Jevon Holland – August 3, 2022
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Wednesday, August 3, 2022
S Jevon Holland
(How’s the defense shaping up so far? What do you think?) – “I think the defense is shaping up very well.”
(What do you hope to show everybody in your second year?) – “I hope to go out there and enjoy myself on the football field. I’m not showing anybody anything. I’m playing for myself.”
(What do you hope to show yourself?) – “That I can be my best self. That’s pretty much it. That’s all it is. Competing with myself every day. So I plan on going out there, competing with myself and helping my team win.”
(How did you prepare this offseason? Anything special?) – “No. You know football at every level comes down to the X’s, and O’s. I did a little reset, did what I needed to do, listened to my body, came into OTAs ready, built on what we did at OTAs in the summer time and boom, now we’re in camp.”
(Outside of football, what was noteworthy about your offseason? Did you go anywhere or do anything special?) – “Seeing my family. Going back home to Cali. I love the West Coast. I just took it easy.”
(This is not California weather down here.) – “It’s not. It’s more humid here. But heat hot, in Cali the sun is way hotter. I was vibing. Just real chill. A chill offseason. I worked out. Relaxed. I did do some school too. I’m continuing school. Shout out to Oregon. I’m almost done. I’m getting my degree for my mom.”
(You weren’t around any of the fires in California were you?) – “Yes, I was. There was a fire on the hill above my house. It was huge. It was crazy. It was like Doomsday. Shout out to the firefighters in Alameda County. They handled that. Everybody got away safe. No houses damage as far as I know.”
(Is there any advice you could give to some of the rookies this year? You came in last year as a rookie, started out big right out of the gates. What do you tell them?) – “Be who you are. You got here because you are who you are. Don’t change because you’re obviously a play-maker, you’re here for a reason. It’s the NFL. You’re an NFL player. You’re a professional. Be who you are, carry yourself with respect and pride, be confident and ball.”
(For the last couple of years this defense has been stellar. Obviously you were a rookie last year. What do you think of this defense as a whole? Some guys have come back. What can you guys improve on as a unit?) – “Everything. You can never stop improving. Always looking to get better. Nitpicking the small details. You can be an inch closer. You can be a second faster. I think it’s just like tuning the car at this point. Everybody has been here. There’s a common knowledge of the defense. Now it’s like tuning that engine.”
(For yourself, did you improve on anything? Did you watch any film that you saw that you could improve on going into this season and over the summer?) – “Yes, definitely. I definitely did.”
(What’s the impact of some of the new faces defensively, some of the new veterans as far as some of those tuning things that you’re talking about that you guys have been able to implement out here on the field? Any specific examples?) – “No specific examples, but I would say that having vets that played, they have knowledge of the game and they can help the younger guys see things in a different light that align with the coach’s thought process. It helps a lot that they have that veteran leadership.”
(You’ve got a guy like S Brandon Jones too. You guys are growing into bigger roles in the defense. How does that film study process go? Do you guys lean on each other to talk about interchangeability that you guys have? Like this worked for me? Or I might adjust this differently?) – “Yes. Of course, of course. I feel like us as a unit everybody leans on each other and the DBs because if you think about it, we’re all pretty interchangeable. Without a doubt, growing with a team and coming into a second year in the same type of room, it helps a lot because of the chemistry you have, a connection, collective thought process, hive-mind type thing. It’s definitely great, for sure.”
(Seeing you in the stretch line before practice guiding guys through. How did that come to you that you are the one that does that, and how does that make you feel about that leadership position of the defense?) – “One of our strength coaches isn’t here, so I was like I’ll do it. That’s basically it. There is nothing to it. It’s cool. I can just guide everybody. There is nothing crazy. It looks like it has a different meaning, but it’s really just our strength coach isn’t here so I was like I’ll do it.”
(It paired up with what Safeties Coach Steve Gregory was talking about with you kind of playing the quarterback role on the defense. I thought there was some transition, some carryover there. But talk about that – the role of the quarterback on the defense and how in year two, having seen so little NFL reps, how you’re able to get yourself in a position to be in that position?) – “I think it’s about confidence and understanding the defense. I know as a safety, that’s kind of the guy pushing to be the quarterback of the defense, as a lot of people might say, or the middle linebacker. One of the two. But me and ‘E-Rob,’ (Elandon Roberts) we try to bring everybody in a collective mind. I don’t necessarily do it because I have to. I do it because I want to and I want everybody to be on the same page so that we’re an oiled machine. Everything is real smooth and real nice. That’s how I found myself in that role.”
(Was there a moment last year, or maybe in year two, where you thought to yourself you can take on more of that leadership role? Did you feel like you had to learn your stripes in that regard as a rookie? Or did it change at any point for you last year or this year?) – “Yeah. Coming in, of course I felt like I had to earn my stipes. My biggest thing was understanding the defense so that we all can be on the same page. It was never for personal gain. It was always because I want everybody to be on the same page, and if somebody doesn’t know something and they look back at me, I don’t want to be standing there not knowing what they have to do. I want to be able to communicate to them so that everybody is on the same page so that we’re all moving forward together.”
(Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker said that he has the rookie receivers diagram each play of the practice script so that they can visualize it beforehand. Is there something like that you did to get yourself in position where you do feel that comfort level in the defense?) – “Not pre-practice or anything like that. It sounds like I’m repeating myself, but it’s really just understanding the defense. You just have to know what the defense is, know what it takes, know where the checks are, calls and things like that. Everything that’s intertwined in the defense on that specific call. We have a lot of stuff going on. But on that specific play, you only have one defense, one job you have to worry about. As long as I do my 1/11th, boom everybody else is on the same page. If I do my 1/11th and I get the job done inside the play and the play is still going on, I can help other people do their 1/11th It’s a trickle down effect.”
