFL?
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Just stick with it.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: Just stick with it. Continue to believe in your craft,
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: believe in what you can do, and just listen to
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: the coaches. Just continue to grind and just be humble
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: and just be prepared.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I think I probably know the answer to this. Is
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: that difficult? Was that difficult during the past year or–
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: It seems like that's something you've always done.
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, no, it was no different for me.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Now, that smile tells me, and again, it's fascinating because
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: you've been high profile for a long time. And my
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: guess is, even though you've been successful, you've always had
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: to hear about what you can't do. Is that just
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: a thing that you got used to overcoming very young?
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm really just numb to it, really. I mean,
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: there's a lot of people who don't want to see
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: nothing different happen. They always got an opinion on something.
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: So if they're not being positive, then I'm not listening
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: to it. If they're being negative, they don't want to
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: see somebody win. It's just, it go through one ear,
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: out the other.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Who taught you to shut that out? Or did you
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: know inside to shut that out?
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: It's really just being a big brother, you know? I
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: can't let that affect me because my little brother see
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: that affect me, it affect him. So it's just me
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: being a big brother.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to dwell on this, but you were
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: out for 10 games last season, and from talking to
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: players over the years, being out can be tough. Did
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: it make you appreciate the game more? Did it change
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: perspective at all, that period of coming back?
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: No, it was a blessing, actually. It helped me in
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: a tremendous way. I was able to gain weight. I
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: was able to get stronger, learn football, learn a little
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: more football, just chill with the family a lot more,
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: watch my son grow up, so. It helped me out
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: in a tremendous way.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Everybody I talk to in the building is always, I
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: guess they're not surprised by it anymore because they've seen it,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: but I always hear people say, he didn't get tired. Yeah. A,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I'm tired all the time, so I don't know how
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: that feels like, but is that true? Have you ever
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: remembered being tired on a football field? I'm a big
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: tennis fan and Coco Gauff.
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Says she's never been tired and people just can't relate
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: to it. But have you ever been fatigued on the field?
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's kind of saying you're not human if
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: you don't ever get tired. But yeah, I do, but
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: you'll never see it. I take me a couple of
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: deep breaths and I'm ready to go back out there
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: and play. It's just my competitive spirit won't let me
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: look tired, won't let me be tired.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Gotcha. And I assume that you have to work to
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: get that feeling, meaning– You put in a lot of
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: time to get that element of your game right, right?
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Your stamina, your ability to keep going. Or not really.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to run. I think I was born holy.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: That's fair.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: I can run all day.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: And always have been. Yeah.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: Your locker is next to Parker's. He's... such the consummate
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: pro even at a young age. Have you learned anything
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: from him in terms of approach?
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. I learned a lot from Park, man, just
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: being consistent. You know, anything you do, anything you set
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: your mind to, you got to be consistent about it.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: And you admire his story, so to speak. He's very different.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, he came in sixth round pick, sort of
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: had to earn his way. Have you learned about, like
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: you said, The persistence of it from him.
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he's just been consistent in everything he do. Anything
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: you see Park doing, he's being consistent about it. It's
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: not a one-time thing for Park.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Tell me about your relationship with Coach LaRue.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: Oh, man, we are always playing and talking, but I
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: listen to him. He's always steering me in the right direction.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: You know, he's always shooting it straight with me and
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: helping me out the best way he can. But also,
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: you know, letting us have fun with it. You know,
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: he's not trying to be too strict about it and
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: trying to make it not football anymore. You know, he's
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: just making sure we understand what we got and what's
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: going on. And he just continues to coach us and
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: having fun while doing it.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: There was a big smile there. You smile all the time,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: but that felt real. How much has he helped you
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: in terms of, as natural a talent as you are,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: there's NFL things to learn. How much has he helped
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: you in that process?
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: He's helped me a lot. Everything. Seeing the concepts, understanding
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: what we're getting in these down the distance, just staying
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: on me, not letting me slack, not letting me just
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: let my athleticism do all the work for me, trying
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: to teach me techniques, everything.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Did you have a player growing up? And I imagine
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: it might have been hard because you're a unique player.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Did you have anybody that you looked up to, anybody
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: that you modeled yourself after?
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: No, I didn't model myself after anybody, but just going
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: out there and just seeing everybody play. I watched a
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: lot of football when I was younger growing up. I
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: didn't try to remodel my game after them, but I
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: took notes from them. I tried to understand what it
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: was doing.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: So always a big football fan?
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, always, man.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: From the time– Like when's the first time you remember
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: watching a game?
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: Uh, I mean, I started playing football when I was four.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: I remember probably, I would say seven.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: Going to my dad's football, semi-pro games and going to
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: watch him play football.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: So do you have a favorite team growing up? Did
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: you follow college pro?
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but my favorite team is Colorado now, so. Okay,
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: that's fair. That's fair.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: So, um, you talked about, you're on the Jamar Chase
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: podcast this week and talked a little bit about your
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: schedule each day. Um, Take me through that if you can,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: just sort of what your day looks like and how
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: it might be different from a player who's just playing
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: one side of the ball.
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: In the morning, just come in here and get some treatment.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: Either lift, or if I don't have to lift that day,
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: I go get some treatment. And after that, I get
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: straight into my meetings. We got special team offensive meetings,
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: and then I got defensive position meetings. And the day
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: gets to going.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: Fair enough.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Do you... So many young players you talk to talk
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: about the process of learning how to learn, learning how
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: to learn in the NFL. Are you going through that process,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: and I guess how good do you feel about that
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: right now?
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: I mean, every week, every day, really, I learn something new.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: Just learning from the vets that have spent 10 years,
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: 11 years, 12 years in the league, they teach you
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: something new every day, something that you– wouldn't even think of.
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: So yeah, I learned something every day from him.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Um, you were on the cover of college football video
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: game with Quinn. Did you guys ever, uh, Quinn or his, uh,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: backup quarterback? Yeah. Did you guys ever meet during that process?
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: We shot it together. Okay. So it was out there
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: talking and playing. We were doing little promos and stuff.
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: So yeah.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Never imagined at the time you'd wind up being an
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: NFL teammate. Yeah.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: Nah, I didn't, but that was actually cool. It was
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: real cool.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: It is really cool. Um, Why do you wear 12?
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: Why do I wear 12, man? A lot of people
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: ask me that, but no, my favorite number was 3
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: when I was growing up. But in high school.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: So did you put the 1 and 2 together?
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: Nah, when I was in high school, my first year,
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: I was a freshman. I got number 40 because I
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: was able to pick my number. The second year... Yeah,
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: the second year.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: That had to be awful.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: Nah, I made sure.
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: I tried to jump it out a little bit, but...
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: But in my second year, I was a sophomore, so
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: they let the seniors and the juniors pick before the sophomores.
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: So 12 was the only lowest number I could get,
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: so I chose 12.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: You may not have great answers to these, and that's fine,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: but what's the best play you ever made?
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: The best play I ever made?
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: Anything stand out? Because you've had all your highlights all
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: over YouTube, so everybody knows your plays. Is there anything
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: that stood out?
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: I'd probably say my last game in high school, catching
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: the ball without the defender and diving in the end
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: zone at the same time.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: So when did you realize that you were good?
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: When did I realize?
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Was it when you were four playing?
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: No, no, no. I'll probably say when I was nine.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: What happened?
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: You just started realizing you were faster?
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: We had a little league championship games, and I scored
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: on the first play on offense, and I was.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Like, oh. Okay.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, when did you realize, because you're known for
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: your moves, did you realize young that you could put
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: moves on people that the other guys weren't?
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Is that a thing?
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was definitely a thing when I was little.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: My dad always told me I need to stop dancing
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: and get up still. Yeah, I definitely knew it was
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: something when I was younger. I always was able to
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: make people miss. I was just gifted with it.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Now, did you listen to them or did you keep
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: trying to dance?
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: No, I didn't like getting tackled, so I was still dancing.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: I like that.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Has anybody ever caught you from behind?
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: No.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Without an angle?
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: No. Okay. Okay.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Nah. So you don't anticipate that anytime soon.
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: Nah.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Just a couple final ones.
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: What did Deion mean to you? He meant a lot.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: He was a father figure to me. He got me
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: in the right direction. Everything that he told me was
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: going to happen when he was recruiting me happened. So
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: I'm definitely truly excited and happy that he was able
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: to come into my life and bless me.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: And how much, again, there's so much perception about Deion.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: I've covered Deion Been around the NFL around him for
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: a long time. Always been a polarizing figure. But I
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: would think that his knowledge of the game and how
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: everything works had to have helped you a lot.
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, it helped me a tremendous. He's always watching film.
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: He's always watching film. He's always watching football. I don't
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: even think I've even sat down and watched a TV
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: show with him before.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: So I think we pretty much always watch football. We
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: play a little card game at his house, but that's
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: about it. We fish together. We talk about football a lot.
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: He's always been checking up on me and he's always
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: making sure I got my head on right and just
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: continue to bless me.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: You always seem happy and in a good mood, but
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: do you feel in your second year you always listen
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: to guys and they feel like, okay, now I get
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the league.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Are you in a good place? Do you feel that, okay,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: I'm in my second year, I understand what's going on,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: and sort of ready to take that jump people talk about?
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Or have you always just been in a good place?
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I always felt like I was in a good place.
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: You got to just always have that positive energy about you.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: If you're just being positive to everything around you, you'll
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: start being positive. You just can't always talk down and
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: be negative. You just always try to see the bright
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: side of everything.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: I'm very curious about your answer on the last one,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: and I'll You might be as famous a player as
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars have had in a long, long time, but
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: have you ever gotten the feeling that people really know you?
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: What do people not know about you that they see
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: on social media and assume? There's a real guy behind this.
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: I think pretty much everybody knows. I'm a super family man.
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: I love to fish, and I just love to have fun.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: Whatever I do, I just... try to have fun with it,
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: you know, always try to be competitive with anything. It
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: doesn't even matter. And just always want to be positive.
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: You know, I always want to be a person that
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: shine that positive light on everything. You know, I don't
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: like talking down on people and like being negative. You know,
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: I just always want to have fun.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: That's good stuff. The last thing we do is called
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: the Ozone Five. The Ozone Five.
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: Five.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Five. Five. That's five quick questions. We'll get you out
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: of here. Best celebration you've ever had.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: Best celebration I've ever had. I'll probably say my last one. Okay.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Fair enough. a sport other than football that you were
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: good at?
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: Basketball. Basketball.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah. How good were you?
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: I was good.
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: Okay. That's fair.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: They made me go to college early. They wanted me
• 27:55
  Speaker 4: to stop playing basketball that much.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Okay. I got you. You already asked this, but the
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: play you're most proud of since high school?
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: The play I'm most proud of since high school? Play?
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: I'm thinking how to play. Probably just game.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: Okay. Which one?
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: Last year in college.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Okay, I got you.
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: Everything I did in college, it helped me out in
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: a tremendous way.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: I got you. The best fish you ever caught?
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: The best fish? 12-pound largemouth bass at Coach Tom's house.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's fair. Did he stock it? I mean, did
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: he stock those at his house?
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: I think he stocked them one time when he first
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: bought the property, and that was way before I knew him.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: I got you. The person or people that you wouldn't
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: be here without?
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: My family. My mom, my dad. My wife, my son,
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: they just keep me going.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Fair enough. Travis, I know it's a busy week. I
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: know this is not necessarily your thing to do, so
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you taking the time to do the Ozone podcast.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: It means a lot. I thank you very much.
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: Appreciate it.