David Long Jr. – September 2, 2024
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Monday, September 2, 2024
LB David Long Jr.
(Tell us about your reaction when you learned you were getting stripes on your sleeve.) – “It was special, especially knowing it’s player-voted. It means a lot when you’re in here training with these guys, offseason – I’ve been here, going into my second year – and we all know the grind especially with the heat out here. We know it’s tough, and it means a lot to sit with these guys and train with these guys and know they see the effort I put in. But besides that just more responsibility that I already put on myself that I have to carry. I can’t be getting on everybody else if I don’t have myself together. So just being me, that’s all it is.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you were playing it cool when they told you that you would be a captain. Was there a moment where you didn’t play it cool and maybe called a family member?) – “Yeah, for sure. The person I called was my mom, because we have our little talks when stuff is going bad and when stuff is going good. So she knows what it means to me, and she was excited. She felt like I could’ve had it any other year in the league, and she just felt like it was around the time everything is just coming together and we talked about it for a while.”
(When was the last time you were a captain at any level?) – “College, that was the last time. Then at Tennessee as far as the Mike (linebacker) and having the green dot, that’s a role itself, but no captain until here while in the league.”
(What do you think of the possibilities for this defense this year?) – “No limit for us, man. We talk about it every day. You see on every level it’s multiple dawgs, multiple elite players, and we’ve just got to hold each other accountable. We know the ceiling – there’s no ceiling for this group – we’ve just got to come in and attack that, be intentional with everything, whether it’s jogging off the field or whether it’s in the meetings fixing the little things and helping the people behind us be right there with us.”
(I know you bring the intensity all the time. Where is this defense and this team overall as far as bringing the intensity all the time?) – “We’re right there. We’re working with each other. I think that’s what it’s all about as far as bringing the person next to you, especially on both sides of the ball, all three phases are working together. And it also comes with the relationships off the field – how close we are so we can hold each other accountable when it comes to those times when we’re in dogfights. We have to get on each other and not take it personal. I think that goes a long way.”
(Why is that so important to everybody in terms of the closeness and hanging out with each other and camaraderie? Why is that so important from a leadership standpoint?) – “Like I said as far as being able to hold each other accountable; when you come over – you see across the league – guys go on the sideline, you see them kind of going at each other. That’s not coming from a belittling place or like, ‘I’m here and you’re there.’ It’s coming (from) like, ‘You’re my brother, I want to see you succeed.’ And that comes with knowing each other, not just the football family. These guys that got kids, a little older – like Calais (Campbell) – they joke about him being older and stuff, but it’s also just so much behind that, so much experience and stuff that can trickle down to the younger players.”
(What’s it been like to work with LB Jordyn Brooks and just everything he brings not just on the field but also the same way like the intensity, leadership?) – “It’s good seeing Jordyn (Brooks) open up. He’s new on the team, quiet guy, but is also good player, elite player. Fast and physical but it’s good to see him get settled in and him opening up and flowing. I think that goes a long way. I keep saying it goes back to when we’re in them dogfights, when it comes clutch time, that gives you kind of a relaxing feeling on the field when you can trust your brother next to you. It gives you a little weight off your shoulders knowing you’re not out there by yourself.”
(Coming from Tennessee, you obviously have a lot of experience playing against Jacksonville. Do you have a game or moment against them that stands out to you?) – “In Jacksonville – it’s always tough in Jacksonville. Glad it’s here – both hot as ever. But no, it’s tough. They’re a disciplined team, good quarterback and players that can make plays if you don’t take care of your responsibilities. But like you said, I am familiar, and then they have some players. We’re familiar with them, getting around the scouting board earlier this week, but just playing our game. We don’t need to do nothing other than what we’ve been doing this whole way, and that’s just playing fast football.”
(Their running back Jaguars RB Travis Etienne Jr., No. 1, what does he do well?) – “Make people miss. He’s a hard runner. He’s been like that since coming in the league and disciplined. You give him some space, he has some speed that will make you pay for it. That just goes back to us playing fundamentally sound football like we’ve been doing and just continue to build on that.”
(Jacksonville has blazing speed at positions you don’t traditionally see it. RB Travis Etienne Jr. is a burner, TE Evan Engram is a burner. But you guys also play against TE Jonnu Smith and RB De’Von Achane and RB Raheem Mostert every day. How much does seeing that speed every day help with a matchup like this?) – “That’s a good question. It’s a lot especially not even just the speed; it’s so much motions and stuff they do over there. They’re going to keep you disciplined. Even when you’re disciplined, it’s a trick to it, so it’s great that we have those players on the other side of the ball that we’ve been facing every day to be prepared for things like this. But it’s also going to be like coming straight from practice going against Jonnu (Smith) and those fast guys, even ‘TC’ (Tanner Conner) on the other side of the ball. It’s a lot of guys over there that are similar that we’ve been grinding with as well.”
(DT Calais Campbell is one of your other captains. How does a guy who just got here become a captain that quickly? What does it say about him?) – “That’s funny because I’d seen people saying that, but the thing is he’s not being anything other than himself. He just does things so naturally which just comes as far as he’s another coach on the field, another motivator, and you can see it’s not something he tries to do. It’s just like you said, it just comes out. He pulls younger players to the side and coaches them. He just talks about whatever is going on, not even just football. So he just comes in and fits that role, and people just gravitate towards it.”
(How important is that nose tackle spot to what you do in the trenches?) – “It’s a lot especially because it’s a lot of o-lines that we go against, and if it’s muddy for me, it’s a problem down there. We have some killer guys up there up front that get the job done well, him (Calais Campbell), Zach (Sieler), (Da’Shawn) Hand, all those people behind them. If the trenches are not well-fit, it’s going to be a long day especially in the run game. You stop the run, you win a lot of games. So it’s very important and I would say one of the most important jobs on the team. I think we’ve got the right guys in that spot. I know we’ve got the right guys in that spot.”
(LB Emmanuel Ogbah just didn’t look right in No. 51, did he?) – “Actually he was liking it for a little bit honestly, but he had to go back to (No.) 91, That’s his number. Everybody keeps trying to get me out of the (No.) 11; I think I’m going to stay with it.”
(You were No. 51 last year, right? Why’d you make the switch?) – “Yeah, that’s my college number. I’ve been wanting to get it for a while and it was open, so I’m going to test that out real quick.”
(The offensive players talk about three years in Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s system – not that this applies directly to you, you’ve only been here a little bit. This is the third year with a new defensive coordinator. What is the challenge for defense going into learning the new system and getting comfortable with it?) – “The challenge is all playing as one. We have so many defenses where we’re on a string and we have to communicate, and like I was saying, going against this offense that we’ve been going against, it just challenges more to communicate like I said because they have so many moving pieces and Mike (McDaniel) does so many things on that side of the ball. It’s been a great challenge for us just to keep hitting on communication which has been the biggest thing especially in the backend. We have communication down; it’s not like – we have the players, the talent to do it, run with anybody, hit with anybody. But when players are not communicating correctly, it opens big plays up. So I think that’s the biggest challenge, that everybody can speak. If we win the play before it starts, we’ll be all right.”
(What has impressed you about LB Chop Robinson so far?) – “It’s just coming together, coming every day to get better. He’s coming in, he’s open and learning. He takes coaching, but he’s a natural athlete. Just once he gets the right person here – like he has Calais (Campbell) right there on the side on him, he has these older guys – (Bradley) Chubb, ‘JP’ (Jaelan Phillips) – even though he’s still young a little bit, he has experience. He has some great people in front of him that he can learn from. There’s no ceiling for Chop (Robinson).”
