Transcript: LB Devon Kennard

LB Devon Kennard

April 21, 2016

Q: How are you with the leg? Is everything healthy and ready to go?

A: Yeah, I am feeling really good right now. It has been a great offseason for me and I am excited to be back with the team right now.

Q: What are you doing differently? This is two seasons now where you have been injured. Is there anything you are doing different for this third year to turn out different for you?

A: Most definitely. I am not worried about the past. I had some hamstring issues and a foot issue last year and I am making sure I change the way I train and going into [year three] now I have learned a lot and I have just moved past all of that and I am not worried about all of that. It is a new year, new opportunity and I feel like what I have been doing this offseason is going to prepare me to play, God willing, 24 games.

Q: What have you been doing that you feel has prepared you to play an entire season?

A: It is just the way I have been training. [Increasing] the amount I train throughout the day and doing a lot of hamstring stuff. The hamstring really out of nowhere became an issue in the past, but like I said, I am not worried about what has happened these last two seasons, it is all about this coming year and that is behind me.

Q: You have a lot of new faces on defense. How has that chemistry and comradery been coming together so far?

A: It has been great. The chemistry has already been building on and off the field, so it has been awesome just training with the guys, being around everybody and seeing what everybody has to offer.

Q: On the first day of free agency, where were you and what was your reaction when all the news about the signings kept coming in?

A: I was excited. I remember I was working out in Arizona and I see on the ticker on the TV some of the moves we were making, and it is exciting, especially when it is defensive players and we know we have some more guys coming in to help us and we still have the draft ahead, so it is an exciting time.

Q: What has the atmosphere been like compared to the last couple of years?

A: Energy, there is great energy around the building and guys are really focusing in, myself in particular, on the details. It is the second year in the defense, so now I have an opportunity not to go home and study the exact plays but I get to pay attention to the very details of the defense because I already know the majority of it, so now it is like another layer that I get to go in and really look at when I am watching film or when I am going over things, so I think you are going to see guys play a lot more comfortable, guys with more understanding of what is going on and a lot more communication.

Q: Did you feel that way on the field last season or were you more sort of feeling it out?

A: I feel like we were playing but I think there is some of that. When you are learning a new defense, there is a little bit of that obviously, but I think a lot of that is going to be eliminated. Everyone is taking a keen look to the details and making sure we improve this year.

Q: In your offseason training have you reworked your body? You look a little slimmed down.

A: Yeah, I have lost some weight and I am just focusing in on what I need to do. Like I said, I am really not worried about the past. Everyone wants to put that statement on me and there were some unfortunate deals and some hamstrings, but that is behind me now and I am not worried about any of that.

Q: What have you slimmed down to?

A: Right now, I am like 251 and I will probably lose a couple more pounds.

Q: What weight were you at last season?

A: I played at like 254 last year.

Q: What is the biggest difference so far between Tom Coughlin and Ben McAdoo?

A: There are a lot of similarities. I really love what Coach McAdoo is doing with the whole --- it is evolution not revolution and things that Coach Coughlin did. [Coughlin] is a legendary coach and we all have so much respect and things that McAdoo thought [were] going well, we are continuing to do and making some adjustments on some other things, and I think that perspective and that energy he brings into the team meeting room and what he has done so far has been awesome.

Q: There are a lot of new faces, particularly at the linebacker position. How do you guys build the chemistry amongst whoever the starting three are going to be?

A: I think it starts this offseason. We are here grinding everyday, we are here, we are working, we are learning the defense together, we are getting to know each other [by] spending some time together outside of football, so you start to build those relationships so when those times come and we are in the middle of the grind, that bond is strong.

Q: Have you had any conversations about maybe moving to middle or moving the linebackers around more?

A: We haven’t had any of those conversations. I am not exactly sure what the plan is. You are going to have to ask Coach Spags about that one.

Q: How anxious are you to show that you can become the player that everyone thought you would become before these injuries came up?

A: I am very excited. It is frustrating for me because I couldn’t control the things that happened, but like I said, it is in the past for me and I am excited to move forward. I know what type of player I am and what type of player I hope to become in the future and that is all I am focused on, the present and the future and I am not worried about the past. God willing, all that stuff is going to fall by the wayside when I start playing again.

Q: You said you know. You have had a small sample size but what do you know?

A: I know that I can play football at this level and really help this team win games and that is what I want to do and that is what I am here for.

Q: When is the last time in your career you have had the same defense in consecutive years?

A: This is the first time for me, actually, that I remember the same D coordinator two years in a row, so you can imagine I am really excited for that. Although I learn fast and pick it up, to be able to really dive into the defense, it is a different offseason for me because like I said, I am really focused in on some of the details of what this defense is all about and not so much the general scheme of things.