Byron Jones – March 26, 2020
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Thursday, March 26, 2020
CB Byron Jones
(Two quick questions – what was it that brought you at the end of the day here to Miami and how excited are you to work with a guy like CB Xavien Howard?) – “What really brought me to Miami was the idea of joining a young team and being a leader on that team and kind of being a catalyst for cultural change and helping this team win. They’ve got a bunch of ballers on that roster and really with the prospect of drafting a lot of dope players, and we’ve also brought in a bunch of different free agents across the league. I wanted to be a part of the building of something special and more than anything, just being that guy – a guy that people look up to in the locker room to lead them in the right direction, really. I’m looking forward to playing with all my teammates, but especially to play across from another guy who’s a top-tier corner. I think that’s going to be a cool little duo for us.”
(I know Head Coach Brian Flores likes to play a lot of man-to-man defense. How does that fit with what you want to do?) – “Yeah, I love – that’s one of the things that really made me fall in love with the game all over again; one, changing from safety to corner, but then just having someone in front of me every play. I love that. I love competing every single play. Even if the ball’s not thrown to my side, I’m cool with that. Being a long, strong corner – I can move pretty well, I can change directions pretty well – I think that’s going to bode well if we’re playing a lot of man.”
(I understand there were a number of teams involved in free agency. I think the Eagles were one of them. How did Miami win that race?) – “Like I said earlier, it was just the prospect of being a part of a team that’s building and going in the right direction. I like the young roster and I like the coach, so for me it was just a good fit.”
(You mentioned CB Xavien Howard earlier. What does having two Pro Bowl-type corners on one team do to a quarterback? What problems are you guys expecting to cause?) – “The most important part is just really having no weak links, and that’s what we’re trying to create in our defensive secondary and really the entire team, is to build a team where there are no weaknesses, where we can just guard up. We can create matchups that are difficult for receivers and quarterbacks. We’ve seen throughout the league, receivers are getting better and better. Quarterbacks are getting better and better. Teams don’t have just one good receiver. They have multiple. They have good tight ends, good running backs, so we just want to be able to match up to some of the best assets and just disrupt that as much as we can.”
(Obviously you’ve been graded as one of the best cover corners in the whole league for a few years now. It’s always brought up that you only have two interceptions in your career. What are some of the things that you think have contributed to that?) – “Man, I have no clue. It’s a joke, the fact that I haven’t had an interception in two years. It’s bizarre. (laughter) But it doesn’t bother me in any way. It’s just one of those things you work on in the offseason (and) during the season and when it comes, you’ve got to be ready. In 2018, I had a ball hit in the back of the head and that was kind of embarrassing. In 2019, that didn’t happen in 2019, so I am getting better. (laughter) Slowly but surely, I am getting better; but I’ve been working on ball skills all day long, and that’s just something that – surprisingly I do have good ball skills, but it just needs to show up on game days. We’re working on that.”
(You’re obviously from Connecticut, the New York area. Do you have family still there? How are they dealing with coronavirus? It’s obviously one of the biggest hotspots in the world.) – “I’m not from New York. I’m from Connecticut, and they are staying inside like everybody else. (laughter)”
(I wonder how many Zoom interview sessions you’ve done and what your reaction to this is?) – “This is my second one. I had an interview with – not really an interview, just talking to a friend. He wanted to show me the app, I guess, but it’s neat. You see, I guess I’ve got a little background here so you’re not looking in my house. It’s just a bizarre situation that we’re all in, but we’re all in it together, so hopefully we can collectively understand how important the situation is and understand to stay inside and not to spread this virus. Maybe in a couple weeks, but that’s – man, that’s life. Let’s figure it out.”
(I’m curious what you had heard about Head Coach Brian Flores before the process and then maybe what you learned about him during the last couple of weeks or months.) – “I haven’t had a chance to actually meet him in person, but talking with him on the phone after I signed – just, he’s a young coach and I love that. He’s got young energy. I hear he’s intense and he likes to create competitive scenarios, competitive situations. That’s just something that I like and I wanted to be a part of. I’ve heard a lot of good things about him throughout the league. I spoke to a couple of coaches and players throughout the whole process and they had nothing but good things to say about him. That’s exciting for me, just to be on a team that he’s leading.”
(You were the first signing by the Dolphins, I believe, in this free agency period. What did you think as they went on – they signed LB Kyle Van Noy, for instance, and then they DE Shaq Lawson, etc. What were your thoughts as the day progressed?) – “Yeah, we’ve got some ballers. No question about that. You combine the new talent with the talent that was already on the team and you combine it with the new talent we’re going to get in the draft, and we’re going to have some ballers. Now the challenge is putting it together and being consistent and winning games in this league, which is very hard to do; but no, it’s exciting to see a lot of good players come from different teams. We all come from different backgrounds. That’s the beauty of football, so there shouldn’t be any issues working together with these guys. I’ve talked to a couple of them already. We’re ready to get the thing started.”
(What changes for you with the money?) – “Personally?”
(Your role on the team, your expectations, personally, anything.) – “One thing my coach – his name is Kris Richard, and he’s really one of the big reasons why I moved to corner and why I was a Pro Bowl player – is approach things as if it’s a championship. So championship preparation in practice, in life, the way you eat. If this was a practice leading up to Super Bowl, how are you going to prepare for that practice, prepare for that game? So really, my mindset is regardless of if I’m getting paid $1 million or $13 million. It doesn’t change for me. I’m always going to practice and prepare to my best abilities. To me, that’s what’s consistent of being a part of – the good players in this league, we don’t change based on outside circumstances. There’s something internal in a player that says, ‘hey, I have certain standards I’m not going to deviate (from them) no matter what’s going on.’ Me, being an older guy now, I have to step up to a leadership position. Just not leading by example, but leading through being vocal and talking to the team and making sure the young guys are doing the right thing. That’s what I’m excited for.”
(I know that Dallas obviously drafted you and groomed you. Do you think that their situation with QB Dak Prescott and WR Amari Cooper impacted you not getting much interest from them in that perspective?) – “I don’t think so. One thing that the Dallas Cowboys do a really good job at is drafting good young players, and they have a whole bunch of good corners on that team – no question about that – and those guys will be just fine without me. But they believe strongly in the way they draft and they’ve shown over the years they draft some freaking ballers no matter (if it is the) first round, seventh round, guys in between. They draft and develop really good players, so I don’t think the Dak and Amari’s situation had any effect on me. I think it’s their confidence in the people that they have on the roster now and who they’re going to get in the draft hopefully.”
(I’m wondering how many times you’ve broad jumped since the world record.) – “(laughter) It’s funny, so never like an official – we do it during training around this time of the year. We’ll do it in April and May. It’s like a plyometric, I guess, so we’ll do like broad jumps back-to-back-to-back-to-back just to build the muscles up and just more for explosion, just for workout; but I’ve never actually gotten on a line and measured how far I jump. That was a one-time deal, man. That’s it. (laughter)”
(I know you sort of touched on this earlier, but I’m wondering when you started free agency, what were your priorities? What did you want aside from money, from a team that would sway you to sign with that team?) – “Really, it’s just the team – how the team makeup is. To me, it’s where they’re going and what direction are they going into? I had good opportunities to join different teams at different stages of their – I don’t know – their winning cycle? But I love the prospect of joining a team that’s on the come-up. That was exciting for me, and seeing the guys that the Dolphins have been able to collect over the past couple of weeks and the guys that they already have on the roster and obviously the guys that they’re going to get in the draft. To me, that’s exciting, and that was one of the big things. Football is a grind. No matter how much you’re getting paid, it is hard, so you want to be in a good locker room, a good situation with good teammates, good coaches; and you want to win games. That’s the only thing that makes this game easy – not easy, but it makes it do-able for 20-24 weeks depending on how far you go in the season. That’s what’s most important to me. It just, who you’re around, what’s the culture and where do you see the team going.”
(How do you feel about playing for Miami and what is one key attribute that you have that will help this team?) – “I am fired up to play for Miami. This is a young team that’s going in the right direction, and the thing that I can bring to this team is leadership and also good man coverage. That’s one thing I’m excited (about), is to play with this defensive style. We’re going to match up, we’re going to have some fun, put people in different spots so they can be successful and that’s what I’m looking most forward to.”
