Jevon Holland – August 7, 2021
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Saturday, August 7, 2021
S Jevon Holland
(I know the goal is just getting better every day but is it at all encouraging to you that we’ve seen you with the first group in two of the last three days of practice?) – “We’re all just rotating around and getting reps, really. Going into Chicago next week and at practice tomorrow, we’re just making sure we’re getting our fundamentals and techniques down like ‘Coach Flo’ (Brian Flores) wants, and trying to orchestrate the defense according to Coach (Josh) Boyer. We’re just making sure we’re executing and really focusing in on the things that are going on in meetings and walkthroughs.”
(We saw the pick that was impressive a couple of days ago. What have you been pleased with how you’ve done in this camp? What have you done well?) – “I feel like I’m learning the playbook and getting the fundamentals down, really. When you get the fundamentals down and do the little things, then plays come to you. You don’t have to really go find them. That was the result of one of them. But that’s in the past. I’m just looking forward to continuing to execute and capitalize on those things that come to me.”
(What part of your game do you and Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander focus on as far as where you think – I know you’d probably say everything but are there any specific areas where you’d say you’re not at the level you want to be at yet at this particular thing?) – “I’m really just focused on the fundamentals and the techniques, honestly. Every place is different so coming here, you’ve got to learn everybody’s terminology, the technique, the fundamentals, how they want you to come out of the post, things like that. That’s really what I’m trying to focus on with coach.”
(I saw DB Jason McCourty says he calls you Old Canada. Is it Old Canada?) – “Yeah. Old Canada.”
(Do you have a nickname for him or anyone else in the room?) – “No, not really. I just – ‘Forty Glock’ is Nik (Needham) and then I just call Jaytlin (Askew) ‘skew’ and things like that. But yeah, everybody is cool. Everybody has a good time. Everyone in the DB room is cool. They’re good guys, making sure everybody knows what they’re doing. Everybody’s learning. The older guys are teaching younger guys. The younger guys are really absorbing that knowledge. It’s a good mix.”
(Watching you out here and going back to your Oregon tape, it looks like you play really fast. Is that instincts? Is that your play speed? Is that a combination of both? How do you get to that ultimate point of playing so fast?) – “I think it’s just TNT’s – the ‘takes no talent’ type things. It’s just about effort and wanting that ball. ‘Coach Camp’ (Anthony Campanile) talked to us about just feeling like the person with the ball is taking your livelihood and to attack the ball every play like that. Nobody has an answer for that – that 100 percent effort to the ball every time. I think that’s one of the main things of trying to play fast is making sure you know what you’re doing so you can react and just go run to the ball.”
(You mentioned Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander a minute ago. I saw him in the rapid tackle drills over here and he got in there for a rep and took, I think, S Brandon Jones down. What’s that energy like having a guy that played the position and had some success, what’s it like learning from a guy like that?) – “It’s great honestly. Coach is ecstatic and energetic all of the time, so it makes listening and learning from him a lot better, especially because he’s played the position, like you said, in the league and everything like that. It just motivates you to listen to what he’s saying, really. You want to learn more when he speaks. You’re quiet and listening at attention when he speaks.”
(Do you think Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander can still play?) – “Oh, yeah. Definitely.”
(There’s so much importance at your position of calling out signals. Do you have a teammate or someone quizzing you at night about ‘Ok, in this spot, you should call out what?’) – “No, I live alone. (laughter) But I do have my brother and we do go over some of the stuff. Just talking football – talking football in general will speed things up in terms of the learning process. I try to talk as much football away from the facility as possible just so that it’s comfortable in my mind and I’m always thinking about it.”
(There’s a game obviously one week from now. You’ll be playing. Do you feel like your knowledge of the playbook is such that you’ll be able to make all of the calls you need in a game?) – “Well, yeah. I think every day you try to take a step to that perfect call, that perfect communication in a game. A lot of the time guys make mistakes; but as long as you’re better the next day than you were today and better tomorrow than you were today. It’s all about making improvement.”
(Do you and S Eric Rowe talk through things? Obviously he’s a strong safety. Just about developing chemistry? Is that something that can be done in part by talking a lot off the field?) – “Yeah, definitely. When you build chemistry with someone then it’s easy to be able to communicate with them on the field. You know their mannerisms and things like that.”
