Byron Jones – August 13, 2020
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Thursday, August 13, 2020
CB Byron Jones
(I’m wondering from what you now know of the Dolphins defense, what kind of defense are you all going to have in 2020 and how personally does that change from what you’re used to in the past?) – “In terms of our defensive style, it seems like we’re more man, which is fun. We have the corners for it. We have the secondary for it. I’m used to it. I’m used to being out there guarding receivers, running around with tight ends, slot receivers and X’s and Z’s; so it’s nothing different, per se. It’s just a different roster, a different system. It’s exciting but definitely new.”
(I thought of you when I saw UConn Football wound up being one of the first schools to say they were not going to play football this year. That was a sad deal and obviously a lot of dominos after that. You can comment on that if you want, but my football question is if CB Xavien Howard is not able to return quickly, how do you feel about your confidence level, your comfort level, in opposing and covering the opposing top receiver?) – “I feel great. This is a big reason why I was brought here. It was to build on the already-good secondary. We have really good young players. We have good players who have been here in the past, so it’s really just, I’m just another piece to the puzzle in terms of a really good and just really excellent Dolphins secondary. Hopefully we’ll have ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) back. As soon as he gets back, we want to make sure he’s fully healthy first. We’re not going to rush him at all, but we’re good. We’re a good team up and down the roster, I’d say.”
(I wanted to go back to when you first signed here with the Dolphins. You mentioned that you had heard great things from around the league about Head Coach Brian Flores and the program that he’s putting together down here and your opportunity at being a leader. I just wanted to get your up-to-date take on how that’s going now that you’ve experienced the atmosphere here firsthand and taking on that leadership role with such a young team.) – “It’s been very exciting to actually be here in person and get to know the coaches, get to know my teammates. This is a young roster. There’s no going around that, but that’s exciting. These guys are hungry. They’re hungry to build a name for themselves. They’re hungry to build a special team here and you see it every day, and ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) has been great with his communication – definitely during these times where things are very different. Meetings are different. The way we practice is very different. His intensity when he speaks to us, it’s apparent right away. It’s very exciting to see that in person instead of just on a Zoom meeting, so it’s something that I’m looking forward to trying to build on this and going in the right direction.”
(You and CB Xavien Howard are two of the top-paid cornerbacks in the league. Do you feel like you can be the top duo in this league and why so, if that?) – “We’re certainly working towards that. There’s no doubt about that. We both excel at playing man coverage. I think he excels at attacking the ball better than me, so that’s something I’m learning from him, but it all – what we need to understand is nothing really matters what you did last year or the year before that. What matters is what you build today and now and going into the 2020 season, so our focus is really on building our skillset now and not really relying on what we’ve done in the last. So it really starts all over again in 2020.”
(I know a lot of corners like to look at each other and compete and rank each other, who’s the best corner in the league. How do you choose to motivate yourself? Do you view yourself as one of the top corners and how do you kind of do that sort of ranking system?) – “For me truthfully, I pay very little attention to outside noise because we’re all different. We all play in different schemes. We all play different systems. Some guys follow the best, some guys don’t. It’s really hard to compare. It’s a fun game for fans – no question – but for me, I focus on myself. I focus on making sure my craft is the best it can possibly be – my footwork, my eyes, my hands, my feet, my tackling. I just choose to focus my intention on myself and that’s how I’ve been since I was young and I just want to keep that same mentality.”
(You talked a little bit about Head Coach Brian Flores and what he’s like. Can you talk about Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander and just what it’s like interacting with Gerald? Does he offer that unique perspective just because he is younger and maybe a little bit more relatable?) – “I’ll tell you this. He is a really good teacher. Him and ‘Coach Chuck’ (Coaching Assistant Charles Burks) together as the secondary coaches, they do a really good job at making sure the DBs understand what defense we’re in and where our help is and understanding what our leverage is, how the entire defense works together in our favor; so those guys have been on it in terms of leverage, in terms of where your help is, where the rush is coming from, looking at quarterback tendences. Both coaches – ‘Coach Chuck’ and ‘Coach G.A.’ – they’re both very good teachers and they’re really implementing these important lessons and foundational lessons on us very early, and I think it’s going to pay dividends in the season.”
(I guess you’ve had now two practices. I assume you guys practiced already this morning. Have you had a chance to defend a pass thrown by QB Tua Tagovailoa and if so what has gone on in those matchups?) – “I have not. No, we haven’t gone against the offense, per se. It’s been more of a walkthrough pace, so we haven’t had a chance to really go one-on-one yet; but that’s coming in about a couple weeks, so hang tight.”
(Just to piggyback off of something you said, how do you tangibly prove attacking the ball better? How do you work on that?) – “It’s a skillset, so like any skillset you work on it on a daily basis. When there’s a special teams period, I go with ‘Chuck’ (Charles Burks). We go off to the side and we work seeing the ball in all the way, and then we work on high-pointing the ball as the ball is in the air, looking back, looking over the opposite shoulder. We make the drills uncomfortable so that when it happens in the game, it’s natural at that point, so it’s just a skillset. It’s a skillset like anything else – eyes, hands, feet. This is what we work on daily basis, so it’s a skillset that I’m working on and every day we’re doing something to improve in that category.”
