Jevon Holland – December 19, 2022
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Monday, December 19, 2022
S Jevon Holland
(So the neck, you went back into the game with a neck roll right?) – “Yeah, I went into the locker room, got that Bobby Boucher out there and then come back out and help the team.”
(How was it playing with that neck roll or with the injury?) – “Playing with the neck roll was kind of difficult. I couldn’t look left or right. I had to turn my shoulders and whatnot. It’s just something you’ve got to do though. The times call for what the time is called for and I had to do what I had to do to get back on the field.”
(How are you feeling now?) – “I’m feeling straight.”
(What were you feeling when it first happened and will you continue to wear the neck roll?) – “I had come down and hit somebody and then just happened to get a stinger and my arm was on fire. That’s why you saw me running off the field pulling my arm sleeve down because my arm sleeve was on fire. Then I had the neck roll on. When they first told me in the training room that I had to put a neck roll on, I was obviously against it. I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not trying to do that. I’m not trying to look like Brock Osweiler.’ (laughter) But then I was like nah, forget it. I might as well, if that’s what I got to do. So I came out there in a neck roll and it just is what it is. Man coverage was kind of hard because I couldn’t really turn my head or anything like that. But other than that, it’s part of the game. More equipment. It is what it is.”
(What is it like to play behind DT Christian Wilkins and is there a difference this year and in previous years? Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer said his snap percentage went up from about 60 percent in previous years to 80 percent now because he plays the run and pass so well. What do you notice about Christian as a player and as a person?) – “I’d say as a player first, Christian is probably the most schedule-based and process-based individual we have on the team. You see him doing the same thing day in and day out, week in and week out. He continues to organize himself accordingly so he’s always ready for game day. And even on game day, he does the same thing over and over again. So I always know he’s going to be locked in. I always know he’s going to be prepared to go out there and play at 100 percent, at 110 percent. As a person, Christian is by far one of my favorite people in the building. He’s always bringing you a positive attitude. He’s always ready to attack the day and joke around when you need to joke around. He’s a hell of a competitor but a better person.”
(You’ve called out the fans on Instagram live about them switching up. What is it about the difficulty of pleasing this fan base and when you win, you win, and when you lose, they’re hard on you.) – “It’s not so much for me personally, because people don’t waver regardless. I was on Instagram live on my other account but I was mainly talking about people on Tua (Tagovailoa). Tua has been balling all year. We’re in the NFL, which everyone is getting paid for a reason because everybody is an elite competitor. So there are going to be games where sometimes the other guy getting paid on the other side of the ball is going to have an advantage and gets the best of an individual. So when Tua is out there balling and doing his thing, he’s getting all the love but he has one (rough) game and now he’s the worst quarterback in the league. That’s just something that irritated me. You’ve got to have faith in somebody. You’ve got to believe in somebody. Because like we have throughout his whole time here, we’ve believed in him. We know what he can do and you guys see what he can do, because he is a hell of a player. He leads us on the field and off the field. That was basically that. It wasn’t anything for myself personally or nothing like that. Somebody asked me if I was going to cry or something. I was not going to cry. I was just laying down because I was laying down and laying on the floor, kind of side chilling or whatever … Tua is our guy. It is what it is.”
(You’ve never had the full defensive backfield this year. Huge losses with CB Byron Jones and CB Nik Needham and S Brandon Jones. Have you ever wondered, in a quiet moment this year, if we had everybody, how good of a group we could be in the defensive backfield?) – “Yeah, sure. You can play if games. You think about it all the time. You see those guys around the facility and of course I miss Nik, Byron and B-Jones (Brandon Jones). But we’re playing with who we got and I believe in those guys who we got and who have stepped up. You see them going out there and giving their all. So definitely.”
(I know this isn’t why you play the game but I remember back in training camp this year when you made the statement that you wanted to be feared, which to me, sort of correlates with respect. In that vein, you wound up in No. 2 in fan voting at safety for the Pro Bowl. Does that mean anything to you? Does that tell you that you’re starting to get that level of respect in your young career?) – “Yeah, I would think so. I think it’s pretty cool that people respect me. I respect them. If they give me respect, I’ll give them respect. (laughter) But yeah, I think that’s cool. I think for me, personally, recognition is dope, especially from peers and people that are elite competitors that compete at such a high level and you watch them throughout your whole life, even as a young kid. Like after the game, I’m looking around looking to say what’s up to players that I’ve seen and like (Stefon) Diggs came up to me and said ‘Yo, great game.’ So me, going to find them and them walking up to me, at the same time, that’s always something that I’m like, ‘Damn, that guy is sweet.’ Jordan Poyer, the same thing. Taron Johnson, the same thing. Seeing that kind of stuff and people coming up to me kind of gives me like, ‘Damn. Cool.’ I respect them but they also respect me and they say me as a good player in the league. That’s what I want. I want to be respected and I want to be recognized; and if I’m recognized and I’m respected, that means I’m playing well. And I’m going to continue to try to play the best I can because I want to be the best. If you’re competing at this level and you don’t want to be the best, then you’re just floating. I’ve got a direction and I know what I want to be. But that is definitely cool, for sure. That is definitely cool.”
(You’ve known S Verone McKinley III for a long time. How have you seen him grow just since the time he got here as an undrafted rookie to now?) – “Confidence and maturity, for sure. Definitely. He’s back there having to kind of control the helm now. He’s back deep at free safety and I see a lot of what I did last year in what he’s doing now. It’s funny being in the position that I’m in watching him go through what I went through last year, trying to give him the little pieces, ins and outs of how he can improve himself and how he can help me improve myself along with him, playing together. It’s kind of weird because usually in college we were free safety and nickel but now we’re like free safety and strong safety, so we’ve got to be even more in-sync than we were before. I love that he’s out there and he’s doing what I was doing and doing what everybody else is doing on their field, which is living their dream playing in the NFL. There’s nothing better than being able to say that you were going to do something as a kid and then going out there and doing it. And he’s doing exactly that, at a high level too.”
(So to clarify, the neck is fine? But the neck roll was worn because an arm injury?) – “My neck is fine. Spinal cord looks all good and everything is straight like that. It was just preventative and you want to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself and being protective. I might rock the Bobby Boucher. (laughter) I might have to do it. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
(You have the nickname Snowman. I’m just kind of curious where did that come from?) – “It’s actually very simple. So on the iPhone, the emoji of the snowman looks like a No. 8. I wear No. 8. Plus, I’m from Canada. So like in special teams meetings last year, Coach (Danny) Crossman was like ‘Snowman!’ Then Mack Hollins called me Snowman in a podium interview like this and I just ran with it. I was looking up who was the Snowman and I think it’s like a UFC fighter or something like that. Isn’t Brock Lesnar the snowman? And Jeezy too. Shout out Jeezy.”
(Some players talk about one game at a time and focus solely on that game but the playoffs are looming. I’m wondering how do you balance that excitement of the playoffs with focus on Green Bay. Is there room to think about playoffs or is it solely Green Bay right now?) – “I mean we’re about to go play Aaron Rodgers. I played Tom Brady last year. We’re about to play Aaron Rodgers, who has been in the league for years and arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play. So what more do you have to focus on? This is a huge challenge, especially for me. This is Aaron Rodgers that we’re talking about. It’s AR-12. He’s the guy. I’m excited. Definitely. It’s Aaron Rodgers, bro. Discount double-check. The whole cheese head thing. Playoffs are playoffs. I’ve never been to the playoffs so I wouldn’t know. But it’s going to be what it is. That’s my mindset. I’ve just got to focus on what I can focus on and what I can control, and what I can control is today, right now, and focusing on how to slow down Aaron Rodgers. That’s all we can do. Playoffs is going to be what they are.”
(How much do you focus or get hyped about matchups with a quarterback? QB Lamar Jackson is a former MVP. QB Josh Allen, QB Aaron Rodgers, QB Tom Brady. As a player, do you really get fired up? And then as a football fan, do you also get fired up?) – “Yeah, absolutely. I mean these are people that I’ve been watching for (a long time). I’m a football fan. I love football, both watching it and playing it. So playing against guys that are elite competitors is fun and being able to try to break down and slow them down and things like that. Like game-planning against them is even more fun. Playing Josh Allen is probably some of the best fun I have because he’s such an elite competitor and he’s a physical matchup on all levels. He’s a runner. He’s a passer. Lamar Jackson, too. He’s electric, so how do you stop somebody like that? That’s the mindset that I have and I try to approach that still as a fan but also as a competitor. I try to take advantage of their flaws but also realize that these guys are paid at a high level too and it’s going to be a challenge. I’m excited for that challenge.”
