 No, I don't think I could see anything right now in aspects of that, but um, yeah Drawing every day Building building blocks. Yes building blocks and just keep on stacking it every day And keep on trying to improve and get better with nine Dude's always confident he's always confident so I never see that fall that rise too high He keeps the level ahead of it, so I think he's just doing a good job Where can you take your game? I know it's just OTA So what are you working on specifically as you get ready for training camp? Everything and anything I could possibly be getting my hands on or just anything I could learn to make me better make the team better Yeah, so I'll probably say all aspects of the game What do you think of Bijan and just kind of like the versatility that he brings now to this offense? We see him with the receivers. We see him with the right back I think it's really cool for him to be in that spot and just to be that versatile is really cool to see an athlete like that You know Again, we're just excited to see him and keep on seeing him improve Yeah, I think it was he won't take some anger out on me I'm playing um, no, I think uh, you know, I had a couple hiccups last year So ball security is a big been a big thing. I don't do special teams So I get my extra work in with him And we do extra things like right at the catch point, you know punching out things like that ball security So just emphasizing the little things now How hard is he hitting? He's fully it looks like he's going like fully 110% No, um Yeah, it's it's hard enough to knock the ball out but not knock my window, you know, I won't I won't lose no breath. Yeah Was it your idea to kind of utilize your time in that way doing special teams? Well, we always we always utilize that time since last year towards the end of the year when I was in our special teams to kind of Just work on stuff work on catching and things like that And now we have a base of where I'm at and where I was last year things I can work on so he just came to me and was like here I got a pad put the ball in your hands and he just started, you know, and the rest is history So that kind of brings me to the first year second year point and we talked about how now it's a big breath of fresh air for you But how do you personally measure? Increments of growth at this point in the year for you. It's kind of hard right now It's it's OTAs, you know, so I mean all I can do is is work on me and work on my craft And I think that's what I'm doing right now. I feel like I'm getting better But I mean That's up. That's when I get between the white lines. That's when it's gonna really show It does seem like there's so much energy in this practice, especially when you guys are going through a red zone How much do you feed off of that and enjoy that? I love it I think that goes back to the youth of the team, you know, everybody's amped to be out here and just to be playing football And I think that's what we need back in this building and and we got it I love it this competition every day I don't know if I'm gonna get a ball today or I'm gonna get a ball in the next week, you know So it's like it's just competition and it's only gonna make me better So I'm really excited to have those guys on the on the opposite end of me More about Jeff Acuda kind of was matched up with him a couple times today Yeah, it was a fun matchup to watch, but when it comes to him specifically How does he I guess maneuver in a way that that's intriguing as a corner for you What do you mean, can you dive? Yeah, just like how he handles himself in like one-on-one situations and how he carries himself I would say AJ and Jeff are kind of almost the same in the way like kind of like play style, I would say But the way they carry themselves, you know, they're gonna want to beat you up And they're gonna want to make it known that like they locked you down, you know So I love going against them and it's like I says I'm I'm sharpening iron So it's only making me better and then better too. I hope so Thank you. I hope you kind of figure out how I was saying I don't know if I'm on Bubba saying that Dez has become kind of like a smack talker and Dez admits like yeah, I am one because I know the place What do you see from him? Do you hear some of that? Do you join in on it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, of course I got it back on my guy But yeah, he's definitely uh, he got a mouth to him sometimes when when he wants to Coach hit on that a little bit after practice. It's just funny, but um, no I mean, that's just the competitor and I don't know who he is as a person, you know When a coach hits on it is he saying like that's like good bad or pointing out some of the things they're like Just competition at the end of the day. That's what he said. So if you got him, you could back it up Why not do it? Is he a trash talker before or after the play a little bit of both? I mean Both Yeah, so coming here, you know, obviously try to be the first one whatever maybe get in here early Again the tops get treatment And then go out meet with uh, either coach Cramer or coach rags, you know, go over some things go over the day script You know meet with the receivers a skill position go over the day practice before Then we get into meetings get into meetings lifting Grab some lunch come out here and have a good day Big first in is important to you. Uh, yeah, I mean just putting in our work You know, it doesn't matter really whether you're first in or last out It's all about being efficient. That's one thing I learned last year Was, you know, you don't have to spend 24 hours here. You don't have to spend 18 hours here But if you do it efficiently, you can find the right times, you know to be some people are morning people Some people are night people some people don't want to come until two minutes for the meeting Some people will stay five hours after the meeting So for me just to get up get early knock it out get everything that you need done and then, you know, go to work How do you personally measure your own growth this time of year? Yeah, I think it's just naturally just every day just making sure that you're not making the same mistakes twice Making sure that you're progressing every single day and getting better You know, it's not something that you have to go that there and okay I had six completions this day and I had a pick today and you know Incompletion yesterday more so rather than okay. Were your footwork the same on this rep as it was this rep yesterday You know, did you make this mistake again that you didn't do yesterday? And so it's just different things like that rather than physical It seemed like there was a lot of energy out there today, which I know you really enjoy I mean describe kind of what the atmosphere has been like so far Yeah, it's been fun. It's just been a whole bunch of competition obviously on both sides of the ball Today was obviously, you know, one of our red zone days. So to get out there Obviously a little tighter in the end zone you see points on the board the energy is automatically going to be amped up Um, so for us, it was obviously fun to just get out there compete Um, and just have fun with it. I don't know if anyone's asked you about him But slain bolden was kind of flying out there today How much fun is it to watch him be in a lot of different roles? Oh, it's fun You know, one of his first comments to me was hey, do you remember me and I said Yeah, well, of course, I remember you from when we played Alabama. So No, but he's been a great guy been coming in a hard worker Been able to learn really quickly pick up the offense. Um, and you know, obviously he's been in the the league for a year So, um, you know, he's not just a rookie. He's got, you know, a little bit under his belt So he knows, you know, how things are supposed to be the way he works, you know Not only off the field but in the in the building as well. Um, you know, he's doing a tremendous job Also a guy like scottie over there. What can he do to the receiver group? Uh, scottie is is one of those guys who's versatile as well, you know, scottie You can put him anywhere you want and you know, he's gonna get the job done For us, you know, he's just been huge for us. Um, been able to get open make plays And then make plays with the ball in your hand You know, that's what we're looking to see once you get the ball is what do you do with it? And he's one of those guys that we know can be explosive after the catch Yeah, um, obviously, you know, you guys have seen or whatever, but he's been working his butt off out here He comes out every single day and obviously, you know, Kyle's down You know, we kind of got some a couple other injuries in that room So it's been able his role to step up and be that guy to fill in for him And he's done a tremendous job of that, you know, we talked all the time. Like you said good friends Just keep going every single day. Let's just keep working to get better I guess that for all of us, you know, it doesn't stop today. It doesn't stop tomorrow But every single day just keep building and that's something he's done When he's not able to play he's not able to go out there and do all the things you want to do How is he still able to kind of like stay up to date on even what y'all were doing out there? It's his mentors. Um, his mentors is where he's at because you know, you know, like you said, he was injured a lot of last year So he wasn't, you know, just doing whatever and not not locked in. He was locked in the entire time You know, he knew the game plan inside of now. He knows the game plan now So then obviously you come out here and you see and he's playing with speed And obviously it's six seven playing with speed. That's a difficult combo to cover And that's what you guys have seen and so he's just done a great job this off season of just working You know, his butt off and understanding the playbook and it's obviously showing up Yeah, you know, there's you know, with all of us, we can't take a single day a single minute a single hour for granted And so, you know, we know in this game that it can all be gone just like that one play Um, and so for us, you know, there's time, but there's also not a lot of time Um, so, you know, like I said earlier, we got to be efficient at what we're doing. We all work smarter not harder Um, and so that's something that we obviously try to do coach art does a great job of getting us in getting us out Putting in that work and uh, you know, that's something that we're going to continue to do We keep talking about the versatility of this offense and we talked about it on paper as things were changing in the off season But now that you've been able to see it, do you have moments like Dang, there's a lot of versatility on this offense. Yeah, you know, obviously that's something we try to do is is, you know, confuse defenses Um, and so, you know, just being able to put guys in different places Being able to, you know, do everything that we do, you know, it's going to help us on the long run Been trying to focus on um My body and getting little things right. Um You know with doing yoga and little stuff still so just been focusing on the main things with uh off the field You know, nothing really on the field, but off the field mainly focusing on And all the new guys, Jesse, Jeff, or specifically Jeff, um, and Mikey, um, and what kind of Secondary can y'all build this off season going into turning camp, mini camp next week? Yeah, you know, it start right here, you know, we just building the chemistry laying down the foundation right now With the back end and as a defense as a whole so, um, it could be special, you know It all looked good on paper, but we just got to uh, you know, do the right things, you know On and off the field and uh in the film room and apply it to the field And uh, coach Grace said, you know, both of you are always drafted very high And um, you know, their goal is to blend it together. So, you know, there's no one person that, you know That you got a tandem and there's no one person How's that work coming along so far? Uh, like you said, you know, just me and Jeff both coming in together So, you know, it's really fun having somebody that you know went through the whole process We're gonna be able to, you know, team up and apply the work that we've been putting in together So, you know, we just, you know, like I said, take it one day at a time. Just, you know, get down the basics and It all take care of yourself Yeah, we had a relationship I'm You know at the combine you'd be so locked in on You know, trying to do everything the right way. It wasn't too much You know talking and all that but you know, we we definitely respected each other's game You know, you know, now we're here on the big stage together. So now we, you know Can build our relationship even more and go out there and just handle business together Hey, jay, you talked about the chemistry It does seem when you guys are all together that you have a really good relationship So far describe what that's like. It looks like you're having a lot of fun Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the main, you know, just got to have some fun and uh, it's new faces every year. So uh, just taking advantage of what we have and Um, just building a relationship with not just the back end but with everybody You know, we got a lot of additions to the defense. So just trying to like I said build that chemistry early on Going into count and uh, just be ready to go What do you like about Ryan Nielsen's coaching style and also just what he brings to the table defensively? Uh a lot of energy, you know, um, he demands excellence as well. So, you know, very detailed and Like this is his first year coaching defense as well. So, um It's it's fun right now, you know, everybody just having fun with, you know, with the basics and Coming out here every day and just locking in on the fundamentals and you know, just playing fast eventually What's it like having a coach like that who like with the defensive line he gets like right in there And they say yeah, it's like crazy eyes. He's got like just really fiery personality Yeah, it almost remind me of coach Venomboos at Clemson, my DC. Um, so I'm kind of used to it. You know, I like, you know, how he um draws He wants the best out of everybody. So, um You know, it's it's it's real fun playing with somebody like that that care and love the game and um You just you just want to play football for him and just make plays Uh, it's been a lot of fun a lot of we've put in a lot of good work these last couple months since I got here Um, it's a lot different than what I experienced my last four years as far as what we do how we go about our business So it's been really good. It's exciting with all the guys we got. Um, so I really just come in try to learn as much as I can And just keep getting better with these guys every day Um, I'd say just like all the different type of guys we got A lot of guys we have can do a lot of different things We got a lot of just really good athletes explosive playmakers with the ball in their hands. So It should be fun to kind of see guys do a lot of different things and make big plays Yeah, it's gonna be great. Um I think just playing with all these different body types. Like you said all the versatility Um, it's just gonna make it easier on everybody. You're gonna, you know, get to play different positions Run different sort of routes. Um, and I'll just kind of get to do different things And I was able to do in my my uh last four years in Tampa. So just excited to be in a new offense I know you've played for the very good quarterback that now you've got Desmond Ritter. He is gonna be the starter for the first time in his career What have you seen from Desmond so far? No, Des has been great. Uh, he's been awesome ton of energy Playmaker can uh and something we haven't even seen him do too much because it's you know in a practice format Seven on seven, but his ability to get outside the pocket and makes play Create plays extend plays push the ball downfield. Um, he's just been a really good leader so far Just kind of he'll take us in there and and me with all the skill guys extra and kind of everyone get on the same page And work through little things that we do in practice. So it's just been fun And then we got, you know, taylor who's played in the league a long time as well Um, so they're just really a great combination and Logan Um, a bunch of guys that have been in the league a while and then Des the young guy That has a lot of potential and we think he's going to be great this year He mentioned his leadership even though he is young, he has said leadership is a component that he holds that he's very proud of Yeah, do you see that right away from him? Absolutely, you know, first time I met him Definitely, uh, just the way way he goes about his business Um, just the relationship he builds with all of us in the locker room off the field Um, and I think there's I mean, obviously you saw the success he had at Cincinnati and You don't do that without being a great leader. Um, so I think he's we're all just really excited for him The first time you met him, what was it like? It was cool. I was uh, I was looking forward to it I DM'd him when I signed just told him I was super excited to play alongside of him Then I met him in the locker room when I first got here. Uh, just a great dude and uh, I told him hopefully I could make some big plays for him this year Okay, last one for me, um, you know, you've been a part of a team that everyone thought was going to be great And what's great now you're a part of a team that a lot of people don't really know what you guys are going to be You like that? You like the challenge of that? Yeah, I love that, uh shoot I love kind of like being the underdog that sort of role no one really expects anything out of us But that only pushes us to work harder improve everybody wrong Um, and I think we got all those type of guys on this team to go out there and you know Really push ourselves and have a great season Yeah, he's a great guy intense. He's crazy, but those you need we all crazy sometimes. So, uh, man He's a great coach man. Um, so far man, um, I love working with him at this point Nothing but learning every day each and every day we learn He continues to impress me by the way that we can he can, uh, you know, break things down to us To first understand it, you know individual drills have been nothing but success for us You know, we're working working and working and working man And I'm liking to be a part of his D-Law. Yeah, Arthur was saying it's like, uh, you know, ham and Letford it's like, you know, these two trench guys going at it against each other Oh, the Olai coach? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's looking forward to a training camp when those guys can really start talking Yeah, no, it'll be fun. Yeah, it'll be fun, man. You know, they got guys. We got guys Uh, you know, they coaches have energy our coaches have energy So man, it'll be it'll be a great opportunity for us to go out there and do it man Everyone's excited for camp. I'm looking forward to it. Uh, hopefully, um Well to my west we'll start finding out in football season here You know, we talked to you when you first got here and you weren't able to actually do anything on the field with everyone But you were impressed with the coaches and just what you saw on paper But now that you've been able to practice a little bit, how has your mind shifted and what you're excited about? Yeah, man. I'm just excited about the group of guys that we have man. Um The hard work, you know, coach Smith uh, coach Nielsen, coach Haas, the guys are who I work with, you know, Mario, everyone's it has our high expectations for our group And uh, they they show that they tell us that it's up to us to go out here and work hard and follow their lead They're the ones who believe in us to a point and uh making sure that we work hard each and every day So, you know, we got to we got to take it upon ourselves and pay them back By going ahead and just working each and every day. You're a veteran obviously, but you're a new veteran on this team Do you feel like you're already in that veteran role here? Yeah, yeah, they call me sometimes they be calling me Well, uh I'll be feeling like I'm saying hey, but it's all good. Uh, uh, man, I just you know It just take pride in it, man. Uh being able to teach the younger guys a lot of stuff. It was just never time. Um Still learning from other guys who've been on the teams like david No, kalaeus, of course the og og Grady, you know, man, just picking picking picking back on each other's brains and being able to move forward He said og og. What's it like to have kalaeus Campbell on your team? He just he just one of those guys who you always hear about throughout the league each and every each and every year Uh, he's probably gonna play for 20 years at this point. He's a huge human being specimen Uh, if you see him, it just It just looked crazy. Yeah, it looked crazy. So Man, I don't know how much longer you're gonna play, but he looked like he could play as long as you want to so Uh, that's the fun part about the game and being able to see gala there Who you watched from before you got to the league and they're still playing after you get to the league Mario is talking about your experience. I mean, you've been part of some good teams some playoff teams I mean just being around this group is that Do you feel like a team that can make that same kind of push? Well, I just speak on guys in general. I know like I play with very high level guys throughout other teams And these guys are super high level as well. Um, I was speaking for the D-Long, you know, just the ones I'm around a lot I can see more of the other side you eventually, um, you're in camp, but uh You know, just to speak on my group because you know, that's who I'm a part of each and every day Like it's here. I play with the camp here with Jeff Simmons. Uh, definitely to it. Um You know, uh, the nicole archers seeing all those guys who who are high-level players Jevon Hargraves, you know and uh comparing them to Grady and um, david collage um man just And nothing missing the younger guys who on the team as well So it's just a part where you see like you see similarities and it's like damn It's it's dawgs all over the league Because you gotta be able to put them in the right position man And uh, I feel like this group in this unit is a high-level unit and great in the very top one You