Jerome Baker – June 4, 2019
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Tuesday, June 4, 2019
LB Jerome Baker
(Today, Head Coach Brian Flores was talking to us. When your name came up, he was talking about how you are taking more of a leadership role this year. What gives you the confidence to do that?) – “I have one year under my belt. I’m really just trying to do my job and set the example. I’m really just doing my job to the best of my ability and just taking ownership of it.”
(Have you always been a leader throughout your high school and college career?) – “I look at myself as a leader. I want to lead by example. I don’t want to say it with my words, I want to lead by example.”
(You know how much Head Coach Brian Flores values leadership on this team, don’t you?) – “Yes, I do.”
(One thing that’s come up is your role this year. It seems like you may be asked to do more of a pass rush role. How do you embrace that?) – “They ask me to do a lot of different things. I’m really just taking ownership of that, just being versatile. Whatever they tell me to do, just do it to the best of my ability. If it’s pass rush, that’s what I’m going to do.”
(Your pass rush skills, how would you assess them? You had the three sacks last year. You have the speed. How would you assess your skills in that area?) – “It’s just a work in progress. I’m just out there with (Linebackers) Coach Rob (Leonard) and constantly improving and trying to get better in all aspects of my game.”
(Your comfort level playing in a 3-4 – obviously, we saw you a ton in a 4-3 outside. What’s your comfort level in a 3-4 as an outside guy?) – “Football is football. It doesn’t matter what the scheme is. You have to go out there and make plays and just get to the ball carrier. That’s pretty much what I’m doing, just out there having fun.”
(Did you change your body at all this year? Anything you do differently?) – “Yeah. I got in the weight room a lot. That was my main thing, just working out as much as I can and hopefully improve so it pays off in the season.”
(Did you put on any weight?) – “A little bit. I’ve been a little heavier today. I’m just trying to keep it and be consistent.”
(What are you up to now?) – “Today I weighed in at 227.”
(Had the staff wanted you to be a little bigger without it sacrificing speed?) – “They just want me to be healthy and make sure it’s the right weight. (Head Strength and Conditioning) Coach Dave (Puloka) can definitely do a good job with that.”
(How great was it to have S Reshad Jones back?) – “It was definitely great when you have a player like that. He brings that leadership, so it was definitely good to see him.”
(How much stronger do you feel now?) – “I feel like a new player, honestly. I feel stronger, feel faster. I just have to take that into the season and constantly improve.”
(Have you always been a weight room kind of guy or not?) – “Yeah, I go in there. But this offseason, it was like a main focus of mine. I definitely took that, this offseason, to heart.”
(How do you look back on your rookie year?) – “It was a learning experience. It was definitely fun. (I’m) just trying to take that next step this year.”
(What’s a main lesson you learned as a rookie?) – “Just because you’re a rookie, that doesn’t mean you don’t say anything. Last year I would know the call, I would know something and I just wouldn’t say anything because it was an older guy. This year, just speak up what you see. If you’re wrong, at least everybody is on the same accord. I just kind of took that to heart.”
(It sounds like you hit the perfect balance because you’re talking like a veteran but you’re still a very young guy.) – “Yeah. I love being a young guy. I like that hunger, I like that edge, so I’m going to definitely always keep that.”
(In a couple of days, you guys are going to get a break. I’m sure you’re looking forward to that as well. What are you going to do with your time off?) – “Just really soak in the playbook and enjoy my family. Just see my family as much as I can before we go into the season and just really appreciate them.”
(You’re not going to go diving with sharks or climb Mount Everest or anything?) – “No, I’m not going to do that.”
(What excites you about this defense?) – “We’re young and hungry. That’s the main thing. We’re young and hungry. The coaching staff is so versatile, so you have to know a lot of positions. You never know where you’re going to be at. Just young, hungry and being versatile.”
(Take me a little inside that scheme. Is it more tricky, are there more positions to learn or a lot of plays? What’s it like?) – “We just have to learn the concepts. (Head) Coach (Brian Flores) will really move you around pretty much any position if you learn the concepts. You can just tell if you really want to play, that you have to learn multiple positions.”
(I’m doing something on the difference with players between year one and year two because a lot of times, you talk to the players and they say year two I was here training as opposed to training for the combine. I was doing football activities. For you, what’s been the big difference?) – “It’s definitely that. You can just sit in one place and just focus on your training. For me, that was a big difference. I didn’t have to travel. I didn’t have to go see different teams. Just kind of sit wherever you want to be at and work out and just enjoy yourself there. That was definitely a bonus for me.”
(Tell me about the traveling and the working out. How many teams did you visit? How much time were you working out?) – “I probably visited five teams, and it was all in a span of a week. Pretty much, I’d go home, change, go on another flight. It was flight, flight, flight, back to back to back.”
(What teams did you visit?) – “San Francisco, the Chargers, Jacksonville, Broncos. I think that was it.”
(This year, what have you been doing? It’s been working out. You’ve been with the team.) – “I took one trip to Bali. After that, I kind of just stayed here and just worked out and just kind of enjoyed Miami.”
(Let me digress and ask a stupid question, how was Bali?) – “It was amazing. It was definitely beautiful. It was just the culture of it was beautiful. I definitely had fun.”
(When you’re here and you’re doing football activities, when you get out there on that field, do you feel more confident? Do you feel better because you’ve been here? How does it make a difference? Where do we see that manifest itself?) – “You’re just more confident. You’re ready for football shape. Combine shape and football shape are two different things. You definitely feel ready for that and you kind of just take that on and be consistent. It’s another break, so you have to make sure you stay in that shape. You can definitely feel it out on the field.”
