Jordan Poyer – July 23, 2024
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Tuesday, July 23, 2024
S Jordan Poyer
(I guess the obvious question is how does it feel to be opening camp with a team aside from Buffalo? Is it strange or is it just life?) – “Absolutely, it’s just life. I always have a saying, ‘It is what it is, it ain’t what it ain’t.’ It feels amazing to be down here. Like I’ve said, I’ve been a fan from the other side of this team ever since I’ve been in Buffalo. Seeing this team grow on and off the field, knowing some of the players here, knowing (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel), it’s just a really cool opportunity for me to come here and be the best version of myself and help this team in football games. I’m excited to be here.”
(How do you feel physically at this point in your career?) – “I feel great. Honestly, I feel like this is the healthiest that I’ve been in a few years. Last year, going into the season I wasn’t all the way up to 100%. I feel 100% now going in. I know there’s a lot of stuff being said about the age of me and whatnot, but I’m excited to play. I’m excited to play football. It’s the game that I love. It’s the game I appreciate. Playing alongside my teammates, my coaches, it’s given me a lot, so I just want to give everything back to it. Like I said, I’m excited to be here.”
(I know some teams often use three safeties at a time. You, S Marcus Maye and S Jevón Holland certainly be on the field at the same time a lot. By the same token, do you also feel like with the addition of S Marcus Maye, you might be competing in some way for playing time?) – “I think there’s always a competitive aspect to each season you go into, no matter if you are penciled in as the starter or not. Every day out there, you’re competing against the opposing side of the football and then obviously the guys that are next to you. I’m excited to have him as an addition of our group. I’ve seen him play, I think this is Year 8 or (Year) 9 for him. I’ve seen him play – he played with the Jets for a little bit, and he was in New Orleans and had a really solid couple of years out there. We’re lucky to have him here, so I’m excited to learn from him, compete with him and help this team win football games.”
(How has your chemistry with S Jevón Holland been building maybe the last four or five months since y’all have been together?) – “It’s been awesome. He’s taken up golf, so him and I went and played in Shell Bay on Friday with Tua (Tagovailoa). Just getting on the course, getting to know each other off the field. He came to one of my events on last Wednesday, I had held a cool little yoga event – he pulled up with his lady. So it’s been really cool to get to know him off the field. A great young player and I’m excited to play with him.”
(How much does the mental approach to the game affect the outcome? For instance, in Buffalo, you guys were 6-6 last year, right? And you go on the run. Just the success you’ve had personally and as a team, how much do you devote to the mental side of the game?) – “I think it’s just as big as the physical side of the game. It’s the NFL, not everything is going to happen exactly the way you want it to happen. You’re not going to win every single game even though you’d like to. It’s really in those moments of adversity, those moments of maybe coming off a loss, being able to handle them in the right way. Whether that be within a game, maybe the offense comes out there and smashes you in the mouth the first series and you’re down 7-0 early. You’ve got to find a way to compartmentalize and really have that mental capacity to be able to move on because this is the NFL. Most games are going to come down to the last series, the last play, whoever has the ball last, whoever makes the last play. So being able to – I always told the guys that I played with before, ‘Look, I don’t care if you give up a first down. I don’t care if you give up a touchdown. It’s the next play. We’ve got to keep playing, it’s a long game left. All of that has been instilled in myself throughout the 12 years that I’ve played, so I’ve really taken it into a factor of the game is going to flow. There’s going to be some ups and downs, you’ve got to handle the adversity and handle what’s thrown at you. Usually, those teams that are able to handle those moments, whether it be within a game or within a season, those are usually the teams that you see in the playoffs at the end of the season.”
(You played in the same secondary as another great cornerback in Buffalo in Tre White. I know you haven’t had a ton of time on the field with CB Jalen Ramsey, but what have you noticed about how he approaches the game and his feel for the game?) – “One of the most talented athletes I’ve ever been around. Obviously playing against him – we played Jacksonville in 2017, the year we made it to the playoffs in Buffalo and he ended up having a pick to win the game, and I just remember that celebration that he had. Just seeing him grow as a person and as a player on and off the field, it’s really cool to finally get to know him and to play alongside of him. Like I said, I’m just here to do my best, to be the best version of myself, to help put him in position to make plays and put our team in position to make plays.”
(It looks like we’re headed to 18 regular season games in the NFL, maybe two bye weeks and maybe trim the preseason. What do you think about all that?) – “I don’t know. I don’t want to get in trouble with some of the things I might think about it, but that’s kind of crazy. If it’s two byes, maybe that’d be nice, but 18 games – 17 games is a lot of games. 18 games is a lot of games, too. We’ll see how the NFL handles that. Who knows, maybe I’ll be off in the sunset by then, but we’ll see how that’s handled.”
(You mentioned golfing with QB Tua Tagovailoa. Can you talk about how he’s handled himself amid the contract negotiations? Some of your teammates said they expect him to practice. What are your feelings on that?) – “He’s a pro. That’s his business. We all hope the best for him. Tua is a huge part of this team. I’m sure him and his agents and the people upstairs are handling it in the right manner, but I hope Tua gets what he deserves.”
(I saw at Oregon State you left baseball, you were a high school champion. Was that a tough decision at Oregon State to stick to football? You were drafted by the Marlins; you could be playing for the Marlins instead of the Dolphins.) – “You look back and you see some of those contracts that baseball players are making with a lot of zeros behind them, and you’re like, ‘Ah, what if I did?’ (laughter) But no, this is my twelfth year in the league. There’s not a lot of guys that can say they’ve played 12 years in the league, and to be honest, I didn’t think I was going to make three. So to be sitting here in front of you guys at 12, I’m extremely blessed and extremely thankful for those decisions that I made back then. That’s why I’m here – I love playing football, I love connecting with my teammates and that’s what it’s about.”
(In terms of being that 12-year veteran, being the old head, what comes with that when you’re on an NFL team in an NFL locker room? What’s the responsibilities of that?) – “I think just sharing the experience. Like I said, playing against this team over the past few years, you kind of get a sense of, ‘OK, if you get on top of this team, they might fold,’ and there are some teams that are – this is just being honest, so what is that that happens in those moments where we get hit in the mouth? What happens in those moments so we’re like, ‘Hey, we’re good. Let’s bounce back. We’re good. It’s a 60-minute game, it’s a long game.’ I’ve been in games where I’ve been up 24 points and end up losing. I’ve been in games where we’ve been down 21 points and end up winning. So it’s just continuing to just play, play the game. The game is going to come down to the last series, the last play, so just keep playing and don’t get stuck into that play that you didn’t make or don’t get stuck into X, Y, or Z of the past. Let’s just keep playing, keep staying together. That’s the biggest thing too, is just being able to stay together as a team, because this is a team game. It’s not just one guy, it’s everybody. So being able to stick together through those adverse moments, through those ups, through those downs and just staying on that line all the way through the season.”
