LB Anthony Walker Jr. (8.9.22)
On if his return to practice means he has recovered from injury:
“All good.”
On if he has a preference to play or not play at Jacksonville, particularly as a veteran:
“If the coaches ask me to go out there and play, I am going to go out there and play. If they are going to sit me out, I will sit. I think that we get most of our work in in practice. We do a good job of that. Make sure we are competing and getting game-like reps and walkthroughs and all of that stuff. Again, I will do whatever the coaches ask me to do.”
On what has worked best in his career regarding preseason playing time and preparing for the regular season:
“You never know. Each year is different. I remember my first year, I played all of preseason. Second year, I missed all of preseason. Third year, played in one game – 10 snaps and that is it. The year after that, we did not have preseason. Then last year, I played 10 snaps in the last game. It is the way that you get adjusted to the game. Again, you always want more. You always want to be physically ready, and that is what I try to do as much in practice, as far as conditioning and all of that stuff. Just getting in football shape, you do not really get that much [during preseason] anyway, and if you do play in a game, you do not really get many reps as well anyway. A lot of pregame stuff and a lot of during practice stuff is when you get most of your work in.”
On if players gain more during joint practices compared to preseason games:
“You do. You do. Again, it is more game-like reps, a lot of ones versus ones, heavy competition and stuff like that. In the (preseason) games, people do not want to show too much for the regular season and stuff like that, but the joint practices will be a good time for us, as well, to get those game-like reps.”
On his message to his teammates as a leader on the team while preparing for the season with uncertainty at QB:
“Defensively, we have the same mindset no matter who is at quarterback. We have to do our job. We have to go out there and execute. As long as they do not score, they do not win. We have to be able to rise up to that challenge that we put on ourselves every year. Not that this year is any different, we just have to hold ourself to a higher standard. For us to be an elite team, an elite defense and a championship defense, we have to keep raising the bar.”
On how he has adjusted preparation with a 17-game season:
“Like you said, it is only one extra game, but it is one extra game. Just preparing your body for it and your mind, you want to say it is a marathon, but it is not really a marathon; it is a sprint. It is a 17-game sprint, though, and you understand that. You understand what you have to do to take care of your body and the outside of the building or the rehab in the building and all of that stuff, it all matters. We are big on that here with the recovery room and all of that stuff and guys getting in and getting their body in order. We understand it is a 17-game season, but you have to be ready to play each week.”
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