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The O-Zone Podcast | Creating Ops w/ Unsung Defensive Anchor DaVon Hamilton · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: The Ozone.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Welcome to The Ozone Podcast with Jaguars Senior Writer, John Osher.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: All right, welcome into this week's Ozone Podcast. And it's
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: really cool to be joined this week by Jaguars defensive tackle,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Devon Hamilton, who it seems finally is getting some recognition
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: for being one of the best players in the league
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: in this position. Happy for him because he's always been
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: good in this environment with me. First of all, I
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: appreciate you doing this.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no problem.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Do you have an idea that maybe people are starting
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: to acknowledge that you're playing at a high level, or
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: do you care about that? I'm sure you're going to
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: say you don't, but that's got to be.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Kind of cool. Yeah, I mean, do I hear from people? Sure, yeah.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: It's nice to hear from them, but, you know, I'm
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: not really too pressed on what people are saying about me.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: You know, I still got a long season ahead of me.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It's only week four, so, yeah. Well, and.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I said just overall, in the last maybe year and
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: a half, two years, do you feel you're ascending? Do
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: you feel you are playing at the level where everybody's
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: talking about?
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I just feel like our whole team is getting better. So,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, when that happens, a lot of people are
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: able to stand out a little bit more. People are
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: recognizing a little bit more. You know, when you're losing
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: or you're having a rougher season, people might not actually
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: see the work you put in or anything like that.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: So I just think the team itself is ascending. as
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: a whole.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: What is it, aside from being probably an ideal body
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: type physically to play nose tackle, what is it about
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: your approach, your demeanor, your attitude that makes you good
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: at that position? Because it's sort of a thankless position,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: but very specific skill set.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, you just got to be humble and also
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: just be a smart player. I mean, the film study
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: you have to do in order. And that's anybody, really,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: if you really think about it. To be good at
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: your job, you've got to know everything that's going to
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: come your way, be able to react with the things
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: you don't even know about, get that muscle memory in
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: us that makes us a good player. But honestly, it's
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: just being mentally strong, knowing what I'm supposed to be at,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: and doing what I have to do.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Now, I think most people, and I probably fall victim
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: to this, say, okay, well, nose tackle, you're right on
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: the ball. You're strong with great leverage. How much work
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: does it really take? You're just out there taking up the–
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: but take me through what you have to study and
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: for the layman sort of what goes.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Into your preparation. You play so many different types of offenses,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: so many different types of schemes. You've got to know
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: which way to run and what formation dictates you're getting
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: this type of block or another type of block or
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: what type of pass set are you getting, what type
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: of communications are you getting from their side, from our side,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: how these plays match up. Well, and as it's like
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: a whole gambit of things, it might look simple on
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: the field because, you know, we have good coaching staff
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: that puts a lot of time into our techniques and whatnot,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: but it's definitely very challenging on a defense and especially
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: a younger players coming up, you know.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Because it really is a position. You mentioned that. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: when you talk to people about defensive line play, it
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: seems like what gets missed a lot is how long
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: it can take. And it can be a two or
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: three year process for young players. to learn how to
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: use their hands, to learn how to use leverage, to
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: learn how to use the things that make you a pro.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: That's the process, right? That's what it is to.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Be a pro. I mean, absolutely. You know, I feel
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: like coming out of Ohio State, I had a pretty
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: good foundation before coming into the NFL, which I'm thankful for.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: But in the league, you know, there's a lot of different–
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: it's a different way of playing football than college. You know,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: it's less predictable– There's a lot more stuff on your
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: plate that you need to know. I feel like the
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: development stage kind of came on fast for me personally,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: but I think normally about two to three years.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Was there a time where you said, oh, I get it?
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: I know it's not that simple, but after a couple years,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: you look back and say, wow, I didn't know anything.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. I was good at my technique, but I
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: didn't know how to put myself in position to make plays.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And I feel like my third year, I really started like,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: all right, I understand it. I understand where I'm supposed
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: to be at. I understand where the ball is going
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: to be at, where they're trying to hunt out, what
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: gap they're trying to run into.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: It's hard for me to imagine that playing your position,
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: because of the violence and the strength of it, that
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: it's fun. But is it fun? Meaning figuring it out,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: or is it just in there kicking butt?
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's a fun part, too. Yeah, it's fun
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: for me, especially the selflessness to know that if I
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: do my job right, the rest of my team is
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: going to be doing all right. The linebackers behind me
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: are going to be clean. They're going to come down
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: and make plays. I just love seeing my teammates shine. It's,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I guess, less thankless or whatever or just selfless, but
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I really enjoy when people are having a good time
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and my teammates appreciate me and they're go out there
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: making plays and, you know, doing all the things they do.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Cause it brings a smile to my face.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Right. You know, how do you, uh, I can see Josh, uh,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: if he's driving home after a home game and had
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: three sacks, like, okay, I had a good game. How
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: do you judge that when you're driving home? What's the
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: mark of a good game when you feel good about it?
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Uh, like I said, linebackers make plays.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Um, Because it's hard to look at the stat sheet.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah. We have under 100 rushing yards, which is our goal.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: It's really just whether or not I put myself in
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the position to be able to be successful. If I'm
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: not doing that, then it's kind of like, all right,
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: I probably could have been a lot better at this
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: or I could have improved in that. But that's really
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the main thing.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Do you usually know before you're watching film?
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah. You can get a feel for it. You can–
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: You know, when you miss a few plays, or I
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: could have made that play a lot better. You know,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I did a pretty good job on that one, you know.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: I got you. Now, as a rookie, did you know?
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Or is that something you sort of feel?
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: As a rookie, I was just playing.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: You know. I had a pretty rough rookie season, like,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: as a team when I first came in.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: You weren't alone.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: We all did. What's the mood of the team right now?
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: I know last week it was about responding.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Three games into this, how are you guys feeling collectively?
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: We're feeling pretty good. I feel like we're still in
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: that growth mindset where, you know, we put a good
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: game out last week, but we still have a lot
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: to prove. We still got a lot of growth to
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: happen and how we can build consistency in our team
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: throughout the season. So it's been good, though.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: And Liam talked a little bit this week about, okay,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: now we saw last week, and I'm sure you know
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: this being a veteran. You know how you're better prepared.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: But as a team, you said, okay, we saw last week.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: We now have a sample size of what we have
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: to do to prepare. Do you feel like, I guess
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: that message has been received this week, hey, practice has
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: to be high end. The prep has to be right
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: for this team to win.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And that's a part of that consistency that we're
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: hunting up. You know, we want to be consistent even
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: in practice. You know, when we mess up stuff, we
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: got to, no, we're going to start over to play
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: and everybody's going to know where we're supposed to be at. That's...
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: kind of where we're hunting up, you know, just that
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: culture aspect of what we were expecting.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Is this, I probably asked this last year and if
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: I did, I apologize. Is, is this, as you mentioned,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: you've seen different stuff around here. To be part of
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: it now where it feels like everything's moving in the
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: right direction, I would think that's important to you.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. You know, I've definitely seen some not so great
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: teams and, Some great teams, you know, and it's part
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: of the NFL. You know, a lot of people experience
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: that type of stuff. But it's been great seeing, like,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Jacksonville grow and the team grow. And, you know, we're
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: building a new stadium. We've got a new facility now. And,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: you know, people are a little bit more happy around here.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: You know, it's been cool.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: When you go out, how many people recognize you? Is
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: it pretty low-key?
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I think people recognize me more so because I'm a
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: large human. I don't know if people necessarily know it's
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: me or not, but it's cool.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: I love it. It seems like this would be your
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: kind of town. You don't really crave attention. I assume
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: people can leave you alone. I would think after six,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: seven years, this is home.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. People come up and say hi. It's all cool.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I enjoy it. People don't I guess me growing up,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I never really noticed how cool it is to be
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: around pro football players or pro professional anything. When people
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: see me or kids see me, I understand. This is
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: a pretty cool experience for them. I understand making that
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: experience positive.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: That's cool.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Maybe that might impact them throughout their life or whatever.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: It's said that defensive tackle, better positions like this, but
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: you can continue to ascend sixth year, seventh year, eighth year,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: A lot of guys play this position for a long
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: time and keep playing at a high level into double digits.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Do you feel that's your path? Is that how you
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: feel like you're going?
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I sure hope so. I'm just doing whatever path God
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: really takes me on or whatever he wants me to do,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: that's what I'm planning on doing. I'm just letting him
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: lead me in a way, guide me in a way
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: that when I'm done, I'm done. If I'm not, if
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: he wants me to keep on going, I'm going to
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: keep on going.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Is that any different? Again, I'm not going to belabor
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: what you went through a couple years ago because I
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: know it was brutally tough. But are you different since
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: then in terms of what we just talked about?
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: It gave me a sense of like, That was a
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: huge year of growth for me back then and understanding,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: you know, my relationship with God and also, like, you know,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: football isn't forever, obviously. You get told that as soon
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: as you come into the league and whatnot, but, like,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: that being a real sense.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: But to feel it, right?
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, to really feel it, it gave me a different
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: sense of appreciation for what I do.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Are you a better player since then?
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: But not necessarily because of that, more because.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: You're... Just enjoying every single day a little bit more. So.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I assume... that you haven't reached your ceiling. There's
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: more Devon Hamilton out there.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: I hope so.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: What is that?
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, is there anything specific, or is that just
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: continuing to get better at what you do?
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Continuing to get better at what I do, man. You know,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: I'm just, and again, I enjoy it every single day.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I'm sure I asked this last year, but it's always
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: fascinating in your position that you play at a high level,
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: you grind, you're the reason for everybody else getting attention.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: And then you get your attention when you recover a
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: fumble or you bat down a pass, which is probably
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: not what you're paid to do, right? But you get
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: the attention for the stuff that people see, right? And
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I guess that's just, I'm not sure what the question is.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: That's just kind of the way it is at your position, right?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. I'm not
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: complaining about it. It's what I signed up for.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Do you consider yourself a, person of great perseverance? I mean,
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: is that part of your.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, if you're going to be in the NFL
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: for any amount of time, I mean, you've seen adversity
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: at some point in time, you know, injuries or, you know,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: anything within that realm, you know, you've got to be
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: a pretty tough person to do all that, you know?
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: You seem, and I guess you're probably this way always,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: ever since I first interviewed you, but just very at peace?
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah. In a good spot? Absolutely, yeah.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Is this the best you've felt as an NFL player?
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I'm extremely blessed, man. Okay. I'm
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: extremely blessed to be here, you know, being here for
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: seven years now and being able to meet the new
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: people I've met around Jacksonville and, you know, my family
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: and whatnot. You know, I can't ask for anything better.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: That's outstanding. That's outstanding. Last thing we do here is
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: the Ozone Five.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: The Ozone Five.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Five. Five.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Five.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: It's usually five questions specific about a person. But we've
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: done this a couple of times, so I'm going to
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: ask you about the Jaguars defensive line.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: And put you on the spot a little bit.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Got you.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Who's the best cook on the Jaguars defensive line?
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I'll claim myself. Okay. Personally, I enjoy cooking.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: What's your area? What do you love?
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: You can give me anything.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Okay, all right.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I'm cooking it.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Do you cook for teammates?
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Here and there. Here and there, when they're available.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Would they say you're the best cook?
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: I would say so.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Okay, got you. Confident man, I like that. Yeah. Who's
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: the strongest player on the JVC defensive line?
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Strongest player. Can we go, like, most explosive? We can
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: go there. I would say, obviously, myself. Or Rook, if
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: we're talking about straight strength.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Okay, pure just lifting. Me, you, Rook, is that what
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: it is?
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, most explosive, I would say BJ. Okay. Yeah, BJ's
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: a pretty explosive guy, pretty strong guy as well.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: My explosive, that's just everything, right? Not just get off,
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: but the whole, okay.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: The whole thing.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Who's the fastest? And this one you can't say yourself.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Fastest, yeah. I'm not claiming on that one. I know
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I'm going to get some words about this, but I
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: think it's probably Trey. Okay. Probably Trey.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: That's impressive.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: If I had to guess. Okay.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Who's the funniest?
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Funniest. That's tough because I feel like everybody's funny in
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: their own little way, and that's kind of what makes
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: our room. Everybody has their. Their type of humor.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's a unique thing. We talked about it
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: a little bit.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: But you've got Trayvon, you, Josh. You've got a lot
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: of guys who, for this league, have been around for
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: a while. That's got to be a pretty cool dynamic
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: that I'm sure when you talk to guys you know
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: around the league, not everybody gets that.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, especially since we've been together for a while. We've
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: all been in Jacksonville for the most part, at least once.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Like the older guys, at least three, four years now.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Right, which is insane.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: You get to know people pretty well at that point,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: you know, especially during the offseason when you've got a
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: little bit more time, you can really hang out with
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: one another and get to know them.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: This would never happen, but if all the defensive linemen
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: are in a room and you've got to fight to
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: get out, who's the toughest?
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Who's the toughest?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Who's the guy that you don't mess with?
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I don't know. They say me, but I don't know.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: That's the quiet zone.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know why, but that's how they feel.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, because your NFL nose tackle has been playing for
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: seven years.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: I guess. I guess.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Devon, I know this is not necessarily your bag. I
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: appreciate you doing this, and I appreciate you talking to
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: me and the fans. Thank you for joining the Ozone Podcast.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I always enjoy it. Thank you very much.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Appreciate you. Bye.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: Bye.