Jakeem Grant – August 25, 2019
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Sunday, August 25, 2019
WR Jakeem Grant
(On if he has made any big purchases since signing a contract extension.) – “No, not anything in particular. I’m just still thinking about what I should do. I definitely want to get a house, but I’ve kind of just (been) debating about it: should I wait? But, I definitely want to take care of mom, though. She’s worked her butt off to raise three of us all by herself, so I’m definitely going to take care of her.”
(The human moment sometimes gets lost on us on how big of a deal this is for you. Can you kind of put it into words?) – “It’s a very big deal. It just shows that the hard work has paid off. All the criticism and everything that went with it just from people saying I can’t make it to the league, I’m not going to be able to make the roster, this and that, and then just going out each and every day with that on my shoulders and just playing and just going out there and saying, ‘screw what they say. I’m going to go out there and make the best of my moments.’ And also, just from a financial standpoint, it’s a great blessing. A very big blessing, so I just want to take care of mom. My family is always going to be straight. My wife and kids are going to be great. I just want to take care of my mom because she put in a lot of hard work, and I put in a lot of hard work to make sure that she can get a chance to breathe.”
(What does this also say in terms of the Dolphins basically telling you you’re one of the guys we want with us going forward as we build this thing?) – “Man, it’s truly an honor. Just for them to have the faith in me and saying that, ‘you’re one of our key guys and we want you here for the long term,’ it just brings joy to my heart. It just makes me want to go out there and play even harder, and it’s a big relief of just saying now the weight is not on my shoulders anymore. I can just sit there and breathe and just go and be me and play the game like I know I can and just not worry about, ‘oh, am I going to make – should I able to be healthy making it to free agency?’ So now I can go out there and just turn the wheels loose and just go out there and grind.”
(Former NFL WR Devin Hester, CB Deion Sanders, former Kansas City Chiefs WR Dante Hall, there have been some guys who have changed games and changed many games in a season through special teams. You were among the league leaders in punts and kick returns last year. What kind of an impact do you think you can have on the team and in kickoff and punt returns?) – “I think I can have a big impact. I feel like those are the guys that I look up to, especially Devin Hester and Dante Hall. It was Dante Hall before Devin Hester came about; but man, it was just – my goal is to try to top everything that they have done. I want to be known up there with those guys and be able to go out there and put on a show just like those guys, and they could change the game just like that. I remember watching – I think it was the Super Bowl – when Devin Hester ran it back. I was like, ‘man, I’m going to do that one day.’ I just said, ‘I’m going to do that.’ And then I got to the league, never played punt returner ever, in my life; but I always watched Devin Hester and Dante Hall do it, and I was like, ‘man, this is a lot harder than watching them do it,’ and so when I got out there and I had a few hiccups and then the next thing you know, I started getting good at it. I started going to practice and catching limitless balls. I mean, I couldn’t even count how many punts I’ve caught and just hone in on my craft and just say ‘man, I’m trying to be the best in the league at this.’ Again, I just go out there every practice and try to be the best and go out there and say, ‘I’m going to be the best in the league at kickoff return, punt return and everything that I do.”
(You mentioned the security of having this done before you got to free agency. Is that the No. 1 reason you re-signed, or did you want to be here long-term? What was that?) – “No. The reason I resigned is because I love the coaches, I love the organization. I just love the way ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) coaches and just the rough and tough coaching. It’s just down to a tee, and I love it. I love the position coach. I love (Wide Receivers Coach) Karl Dorrell. I love (Offensive Coordinator) Chad O’Shea. I love all those guys. Just the way they coach is – I just felt like I was going to have a bright future, and I felt like those guys are going to push me to be the best that I can be. ‘Coach Flo’ does it every single day. He told me, for example, he told me at practice – I bobbled a punt, and he told me, ‘a bobble is a drop to me,’ and I was like, ‘what, Coach? I caught it,’ and he was like, ‘that’s a drop to me.’ Just little things like that just made me think, ‘man Coach just wants the best out of me.’ With that being said, it was no hard decision. I want to be here, and I feel like they’re going to make me become a great athlete.”
(On offense, your reception numbers have gone up every year. Is there any reason why they wouldn’t go up again this year?) – “No. I think they are definitely going to go up again this year. I feel like I am going to have a bigger role with whatever (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’shea) and those guys have for me. I feel like the receptions are definitely going to go up and I’m just going out there and I’m doing whatever the coaches have for me. I’m just honing on my craft, perfecting my routes, catching balls every day, and making sure that whenever I get there, my routes and my fundamentals are and details are to a point where whenever I’m ready to go in a game.”
(The competition at the position at the bottom end. It seems like guys like WR Trenton Irwin, WR Preston Williams and WR Isaiah Ford, there is going to be a lot of competition to make this roster. How do you see everything playing out with being so loaded at that position?) – “I think it’s great for those guys. They come in, and they compete. They’ve been competing against us as well and pushing us to do great things. I’ve seen Preston making plays, Trenton Irwin is making plays, Isaiah Ford is making plays. Me and Isaiah go back and forth talking about the releases. He’s been doing great at releases catching the ball, and having great fundamentals and details at the top of his routes, and having great hands. He’s been open. He’s been getting open. And Preston, everybody knows Preston has been doing a hell of a job just going out there and being a big playmaker. I feel like every last one of those guys are great guys and it’s hard to say. It’s coach’s decision but I love each and every one of those guys. I wish that every last one of them could be here.”
(What do you make of what your former Texas Tech buddy is doing on defense at linebacker?) – “My boy Sam (Eguavoen)? Man, he’s doing a good job. I told – (Wide Receivers) Coach (Karl) Dorrell asked me about him. I was like, ‘he’s a hard worker, fast, physical, smart player.’ I played with him at Tech. I think he’s really talented and he can do a lot of things in this defense and a lot of things for this team, not just on defense but on special teams as well. He’s an all-around player. He can do it all. I’d just say, ‘Texas Tech is in the building.’”
(I wanted to ask you about the quarterback competition. Does coach give updates from time to time? Because he gives us updates. Does he get in front of the meeting room and kind of tell you where things are at?) – “No, he really doesn’t. He keeps it plain and simple. Everybody knows there’s a quarterback battle going on. We just get in and compete with both of them. It’s either we’re in with Josh (Rosen) or if we’re in with ‘Fitz” (Ryan Fitzpatrick). Either way it goes, we love those guys. They are both great, talented quarterbacks and I think that both of them can lead us to the promise land.”
(Is there something we might not have seen about that battle that might be interesting for us?) – “No, not really. I guess I would say their personalities. They have great personalities. They love to joke around and just take ownership of this offense.”
