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Darnell Savage on His Fresh Start in Jacksonville | The O-Zone Podcast · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Soon.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast with Jaguars senior writer John Oser.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: All Right, welcome into this week's Ozone podcast. I'm John Oser.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I'm joined this week by a new member of the Jaguars.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: I think he's going to become a very familiar face
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: and very familiar name over time. Jaguars. And I'm not
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: even sure what safety nickelback, not sure what to call
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: you yet, but Darnelle Savage, thanks for joining us.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Oh man, no problem at all. I'm glad to be here.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Safety background, but you have cover corner skills. You can
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: do it all back there. When people ask you what
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: position you play, what do you tell I play defense?
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, you know what I'm saying.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean that's just that's always been me.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: You know, I've just been able to kind of adapt
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: to I guess whatever I've been asked to do, you know.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: And you know, God blessed me with some pretty good athleticism,
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: pretty good speed, that kind of thing, and uh, pretty
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: smart as well, so it's not really hard for me
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: to pick up on new things. So I like moving
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: around and just doing different stuff.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: It's fine.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: And do people sometimes get too caught up? I think
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: when we're trying to analyze things, We're on Twitter, we're
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: talking about it, we're on shows. He's this or he's that. Really,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: when you're playing dB, at the end of the day,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: it's about covering when you need to and making tackles
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: when you need to.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Write, Yeah, absolutely, obviously, you know, it's just it's so
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: much that goes into the game of football, and you know,
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: it's it's just we we look at it kind of
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: at a way different pace than everybody else.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: But that's because you know, it's what we do.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're inside, Yeah, so it's like we have a
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: different outlook. But yeah, I mean basically, at the end
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: of the day, it is about covering and tackling when
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: you need to. You know, obviously there's different uh scenarios
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: and different times for each of those to happen, but yeah,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, at the end of the day, it's pretty
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: I feel like DB's I feel like we're pretty much
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: the best athletes on the field, to be honest.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: So what would receivers say about that.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: They probably wouldn't Yeah, they probably wouldn't agree with it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: But I mean, if you really think about it, I
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: think i'd give us the.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Nod acclimating to a new environment. Bet the packers for
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: five years, it becomes your NFL home, it becomes you know,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: you get drafted, and that's what you know. What is
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: the process like, what is the process I to aclimated
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Jacksonville been like for you?
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Oh? Man, Well, we're gonna start with the weather, Okay,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: you know, because.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Better than Green Bay or worse? Different.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I think it's pretty self explanatory. I think it's way better.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Just I mean, the sun, man, It's just it makes
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: you just it just gives you energy.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: I really feed off the sun a little bit, so
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: I like that. And then I mean I don't mind
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: the rain. Every once in a while I get a
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: little humid, but you know, we deal with that. But uh,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: you know, as far as Green Bay, I really I
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: cherished my my whole experience there. You know, that'll live
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: with me forever. But just to be somewhere new, and
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: especially a place like this with just new beginnings and
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: the vibe around here and the people that we have
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: in the locker room, the coaches that we have, everything,
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: you know, just in this totality, it's just an exciting opportunity.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: So off season starts in mid April. You show up
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: here in sunshine. Who if you show up in Green
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Bay mid April on the first day of off season program, it.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Might be a little snow on the ground, Okay, I mean,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: but certainly gray.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Ye chance you're looking at Great Scott.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a little gray.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: The sun might peak out here and there, But I
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: mean there are there are times where it snows pretty
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: later into the spring, and.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: And and that kind of thing. But uh, yeah, I mean,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: it was.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Just honestly, it was just just like I think I
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: said this when I first got here, it was just
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: good vibes. From the time that I literally landed, you know,
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: it was just great vibes. And I still have been
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: feeling that it's just a good time.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: It last snowed here in nineteen eighty nine, so I
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: think you're set keep it. That I'm old enough to
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: have been there two days before Christmas, you probably don't
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: have to worry about it. So you mentioned the vibe.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Fans I think see things from the outside, so they
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: don't really know take the fan inside, the vibe around
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: this organization right now when you're walking around, just the energy,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: how would you describe it?
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: We want to be great.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: That's I feel like that's the just clean cut, you
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: know what I'm saying. We want to do something special here,
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: and I really think that we're we're building the building
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: blocks to do that. You know, I'm excited for it.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: I think everybody in the locker room is excited for it,
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: and I would hope that the city is excited for
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: it as well.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: You know. I just want to bring this thing together
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: and win some games.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Doug has talked some and it's pretty clear the free
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: agents that the Jaguars brought in, you know yourself, Eric Armstead,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: if you go down the list, it's guys who have
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: been with winning organizations. You used to be in there.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: How real is that in terms of if you've experienced that,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: does it get inside of you? You just sort of
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: learn what it takes to be a champion.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I mean that, And it's just.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: You learn how to deal with things, right, You learn
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: how to to kind of just block out everything and
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: just lock in. And just because at the end of
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: the day, when we walk into that locker room, where
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: all we got okay, you know, and of course the
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: fans like we absolutely love the energy, like we feed
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: off of that. We love that, But at the end
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: of the day, we gotta get ourselves as players and
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: coaches that we get ourselves to the point where, no
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: matter what the circumstance, who's saying what, no matter what,
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: we get ourselves ready to compete at the highest level that.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: We know we can.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: What do you like about this defense?
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Just moving around? For one?
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: For me, I mean just being able to move around,
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: just like play Nickel, play safe different.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: I love that. That's me, Okay, So I love that.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: And then just coach Nielsen, he's just and everybody on
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: the defensive stad they're just fiery, you know, upbeat, like
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: you come to work with guys like that every day.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: It's just the energy just bounces off everybody. It bounces
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: off the walls, and it's just, you know, you feel
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: like you don't have a choice but to bring that
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: same energy.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: So I think that's gonna benefit us.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: All you mentioned Nielsen he's new, so fans don't really
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: know me sort of know he's about attacking, he's about
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: being aggressive. But tell me what you like about him
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: as a coach in terms of communication, in terms of
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: how he deals with players.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: I would say, because I mean every coach is different.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Every church has their their way to kind of reach
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: their players and to kind of really level the understanding. Sure,
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: you know, so we get on the same page.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Which is tough because you're talking about thirty guys.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really tough.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: But coach Man, he's just he's just so comfortable with himself.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: And you love confidence, especially from a coordinator or anyone
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: that you're I mean, you're learning from at the end
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: of the day.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: You know, it's a defensive coordinator.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: We're working together, but we're still learning things at the
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: same time. So just the confidence that he has and
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: just the vibe that he brings, it's like, all right,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: like let's do it. Sort of the same question about
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: coach with Shark, give you the same answer both of them,
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: Like it's just now.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: You smiled when I mentioned him. He's got a reputation
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: as a big time coach. It's taking secondaries to different levels.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: I guess you can see why they've been working with
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: him for a couple of months.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Every days, there's a there's a standard, there's a there's
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: a way you have to practice, there's the way you
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: have to play, and it doesn't change, you know, and
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: just like the intensity that we do everything.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: It's gonna do nothing but pay off for us.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Got you. A couple of players this week said the
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: simplicity in terms of how the coaches get the information
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: of the players and make it very simple to play,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: meaning again, from point A to point b very quickly,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: not a.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Lot of fluff.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, taking the thought out of as much as you
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: have to do on game. I guess you can see
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: that as well. That's a big, uh, a big strength
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: of this staff, I guess.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, cut straight to it, you know.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: And just with the way this defense plays, and it's
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: just everything is just so.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: It's like it's like a challenge every place.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: It's like it's like everybody's on their own little island,
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: I guess you could say. And you know, real competitors
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: kind of relish that.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: We love that. We kind of gravitate towards that.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: So that's the presentation of it is more so like okay,
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: like you gotta win your one on one, okay, you know,
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: So so that as a competitor, that wakes up something
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: in you to be like, okay, well if I win
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: my one on one, and you know, my brother wins
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: his one on one and my other brother wins his
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: one on one, and we all went out one on
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: one and then you got a pretty good chance of
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: winning it down or whatever.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: So how is the new faces in the secondary? How
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: is the group coming together during OTAs? You got some
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: some guys back here. There are a lot of people
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: know Cisco Campbell. Uh, what's the vibe.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: In the room? Like, I guess whatever, it's good man.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: We've been I feel like we've been kicking it since
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: since we got here.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: You know, I feel like we've known each other forever.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: We hang out outside it, we've been watching the basketball games,
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: we've been going to grab food, going to grab dinner,
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: you know that kind of thing. So the vibe is
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: good man, It's it's honestly.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: You're smiling.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, It's like, yeah, it's just good man.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Why is a hybrid secondary meaning you know coach Neilsen
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: talked about a couple of days ago. Yeah, just having
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: different guys who can do different roles. Uh, that's a
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: little bit different than a lot of defenses. Why is
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: that a positive?
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: I mean it's a positive because if you look at
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: it from this perspective, Okay, we have you know, Evan,
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: he's a guy's listed as a tight end.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Sure you can play receiver.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: You know, you can line up in the backfield, you
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: can do a whole bunch of different things that causes
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: problems for offenses or for defenses. Excuse me, So if
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: you flip that and vice Versa's like, okay, well if
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: I line up here one time, am I safety?
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Am I the corner? Right? So?
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: Like who's the quarterback looking at? Who's he picking out?
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: Like who's his quote unquote fish or who's you know
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: what I'm saying. So all those things kind of tie
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: into it. It's just my games, you know. It's like
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: a chess match.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Is this.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Is it fair to call this a fresh start for you?
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Is it a good time for that for you?
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: Absolutely? Man, It's just I just know is so much
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: more for me out there, you know. And I'm I'm
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: really a true believer. And everything happens for a reason,
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: you know. And I think the storm's.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Coming got you. The last thing we do on this
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: I call it the ozone five usually five quick questions.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: I think you're a fun guy, so we're gonna try
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: to go for ten. It doesn't take long. They're quick answers.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Don't know Savage. What was your first car?
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: My first car, I had a I can forget the
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: year I had amore.
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: Okay, was it old or just it was old? Okay,
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: I probably wasn't too old. It was two thousands, but
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: got you, it was old. It gave me a little
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: problems every once in a while.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Okay, well, the first car is supposed to do that.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Your first number in football.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: I think I were seven. I think it was seven.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Your first team in football, you remember it was like
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: a little Flagle.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: It was actually the Red Skames.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Okay, gotcha. Your first touchdown in football that you scored if.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: You remember, oh uh, it'll probably flat.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, it'll probably flat, or if you count, I mean,
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: if you count the little football games in the part
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: you playing with your friends.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: I scored plenty of those, two a lot of them.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: I got you. What's your best NFL memory? NFL? Oh man,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: it can be Packers picked six.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I'll probably go yeah, I probably go with that.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: I was trying to think about it two years ago, right,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: that was last year?
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Last year?
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Okay, I got you, Yeah, I was.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: I was really trying to I don't want to just
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: go straight to that, so I really trying to think
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: about it for a second, but yeah, I will probably do.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I'll probably do that.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: One's okay for a postseason pick six to be the best.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: It didn't happen to everybody.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: I had another one against Minnesota. I think it was
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: two years ago in Lambo. That was pretty pretty special
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: to me.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Did you leap?
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: I did?
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Is that the only league? Okay? Got you? Got you?
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: You gotta get one. You're the inventor of the Lambo League?
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: From here? Best best player you've ever played against?
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Played against? That's tough, and you got so many positions.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Even it wasn't really against but the best practice.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: I got you. I got you.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: He's probably preaching practice too. What's your go to Jacksonville restaurant?
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Oh?
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, I'm still kind of still making my way around.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: I actually went to Cowper Chop House.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: That's good.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I went there. It was last night.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, it's good.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: I'll be back. It's really good.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Uh, your best sport other than football?
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Baseball? Really?
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: How good?
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: If I playing football? I've been playing baseball right position,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: center field.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Okay, got you? Now? Any interest college pros?
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah? But I was, Yeah, I wanted to lock in.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, baseball, I mean, baseball is one of those things
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: you gotta really love it, you know, and shout out
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: to those guys they.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: Do their thing.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: But for me, you know, hitting three hundred, I wouldn't
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: be satisfied with that, But that's like a great sure.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. I just can't couldn't get
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: with it. Yeah, so I got you.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Waffles are bagels? Since you asked me, I'm going with wofles.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: Got the final question, who's the person most responsible for you.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Being most responsible? Ah, that's hard. I don't want to
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: just say one person.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: If there's a few you can mention.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean my whole family and where it's I
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: have a small family. It's probably only about seven.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Of us you know that are really close, close, close, close. Man.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: They give me so much love and just support, you know,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: just posters me up.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Yes, advice taking the Dornheal Savage. I anticipated this would
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: be a lot of fun.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: It was.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you doing this. Thank you for joining the
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: ozone podcast. I know Jaguars fans looking forward to watching
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: you flight.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Let's do it.