Cornerback Adoree' Jackson
Q: Why did you need the day off yesterday?
A: Coach (Brian Daboll) gave me I guess a little vet day.
Q: Did they make you?
A: Yeah, pretty much. I tried to get out there.
Q: What did you think of that?
A: I was sick, because I wanted to get out there and have some fun with the guys. Especially when they're making plays and running all over the field. That's one of the things you hate when it is your day to have a vet day. It sounds good, in a sense. Obviously, they're taking care of you and thinking of the bright side, but at the same time when you love to compete and want to be out there, it just sucks. But listen to what the coaches want, I know it's for the greater good.
Q: You are facing (Wide Receiver) Kenny Golladay a lot during camp. What have you seen from him this year?
A: It's great competition in the sense that we keep battling, going after it and that's what I can respect. We'll be doing one-on-ones or going to team and somebody else may be up and then Kenny will be like, 'Nah, Adoree' get up,' or, (Cornerback Aaron Robinson) 'A-Rob, come up,' so we can guard. That's what I respect the most about it. It's not like anybody is shying away from competition. We are going to go out there and compete every day. That's what we look forward to and appreciate the most from KG. He's gave us great looks – a big sized-receiver going out there, a good catch radius. It makes us have to work on our tangibles, what we do well and trying to figure out how to compete and play.
Q: With the level of competition, we know the defense has been chirping the offense a little bit about how they've been ahead. How much does that encourage both sides to level up?
A: It is good for competition because you'll see if we do make plays, but let's say we don't and then the offense is making plays, obviously they're going to be riled up and it just gets the defense going and vice versa. It's just us trying to battle. It's like big brother, little brother mentality out there – who is going to be the best at the end of the day. But when we go in the locker room it's all fun and games. When we step out between those lines, they are the opposing team and we're the opposing team for them. Yeah, ready for the next practice so we can get back at it, for sure.
Q: Obviously, you're showing a small percentage of what your defense is going to do in the preseason game. Do you kind of sense, I don't know if it's frustration but, (Defensive Coordinator) Wink (Martindale) wants to put all this stuff in? Then you get in a game, and you dial it back pretty significantly, correct?
A: It's about trusting the process. I understand that the rest of the results are going to be during the season. I think that's the great thing about having these preseason games, allowing us to be able to work, practice and get those reps in of what Wink wants us to do. When it comes to the games, giving us the calls that we know that makes us go out there and play fast and play free. I don't think we are worried or frustrated, as you said, about not doing everything that Wink wants us to do. When we go out here, we go out here and practice it and execute it in practice and understand that is on the table for a later day.
Q: Are there times on the field during a preseason games, like maybe this one coming up, where something happened and you say, 'Okay I see what happened here but we're going to do something different in the game?' Wink may even tell you, 'Look, we are going to do this differently in them game.' It's kind of like, 'Okay, I get it. I see what is happening.'
A: No. That's with anything, though, with practice or whatever it may be. At the end of the day, you are put in that situation to see how you are going to respond and come out of it. There is never a sense of, 'Oh, we really would have played it like this, or we really would have played it like that.' At the end of the day, we are out there competing, and we've just got to find a way.
Q: When we talked to you earlier this camp, you talked about interceptions and wanting more. Is the ball finding you? Are you finding the ball more in camp?
A: Just speaking it into existence. At the same time, when the opportunity presents itself, making the plays. I just think that's how it goes. Speaking it into existence, working on just going and attacking the ball and getting the ball, seeing it as mine. If we're out there, it's not me playing defense or them playing offense, it's like playing backyard ball. One-man individual throw up, tackle-type situation where we are all just competing, trying to get after the ball and just flying around. Then good things just happen when you're running towards the ball as well. That's a testament to that as well.
Q: Can you talk about the responsibility that you have back there? They're looking at you as the veteran, the one guy that kind of knows what is going to happen. Do you accept that responsibility? Do you like the pressure that comes with it?
A: We accept the, well I, accepts the challenge for us as a defense and us as a collective. As a team, offensively as well, special teams, just accepts the challenge of the unknown as a sense. Just going out there, worrying about today and the process of trying to perfect our craft. Working on the fundamentals, the little tangibles, the details and understanding that the bigger picture is always going to be the games, but at the end of the day the small picture is that practice, those mental reps, those walk throughs and everything that we do to help us get to that goal to be better.
Q: Personally, how do you accept that being the veteran here?
A: I enjoy it at the end of the day. Being able to go through certain things in my career early, not being old but still being able to relate to the guys. If they need to come to me and ask me for some help or ask me anything, I'm just being able to be there for them which I think is pretty cool. It's kind of like when we were in high school and somebody comes in like a freshman or when you're in college and you're an older guy and then everybody just wants to chop it up with you, chirp or whatever it may be. At the end of the day, they respect that. I'm not really trying to be all in their face telling them you need to do this, you need to do that. I just let them go and do their thing and if they need help, they know they can talk to me. I appreciate the role that is given to me and that I have.
Q: You guys came into camp with a lot of inexperienced guys in the secondary. What small things have you seen them pick up here in these first few weeks? How has that process been going?
A: I think just buying in, I think that's for all of us. Buying in, understanding that there are a bunch of changes going on in the organization. Us just buying in, not, 'Woe is me,' or feeling bad about the past or looking too much in front of the future. Just worrying about the day that we have, today, and being present and trying to perfect that day.
