Jevon Holland – August 18, 2022
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Thursday, August 18, 2022
S Jevon Holland
(I know it’s not games, but it is meaningful, obviously, in training camp. How much are you enjoying the string of picks you’ve had in camp, including three in the last two days?) – “Oh, I love it. I love it. Interceptions are the best things for a DB to get, besides an interception and a touchdown, which I got today. (laughter) But no, I love it, man. It’s fun. I love playing against our offense. They’re electric, and they love talking mess. I love talking mess. It makes us play better. I really enjoy it.”
(It looks like on some of those picks you’re coming from depth and jumping in. How do those defensive calls put you in position to make the plays you’re making this week?) – “Well you know, Coach (Josh) Boyer, he makes the calls based on the situation. He does a great job aligning us in the right position to let us go out there and have fun, definitely.”
(Where are you a better player than you even were last year? What parts of your game are you better now?) – “My whole game. My entire game. I think I’ve improved in every category because I continue to plan to improving, because I don’t think I hit my ceiling yet. As a competitor, as a high-level competitor, I hold myself to a high standard. So every day, I’m trying to get one percent better than I was yesterday.”
(Who are a few safeties that you have admired and appreciated throughout your football playing life?) – “In my life? OK, Bob Sanders, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Derwin James, Kevin Byard, Budda Baker, Tyrann Mathieu, there’s a lot.”
(Some of those guys share an agent with you, is that what I saw on social media?) – “Yes, some of those guys do.”
(So is there a – did I see on social media a text thread where you guys kind of communicate, some of you guys?) – “Oh, I’m not in that. I’m not at that level yet. Shout out to David, but (laughter) I’m just playing. No, I’m not in that text thread. Those guys are a little bit older than me, but I have their number. I can reach out to them anytime I need and ask questions, because I do. Jessie Bates (III) helped me a lot last year. So those guys are – everybody in the safety community and the football community in general is always cool about spreading love, spreading ideas and everything like that.”
(Is there one thing S Jessie Bates III said that was not so obvious but helpful?) – “Yes, absolutely.”
(Anything you can share from S Jessie Bates III?) – “No, man. I’m going to keep those secrets to myself, honestly. I’m sorry about that.”
(I know team goals are No. 1 for you, but from a personal standpoint, is there any desire to be a Pro Bowl player, which you’re looking like out there, this year? Is that at all on your mind?) – “Absolutely. I mean, it’s – I desire to be the best player that I can be, and those type of things are the standard that I hold myself at. I want to those occasions, absolutely. As a competitor, I feel like you should strive to be the best you can be, and if that’s in your goal, then you should definitely do that for sure.”
(You mentioned S Ed Reed, someone here people obviously associate him with University of Miami. What from him did you take and were able to apply?) – “I try to take his whole game, everything he does, really. He was a phenomenal player. He played with such energy, such grit and furious intention. So really his attitude and the way he plays in the post is really what I was trying to focus on.”
(The playlist today was awesome. What went into that?) – “Well, the last two playlists I had were for everybody else, make sure everybody had a good vibe. But today was specifically for me, so you know I had some Mike Jackson on there, had some Luther Vandross inside, I had some Polynesian music, but they didn’t get to it in the playlist. The playlist was a little long. SOB (X RBE), Mac Dre, all that in there. I had a whole bunch in there.”
(Do you and QB Tua Tagovailoa have conversations after practice or the next morning about the picks that you make ever in terms of what you saw, since you are on the same team?) – “No. I usually ask him about plays that I messed up on or things like that. I’m not really looking for him to explain what I did right or what he saw in that specific play. I’m more looking for things that bother me when I go to sleep at night and how I can correct them, because Tua is helping me tremendously, him and Teddy (Bridgewater). But because Tua is a left-hander, it challenges me a lot, because I’m seeing things from a different side, you know what I mean? He can open his shoulder in a different way. But Tua is a hell of a competitor, and his desire to be great is the same as mine, and that resonates with me. That’s why I’m continuing to ask him questions and I’m trying to compete with home very day in practice.
(Do QB Tua Tagovailoa or QB Teddy Bridgewater or QB Skylar Thompson ever ask you what you saw on a pick or on a ball that you’ve deflected?) – “Yes, yes, of course. Because like me, like I said, we’re like-minded competitors. They want to know what they did wrong or how they could get better. So the atmosphere in the locker room between us four is awesome, really. I would want to go watch film with them too. So that’s something that I plan on doing in the future.”
(Late game situations, two-minute drills, all three units had picks. What’s the key to success in those late game scenarios?) – “You have to do your job, that’s what it comes down to. It’s a high intensity situation, but you have to do your job and then you have to let the plays come to you, because if you try to force it, then you’re going to miss your opportunity.”
(With the list of safeties you went through before, does anyone stand out that you said – any tape you watch more than others?) – “Tyrann Mathieu when he was at LSU, I watched his tape every Friday before my college games, and then right before I went to bed, me and my roommate, Jamal Hill, he’s out of Oregon, we watched Minkah Fitzpatrick’s last year in college every day.”
(A lot of the guys that you mentioned are of the nature that if you’re a quarterback, you always have to know where that guy is before the snap. Have you thought about how you want quarterbacks to look for you in that same way?) – “That’s actually a great question. Not necessarily. I just want offenses to fear me, really – not necessarily the quarterback, more the coaches. I feel like the way we’re practicing, I can get to that, because I’m continuing to push myself. But no, that hasn’t come across my mind.”
(Talking about S Tyrann Mathieu and S Minkah Fitzpatrick, they played that star role in Nick Saban’s defense. You played slot in college a lot. How does playing that position translate to playing the pros as well as you have so far this camp?) – “It puts me in a dynamic where if I have to step down and into the box or I have to do anything close to the line, I already have some type of history with that. College and NFL are completely different, but it kind of gives me a comfortable feeling knowing that I’ve been down there before and I’ve seen pulling guards come at me and tight ends like that. So just a little bit ease on my body.”
(There are a lot of safeties that you named just now that you’re inspired by. You might be well on the way to being better than some of those guys. What does that mean to you and your progression as a player and a student of the game?) – “It means a lot that you said that, but for me right now, I’m looking to the next day. I’m not looking years down the line or anything like that, I’m looking at tomorrow and how I can get better in the meetings today and then stepping onto the field tomorrow through walkthrough and whatnot and how I can grow.”
(When you get to a deep ball, whether it’s an interception or a pass breakup and use range, obviously speed is a key attribute. What portion of that play involves preparation and anticipation?) – “The whole play.”
(Can you tell me a little more about the combination of physical tools with anticipation and instincts?) – “Obviously, it starts in the film room, understanding quarterbacks looks and what not. As you’re in your peddle, you have to understand your technique and what you have to do and then trusting your instincts, really. As you get closer to the ball, like we work on deep ball drills and everything like that, understanding your distance from the receiver, from the sideline, from the ball, judging the ball correctly, going up and grabbing it, focusing on getting the ball first and then anything else. So there’s a lot that goes into the deep balls, not just running and going to get it.”
(You were born in Canada, right?) – “Correct.”
(How much time did you spend in the Bay Area?) – “I was in the Bay Area from 2008 to 2018 before I left for college, but I mean my parents live in the Bay Area still, so I obviously go – that’s home for me. It’s my home, too. I grew up in Canada, but I also grew up in the Bay Area.”
(I was about to say, I don’t know anybody that’d playing Mac Dre that’s not…) – “Mac Dre, all that. They didn’t even get to the SOB (X RBE), I had all that on there. Mozzy, ALLBLACK.”
(I want to ask you one more thing. S Minkah Fitzpatrick got a new deal this summer. S Derwin James just got a new deal this week. When you see the money being thrown around for safeties like that, what do you think about that?) – “I’m super happy for those guys. Minkah (Fitzpatrick) and Derwin (James), they’re well-deserving. They’re (great) players, they’re ballers, really. Those are guys that I look up to. Absolutely, it’s motivation or whatnot, but like I said, I’m looking to tomorrow. I’m not looking at the next couple of years and whatnot, I’m looking at how I can get better off today and that’s really how my mindset stays.”
