JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Bright spots in the OTA’s were limited to the special team players and Calais Campbell if you talked to the Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone. Campbell has been better than advertised as a player and as a leader. But he says the team already has good leadership.
“No, I wouldn’t say that there was a lack of leadership. You have Poz [Paul Posluszny] who is a great guy that you can follow, really impressive is Telvin Smith, he’s really just, he has a strong voice and people just gravitate towards him, so he’s a natural leader. I mean he’s doing thing that I’m like, ‘okay I want to follow that, too.’ I’m very impressed,” Campbell said after the last OTA.
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“I’ve seen Blake [Bortles] take control of the offense or you have – still, we’re a relatively young team but I think the guys are kind of third or fourth years, fourth or fifth years and they’re starting to get it.”
But it was what he saw in the Jaguars before he signed that allowed him to consider Jacksonville as a free agent.
“Honestly, what I saw is that I want to make sure everybody knew that we’re closer than that. I’ve been a part of winning teams, I know what it takes, and we have every piece,” he explained.”
“It just comes down to execution, it comes down to taking care of the small things, it comes down to having an attitude towards the small things so that you’re doing well. Once you take care of the smaller things then the big things become easy, they become small things,” he noted with the perspective of a player who’s been on winning teams.
“If your technique is strong and you’re playing with energy and you’re talented, you’re going to make plays, you’re going to win games,” he continued. “So right now we just got to be very disciplined in the small techniques, whether it’s your first step and how long it is or if it’s out for D-line.
“As a leader for me, biggest thing is making sure that we’re bringing energy, coming with the right attitude and we’ll take care of the small details.”
As a no-nonsense guy, Campbell was quick to praise Yannick Ngakoue in his second year saying, “I think he’s on the verge of becoming one of those elite pass rushers.
As far as Dante Fowler, Campbell thinks the sky’s the limit.
“He is the best athlete on the field. That guy is special. His technique might not be perfect, but the things he can do is amazing. He’s getting his technique better every day.”