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Jevon Holland – August 11, 2021 Download PDF version

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

S Jevon Holland

(You’ve been finding the ball a lot lately. Is it just your understanding of the defense or just reading things different?) – “Yeah. When you work your technique and do the things that the coaches are asking, in and out of the play, reading your keys, the plays find you. You don’t necessarily have to go to the ball. That’s just a product of doing the TNTs (takes no talent).”

(I didn’t actually see everything that happened on the interception on Bears QB Andy Dalton. I think it was in the middle of the field. Can you take us through what happened on that play?) – “Yeah, so I was just going through my keys on that play, basically reading the quarterback in the middle of the field. Then as I was breaking to the post, I read his eyes and he let the ball go and I happened to be there, right where we planned on me being there. It worked in my favor, that play.”

(I know it’s only a practice but as a rookie trying to earn a starting job, how significant was it to get a pick when you’re practicing against another team?) – “I think it’s important. It just shows production and things like that but like I said, plays in practice and in the game, they’re going to come when you do your technique and you work the fundamentals that we practice every day. That’s just a product of that, and I’m going to harp on that and I’m going to stay focused on the fundamentals. If you make a good play, just like if you made a bad play, you kind of go to the next play. It’s in the past and you can’t really control it. I’ll just keep moving forward, doing the little things.”

(I know you’ve got one more practice to get through, but what do you think it will be like to kind of suit up in an NFL locker room and in an NFL stadium, to play a different NFL team on Saturday?) – “I think it’s going to be dope, man. I think it’s going to be freaking amazing, honestly. I’m having a blast right now. We’re practicing against Andy Dalton, Nick Foles, Jimmy Graham. I was watching these people play. Andy Dalton was on Cincinnati on the Bengals, and Jimmy Graham was going crazy on the Saints. These are some of the people that I grew up watching as a kid, so to be able to practice against them and sweat, grind; it’s kind of surreal for me. I put a smile on my face going out there and playing the game I love.”

(You mentioned reading the quarterback’s eyes and going to the football. How much do you and QB Tua Tagovailoa and the quarterbacks kind of communicate as far as what you see defensively and what they see offensively?) – “I actually do go and pick their brain a little bit, especially Jacoby (Brissett). He’s a vet and has been in the league. I try to ask him what he’s looking for when we’re trying to show disguise and things like that. Same with Tua. Tua gives me great insight. He’s a great dude. All of them are great – Reid (Sinnett) too. They give me insight on what they’re looking for and their keys so I can try to play to my advantage and try to confuse them before the play.”

(We spoke to Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander the other day and he told us that you know what’s going on but he always reminds you that you have to make sure that you let everybody else know what’s going on and you do it vocally, loudly. Tell me about how that’s going?) – “It’s just a plus-one communication. That comes with learning the defense, being more comfortable with that. It’s coming along. I’m trying to get little things out of my head and into the field of play, making sure everybody is on the same page. But that plus-one communication is how a secondary, a defense, takes the next step. That’s something I’m really working on along with continuing to focus on the plays and the techniques and the things like that. It’s coming together but every day I try to push and be better than I was the day before.”

(After sitting out last year, what kind of apprehension, if any, did you have heading into training camp about how long it might take you to get back to where you were in 2019?) – “I’ve been training, working out and grinding for the past year; so I wasn’t just sitting on the couch during that break. I didn’t really feel like I had lost a step. Putting the pads on and putting the helmet on is different, but just getting my feet underneath me and really making contact and things like that – other than that, it doesn’t feel any different. I feel better than I have before and I’m excited to be out there repping that orange and aqua.”

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