Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / The O-Zone Podcast | Talking Upbringing, Work Ethic & Drive w/ Bhayshul Tuten

Transcript

The O-Zone Podcast | Talking Upbringing, Work Ethic & Drive w/ Bhayshul Tuten · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: The Ozone.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Welcome to The Ozone Podcast with Jaguar's Senior Writer, John Ogier.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: All right, welcome into this week's Ozone Podcast with Jaguar's
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Senior Writer, John Ogier, and I'm here in the Hyundai studios.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Today's interview, it's a Thursday, so we'll have the interview
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: at the end. Jaguar's running back, Basil Tootin, who I'm
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: looking forward to talking to. But first, Jaguar's analyst, Jeff Logman.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: It's a good routine now. We're talking about next week's game.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: But first, tell me about Basial. I know you've watched
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: him over the years. He's getting more opportunity now. He's
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: an interesting runner to me, Jeff. I'm not sure he's
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: that conventional in some ways, meaning speed, power.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: But there's a lot there.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's a lot of skill set. And
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I think Chad Morton is kind of in the process
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of molding that. Remember now, he came from a small school.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: in North Carolina and then transferred to Virginia Tech, or
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: should I say NIL money, moved them to Virginia Tech.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: You had a lot of that, right?
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a lot of money in NIL. You know,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: UVA was big payers, Johnny. And he's got a great
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: tool bag. And I think the tool bag, you've got
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to start with the speed, which is 4.28, and that's
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: legitimate speed. He's got the same type of build and
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: power as Maurice Jones drew, which Maurice was a fast
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: guy too.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: A lot of people don't realize that, but he wasn't 4'2,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: he was in the 4'4 range. And Chad Morton, when
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I say he's kind of in the middle of molding him,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: there is a certain level of patience that running backs
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: have to have to allow things to develop in front
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: of them and a feel for allowing that to happen.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: And you're seeing some of that improvement already this year.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: He's got a great knack for hitting a hole with
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: great timing, but I think sometimes he comes out of
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: it maybe a little too fast and doesn't need to
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: turn on to that overdrive gear.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: There's a lot going on out there. You've got to
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: get used to it.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Exactly, until he gets out of the open. But he
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: also is really good after contact and what a lot
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: of the scouts call contact balance, which is the ability
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: to stay on your feet after getting hit. So he's
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: an interesting player. And you can really tell the change
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: in confidence from last year to this year because last
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: year there was this overly concern about holding on to
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: the football, had two hands on it all the time,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: and the speed didn't show. The speed is now showing,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and that's encouraging.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to watch. It's like
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: you said, when it unlocks, which is sort of what
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: it feels like you're getting at, it can really unlock
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: with special because not everybody has this kind of speed.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: No, and Johnny– Being in the locker room almost on
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: a weekly basis like you are, have you noticed the
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: change in confidence that he has? I mean, you have
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: a young guy who was shy, a little reserved last year,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: and now is starting to be a little bit more extrovert.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: And I think that's all about confidence. And it's fun
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: to see. It's fun to watch the growth process happen
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: right in front of your eyes.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: New England Patriots Sunday, Jeff.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: You're nervous.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah. The way they play, I have a lot
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: of respect for it, meaning Mike Vrabel teams and New
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: England teams historically, and this feels like a New England
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Patriots DNA team to me, you have to beat them.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: They do not give you the game, and that's hard
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: to do in the NFL sometimes. It is. What's the
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: key offensively for the Jaguars this week? Because to me,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: this front seven, I've said it all week, they play
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: like seven Mike Vrabels to me.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: They keep coming. You may not know their name.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Play hard.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: But they play hard.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Play really hard.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Play really hard. And I think the challenging thing with
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: the Patriots, first of all, their defense has not given
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: up many points at all. And they're good on all
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: three levels. And they have a cornerback in Christian Gonzalez
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: that might be one of the best, if not the best,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: corners in the league. He's elite. And they play a
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: ton of man coverage, which allows them to really fortify
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: that box a little bit to stop the running games.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: And so it's going to be challenged for Basial Tootin
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: and the Jaguars offensive line to run the football this
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: week because they're so good at all three levels and
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: they don't make very many mistakes. And so I really
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: believe that this is a game that Trevor has got
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: to be able to find some guys that are open.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying just one guy like Parker Washington,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: he's got to find everybody.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Has to really have a good day reading.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Got to see the field. And because that's not easy
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: to do against a Patriots team, you know, the, The
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: windows are going to be small. So he's going to
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: have to be on his game also because the running
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: game is, my expectation is, and I hope it's awesome,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: but it's going to be tough sledding a little bit
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: on the ground.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Same question for the defense. Patriots on paper do not
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: look like they're functioning highly as they want to be yet.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: What kind of challenge is it to stop Drake Maye?
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: who is a very talented, very productive player, but right
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: now is not going through his best streak.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you look at the numbers, last year regular
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: season he was tremendous, and then from the playoffs into
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: this year, there's been a lot of interceptions thrown, and
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: four this year so far. And all four of them
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: this year were on passes attempted down the field. And
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a little bit.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Too early and pulling the trigger on some things. And
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: so you've got to take advantage of that. And that's
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the one thing the Jaguars have done a great job
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: with defensively is taking the ball away. What is it,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: like eight consecutive games with a takeaway? And you've got
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: to keep that streak rolling this week. The Patriots, though,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: the real key there is two things. One, when quarterbacks struggle,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you want to make sure that you make them one-dimensional.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: So you want to limit the rushing attack of the
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: New England Patriots. And they've got two very capable backs.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: that are kind of a good one-two punch. An offensive
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: line that's a little bit in transition. They lost a guy.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: They're starting right guard this past game to a dislocated
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: broken ankle, which was not a very good thing to see.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: And so they've got some change up front. But you've
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: got to limit and be dominant in the running game
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: against the Patriots to make sure that you're putting a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: lot on the young quarterback. And the reality is, is
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: that If you put a lot of pressure on him,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: you hope that he's going to throw you one or
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: maybe two. And the one thing you can't do is
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: let Drake May get some things going on the ground
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: with his legs because if he can do that, that
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: can be tough. Because they just got done facing a
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: quarterback that did a really good job against their defense
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: and Bo Nix. And so this is another challenge.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Feels like the same sort of thing.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Another young quarterback that's got some legs. Then you've got
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: to make sure you limit it.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Quickly, can the Jags pressure May enough? to make what
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: you said happen because that was an issue.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Yes, and I think they should be motivated up front
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: this week because last week was not very good. And
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: you've got to find a way to get going up
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: the middle. Armstead's got to be better. Josh has got
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: to be better than he was last week. You've got
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: to find a way to be better across the whole board.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: To me, last week's loss for the Jaguars, I've been
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: calling it a clunky game. Liam talked about being out
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: of sync. That all kind of feels the same. I
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: think the Patriots are a team that can put you
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: feeling that way. How do you see this game feeling?
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: They can, but here's the one thing that I think
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: last week is very unique in that environment in Denver.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: A lot of times you talk about hostile environments, and
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: it's coach speak. That's real in Denver, and that made
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: that defense even more challenging last week. Patriots don't have
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: that advantage this week. It's at the bank, and this is– what,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: the next game at the bank after this one is
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: 35 days down the road. So, I mean, this is
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: an important game to take advantage of your home field.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: And I just don't see this being as challenging this
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: week against the Patriots just because of the environment. It's
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: at home. It's your environment. They have to play in
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: your environment.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: And there is a phase here where the Jaguars have
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: played really well at home in their last three or
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: four regular season home games. We're not used to it
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: around here because we went through a long time where
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the team was not functioning at a high level. Good
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: teams can come back and take advantage of that. Jaguars
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: are a good team. Let's hope that that's the case
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: because it feels like a team now that can take
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: advantage of a home field crowd, the Jags.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: That's what you want. You hope so. At the very beginning,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: you had express some of your concerns.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm a little anxious.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: You've got a long memory, John. And so you're, you know,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: and the reality is, is the Patriots have gotten the
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: better of the Jaguars for many years, you know, but
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: remember they had a hall of fame coach and a
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: hall of fame quarterback.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: And Braybel's good. Drake May's good, but they're, they're not
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Belichick and Brady.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Not that guy yet. So Jeff, great analysis as always.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Now the Ozone interview, Ozone podcast with
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Jaguars running back, Bayshel Tootin. Thank you for doing this,
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: first of all. It means a lot during a busy
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: work week.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: How does starting running back sound to you? All last
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: year you were Jaguars running back, but being a starter
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: is something you work for.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds pretty good. Just a label, but the
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: bigger realm of it, like you said, bigger roles. So
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: it feels good just taking on that role and going
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: out there and getting more snaps.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: You've been in the NFL now long enough to sort
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: of feel the mood of the team. After last week,
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: preparing for this week, so much talk about response. um
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: is that the theme and how do you feel about
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: this week so far.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah definitely the theme i think coach liam uh preaches
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: that a lot he's been preaching it all throughout the
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: week since sunday now i think it's um honestly working
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: for us uh we know we had to pick it
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: up and the theme is you know fast and physical
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: play with your hair on fire and do us and
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: and do the things we do, and I think that's
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: been a big emphasis in practice.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: I was going to ask you that in this context
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: because you've been around Liam, the only NFL coach you've had.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: It strikes me that he's really good in this situation
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: at his message gets through to you guys. You follow me?
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: And you respond to his message. What is it about
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: him that enables him to, I guess, reach you guys
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: and make you understand what the situation is each week?
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: I think it starts with him being true to us
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: since the beginning. He hasn't changed. He's been giving us
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: the same message since day one walking into the building.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: It's not a change in coaching after a loss or
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: something like that. He's been preaching it the whole time,
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: so I think the team respects him for being him
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: and coaching us like that no matter what from the jump.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Easy to believe in a guy like that, right? Yeah, correct.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: When they're true with you from the start. Is it
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: fair to call this game A bounce back? Or do
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: you look at it more, hey, we're going to keep
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: doing what we do and bounce back will happen if
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: we do what we do?
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's more so the second one, just
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: do what we do. It's just the next game. We
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: don't want to label it as a bounce back game
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: from last week or whatever. It's just the next game
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: for us. And we've got to go out there and
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: do what we do and do it to a high level.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: So I think that's where mainly we're at.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: What would... Bashell Tootin sitting here in his third game
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: of his second year. What would you tell the guy
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: who was starting training camp as a rookie? What have
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: you learned in a year and a half around the NFL?
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: Just the game's a lot faster. Okay.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: You're pretty fast. It must be really fast.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it is really fast. It can be really fast
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: at times. But I say just trust in the scheme
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: of the offense better. Okay. You know your ability and
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: what you can do, but playing within a scheme is
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: the best thing that you can do to be productive.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: They always talk about a second-year jump. I'm sure you've
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: heard all that. Do you see why that can be
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: in terms of the game slowing down, in terms of,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: as you said, just being able to see it more?
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Do you see why guys take a second-year jump?
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, because I think as a rookie you have
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: a lot thrown at you. It's a different pace of game,
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: much bigger playbook, more detail to worry about. And I
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: think that second year you're more comfortable because the playbook isn't,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: you know, a big thing that you have to harp
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: on nowadays, knowing the offense already. And you can, you know,
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: settle and, you know, be you and play football. And
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: I think that's why guys take the, you know, like
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: you said, second year jump because they're more comfortable.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I'll ask you about some of the guys in the
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: current running back room in a bit. But what did
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: you learn from Travis when he was here, ETN?
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Trev taught me mainly just, you know, how to
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: be a pro, taking care of your body, not just
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: when you're banged up, but, you know, the prehab stuff.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: You know, he used to get me into the.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Something you don't have to do in college, right? I mean,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: that's a big difference.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a little tougher in college, you know,
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: with class and all that kind of stuff. But, you know,
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: being in the league, you don't worry about class anymore. So,
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: you know, a lot of people can, oh, we're done
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: with our last meeting. I need to go home now.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: You know, TJ was the type that, you know, Do
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: his prehab, rehab after, you know, meetings and stuff like
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: that to prolong his season and keep him healthy and,
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: you know, just tagging me along. And, you know, we
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: also talk ball outside of meetings and stuff like that.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: Just breaking things down into small conversations. I think that's
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: what helped me the most.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Now, is that something where you see him doing it
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: and you're like, man, what are you doing? Or does
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: he kind of reach out to you early and say, hey,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: do this. I'll show you what's going on.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: It pretty much starts just like simple conversation. What you
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: about to go do? I asked him that and he'd
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: be like, Oh, I'm about to go get this treatment.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: I'm about to BFR or something like that or get
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: this done. And then I'd tag along and about, or
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: I'll just come with you and do 20 minutes or something.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: And it started from there.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Long road for you to get here. I mean, you
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: started out North Carolina, A & T, uh, Virginia Tech.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's, uh, you had your earned, you had
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: to earn your way here.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: Didn't you? Yeah, I definitely did. Um, Came out of
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: high school, 21 during COVID. It was a rough situation
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: to come out of. A & T gave me an
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: offer pretty late. I was grateful for that, and, you know,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: I committed there. Played as a freshman. I had a
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: special package, you know, that allowed me to get onto
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: the field. Second year, I was a starting running back.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: Had a breakout season. You know, it just grinded working
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: at that point. Then decided to, you know, hit portal
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: and move up a notch and committed to Virginia Tech.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: Played two seasons there. I had two great years there,
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: and then, you know, we're here now.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Was it ever hard to overcome, oh, he's just a
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: speed guy? I mean, sometimes with backs, if you can
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: run for two, they think, oh, that's all you can do.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Did you ever have to overcome sort of that, I guess, narrative?
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: No, that narrative wasn't really... In my mind, honestly, because,
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: you know, when you turn a film on or you
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: see me play live, it's not just speed. You don't
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: just see me running around guys. You see me running
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: through guys. You take pride in that. And I take
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: pride in that. And that's how my game has been
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: for a long time now. So that's my strong suit.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: And the speed is just a bonus to allow me
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: to be, you know, a slasher or a speed runner.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Let me make sure I have this right. And if
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I'm wrong, I apologize. Father a sprinter and mother a hurdler?
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Is that correct?
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Yes, correct.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: So track, speed.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: It's in the genes.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: It's always been. Obviously, just being fast doesn't get you
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: to the level they reached. Did they teach you about
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: work ethic as well?
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they definitely did. Both my parents, you know, my
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: father's a contractor. He has his own business. My mother's
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: his secretary. So seeing them just go up to work,
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: I used to every summer go out to work with
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: my dad. He'd take me on jobs and do that.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: Every summer for I don't know how many years straight,
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: I was looking forward to it.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Too many, it sounds like.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: No, it was definitely fun. I liked it. I learned
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: a lot from it, but just getting up in the
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: morning and going to work and grinding off some of
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: the hard jobs, it taught me a lot about driving,
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: how to live, and the drive of it.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Did they teach you technically how to run? Because you
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: ran track, so there's technique involved rather than just blowing
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: out of the gates.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Did your parents coach you in track at all?
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: Not much.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: Not really have to?
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: The most coaching I got was probably like a street race.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: We used to run from block to block, you know,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: me and all my friends and, you know, race, you know,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: just straight and, you know, they'll give you like points
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: and tips and stuff like that. But like hardcore coaching.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: Did you ever race your parents?
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: No.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Wasn't like that? No, I wasn't like that.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: I can see that. I mean.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it gets competitive. So you're getting more opportunity this year, obviously,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: than you did last year. In your first couple of
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: games this year, what have you learned about sort of
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: being more the main guy? Is that different?
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing I've noticed is, you know,
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: being ready. I think it's, you know, each drive you're
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: starting it off and you've got to be ready to go.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: And I noticed that, and I think knowing that helps
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: me play faster because now I'm going out there with
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: a chip on my shoulder. I've got to make a play.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Let's go out there and get explosive or something like that,
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: get the juices flowing early. And I think that's the
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: biggest thing I noticed, and I think that helped my
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: game a lot.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like there's anything that you're trying specifically,
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: without giving away too much, but specifically to improve on
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: as you get into, again, more of a lead role?
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just the running game has been my biggest emphasis. Landmarks, tracks,
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: reads and stuff like that, understanding, blocking scheme. I think
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: that's been my biggest focus so far. I think I've
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: been doing a great job at it, just understanding it better,
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: slowing the eyes down and anticipating what's going to happen
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: and how it should happen, and then reacting to it
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: I think has been the biggest plus.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: Now, we talked a minute before you came on the air.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: You're a big dog guy. Mm-hmm. and actually used to
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: breed dogs, correct?
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Tell me about that a little bit.
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: I just always had a love for dogs growing up.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: We always had one or two dogs in the house.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: And I got to Virginia Tech, and I brought my
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: female dog.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Now they're pit bulls?
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: Pit bull terriers. Okay, gotcha. I brought my first female.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: I had her for about a year. She needed a friend,
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: so I brought a male. I brought a male, and
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: then the one's procreated, and I had my first litter.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: First litter was one and then had a second litter
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: by accident. Okay.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: That'll happen.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: That'll happen. And then, yeah, that's kind of how it started.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: I took a pause on it, you know, due to
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: schedule being so busy and stuff like that.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: But it's something you love.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: It sounds like something you'll do. Yeah, I love dogs
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: and then, you know, just seeing them procreate. and then
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: puppies on the ground. Everybody loves puppies.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Everybody does love puppies. That might be the quote of
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: the podcast. I also had written down, I should have
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: asked you a couple questions ago. Did you also wrestle?
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Is that right?
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I wrestled in middle school up to high school.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Not that many track guys... Or also wrestle, right?
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, what sort of caused you to take that
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: or to have that background?
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: I think it started off with my dad. Okay. My
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: dad threw it around a couple of years and, oh,
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: we're going to get you to wrestle, we're going to
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: get you to wrestle.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Had he wrestled?
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: He didn't wrestle.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: But my dad does all kinds of stuff.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: He's an athlete, so. But he wanted me to wrestle
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: playing football. I was playing defense as well, offense, so.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: It's like wrestling is, you know, defending yourself and, you know,
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: getting out there and, you know, being one-on-one. And he
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: took me to a practice, and I loved it, honestly.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: And just running, like, rolling around, you know, mano a mano.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: And kind of started from there and then kept going.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: Really good.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: That's fair. Where has that– I think track's kind of
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: obvious how it helped you. And I've covered a lot
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: of people who, you know, a lot of defensive tackles
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: who have wrestled. How has that background helped you athletically?
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: I think it's just more so mindset-wise. It's only you
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: versus one-on-one. It's either you get the best of me
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: or I get the best of you. It just trains
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: that fight and that dog in you to prevail at
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: the end. I think that's the biggest thing that helped
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: because I'm not going to let you get me, and
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: I know you're not going to let me get you.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: I think scrapping and wrestling hard, I built the, you know,
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: the mano-a-mano effect and that carried over to football. And,
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: you know, I think that's why, you know, I run
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: with the same mindset because it all worked hand-in-hand.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: So you actually wrestled and ran track and football all
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: through high school.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: And a lot of people think you specialize in this
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: day and age, but you obviously think doing a bunch
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: of different things is really advantageous.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. I think staying active in all three was,
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: you know, one of the best decisions I made. because
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: I wasn't just locked in in, you know, track or
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: football or something like that. I was pretty much locked
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: into all three that helped contribute to one whole goal.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Tell me about your running background now.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Very versatile in play style and, you know, I say
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: like you have Quint and then you have Chris and
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: then you have Amir and then you have me and
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: then You got Rooks, so a lot of different personalities
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: in there. And I think we all play different, and
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: I think it all goes hand-in-hand, and we're doing pretty good.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: And that was a pretty natural smile, which kind of
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: tells me you probably like all the guys in the room.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, of course.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: I'm going to give you a name of each and
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: just tell me like one or two sentences, something about them.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Amir. True that.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: Takes care of his body. He practices like a vet.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: He's often felt like a vet.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: Easy to see why he's still in the league after
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: 12 years.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: He's so long, yeah. LaQuint. Maybe more than a few sentences. LaQuint,
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: high energy. He cares a lot, and you can tell that.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: And he loves football. You can definitely see that.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: What about Chris? Chris.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: Hustle man, we call him. Okay.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: Why is that?
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: He's just always trying to host a cool child. He's
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: a great guy, Karen. A jokester here and there, but
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: you can tell when he locks in, he's gone.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: I asked Travis this a couple years ago in the
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: same situation about being ready to break one. He was
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: at that point where he just hadn't quite gotten the
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: big run ready to pop, but it felt like he
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: was feeling it. I kind of get the idea you
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: feel the same way. The big one's ready to It's
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: sitting out there for you.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: I definitely do think so. You know, we had a
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: couple runs last game that I wanted back that, you know,
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: could have been big ones. But, you know, like my
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: dad say, you know, just keep pounding and pounding and pounding,
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: and the big one's going to come. So I think
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: that's the mindset I stay to. And like you said,
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: the big one's going to come soon. Just keep doing
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: the routine things right and keep running the ball the
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: way I have. And then when it opens up, you know,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: it's just my job to hit it and go get it.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: You seem like you're in a good place. I mean,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: confident going in. hungry uh am i reading that right.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah correct i think so um i'm ready i'm very
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: confident uh you know with the joint practices and how
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: the camp has went for me and then how season's
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: going so far um i trust my ability to go
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: out there and make plays and you know i'm riding
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: on that and i feel pretty good.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: It's very cool last thing we do is the ozone
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: five it's five quick questions If Clint tried to prop you,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: he may have switched you up because I'm asking different
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: questions now. What's your pregame song?
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: Pregame song. I have to do Many Men by 50 Cent.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Fantastic. If there was somebody, who did you pattern your
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: game after? Or if you had somebody you looked up to?
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: Nick Chubb.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: I just love the way he ran. He Wasn't a
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: crazy fast back, but he was a good enough back
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: to get in open field and make him chase you,
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: and then he'll also run through your face, catch out
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: the backfield. I think he's a shorter back, but I
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: think that he ran with that grit and that hard
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: tone of running.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: I expect I'll have to ask this twice because I
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: think I know your first answer. Who's the fastest Jaguar?
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Me.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: Who's the second fastest?
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: I have to say BT.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Have you ever been beaten by somebody on a team
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: you've played?
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: No. Okay.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Very confident in that.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't know that.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: I like that. Sport other than football that was your best? Track.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: Which event was your best? 100.
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: 100 and Long John was my two best.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: Thing you're most proud of in those two events that
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: you accomplished?
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: Make a state.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Gotcha.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Hard to make a state where you're from. Your go-to
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: restaurant in Jacksonville?
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: That'll close it. Three-fourth.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: You like that? Yeah.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: Okay. Good stuff.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: Facial, I appreciate you doing this on a busy game week.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: I enjoyed having you on the Ozone podcast. I think
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: fans are going to enjoy getting to know you. Thank
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: you very much.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Thank you.