Jaguars quotes of the week: ”I definitely want to be around”

The best sound bites from the past seven days as players return to the facility

Offseason activities are upon us! As players return to the facility to check in with coaches before OTA’s begin next month, here are the best Jacksonville Jaguars quotes of the week:

“It’s not really my focus right now”

Let’s begin with a couple player pressers shall we? Save for some contract signings and new faces, we’ve been starved of asking the franchise’s biggest names something – ANYTHING – we can think of to generate content whilst the team hunkers down preparing for the NFL Draft. Seeing Trevor Lawrence back in the house was like a breath of fresh air – and in a fairly lengthy chat with reporters, he covered a range of topics.

Arguably the biggest looming issue with Trev is his contract extension. Inevitably raised, Lawrence again was keen to focus on what he considered the priority, whilst acknowledging he would be happy when the issue was finally resolved:

“Yeah, there’s definitely been some conversations as far as where that’s at now. It’s not really my focus, I’d love to obviously be a Jag for as long as possible. We love it here and I love where we’re headed as an organization and feel like I’m just getting better. My best ball is definitely ahead of me. From that standpoint, obviously yeah, that would be great. But like I said, going into my fourth year, it’s not like this is necessarily going to be my last season. There’s a lot that could happen. It’s not really my focus right now, at the end of the day, my job isn’t going to change whether I get extended or not before this season. My job is to go win games and to be the best I can be for this team so we can have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Even if I get the contract extension, that’s still my job even more so, there’s even more expectation and pressure on that. For me, I have the same focus and the same mindset. I can’t lie, obviously it would be nice to have that done and feel good about it, but no, it’s not really the focus right now. I know where we’re at, I know where we’re heading and I know what I have to do. I know there’s some improvements that I have to make going forward.”

“I definitely want to be around”

Foye Oluokun was next up at the podium. It hasn’t been that long since we saw the star linebacker, as he was obviously in town to sign his 3-year contract extension at the end of last month. Now with $22.5m in guarantees in his pocket, he was happy to explain how his new deal came about – and seemed grateful to the Jaguars for wanting him around, and not having to find new employers elsewhere:

“Initially with the contract, the guarantee was up after two years, so it was really depending on what the team wanted to do. I talked to my agent and said if they’re trying to keep me around, I’m playing pretty good football right now, I want to stay a Jaguar. I talked with Coach [Ryan] Nielsen before this, before the extension and everything. I had a lot of confidence with where he could take my game personally. I just wanted to play for coaches who trust me and an organization who trusted me, rather than hitting the whole market again after this year and stuff. It kind of gives me some security, helps the team out with cap space probably. But at the end of the day, it’s about if you guys respect me and like me around, I definitely want to be here.”

Oluokun has earned that respect – and the team couldn’t be happier he’s here for the long haul.

“I’m happy to call this place home”

Enough about all these contract extensions. How about a new face? On Monday, the Jaguars announced that they had signed tight end Patrick Murtagh – an Australian rugby player who comes to Florida via the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. This allows him to be something of an ‘extra’ on the roster for a season as he acclimates to the sport and his new team – and based on his comments via the Jaguars PR staff, he couldn’t be happier to be here:

“It’s a great feeling, getting the contract signed, and getting day one all completed now. The work’s only just started now so I’m excited to get into it. A tremendous amount of work’s been put in. A lot of behind-the-scenes work as well before, trying to get into the IPP. That’s a credit to my friends, my family, the team back home, and my network that have put in the hours to get me back in shape and ready to go to the IPP. It’s a bit like a first day of school sort of vibe today. It was pretty cool meeting all the coaches, all the staff, all the players and everything and just finding my feet around here. I love the beaches and the warm weather, so at Jacksonville, I’m happy to call this place home.”

The program has had some success in recent years, helping talents like Efe Obada, Jordan Mailata and a host of punters and kickers get opportunities. Murtagh hopes he can be the next overseas star in the league.

“It gives us a good model to work with”

How about some stadium news? It’s been a while. As the team, their lawyers and contractors and the city work feverishly behind the scenes to set the table for a new facility for the Jags and it’s fans, it seems like there may be some progress towards common consensus. As outlined by David Bauerlein in his excellent piece for the Florida Times-Union, the negotiators are using past precedent from the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans in their searches for new homes to help them overcome any potential obstacles. Mike Weinstein, who serves as counsel to Mayor Donna Deegan, explained further:

“We look to their agreements as sort of parameters of what the NFL has been willing to agree to, what communities have been willing to agree to, and what teams have been willing to agree to, knowing that every agreement is different. Every community is different. It gives us a good model to work with because we don’t want to go through the mayor approving it and the council approving it and then the NFL at the last minute not approving it and then we basically start all over again.”

The Jags are doing their homework. Things might start moving fast – with more information expected in May.

“A modern classic”

Finally, let’s finish with the news that everyone is talking about. No, not the draft – much more important than that. Throwback uniforms! Celebrating the team’s thirtieth season in the league, the Jags’ equipment team dropped some hints earlier this week about potentially bringing back some old classics. The news appeared to be confirmed by the PR team itself with the teasing tweet above. As the fervor builds, who else to get the verdict from but Paul Lukas – AKA ‘Uni-Watch’ – the godfather of all things sport attire?

“I’ve said for many years that the Jags’ 1990s set was a modern classic and should never have been tinkered with. I even listed it as my No. 1 choice on my list of 10 NFL throwbacks I’d like to see. It appears that that’s finally happening. No word yet on the unveiling date, but I’ll try to find out more.”

I’m so excited, I’ve already started tearing my room apart trying to find my old Byron Leftwich jersey. The season cannot roll around fast enough!