Raiders DE Chandler Jones from Training Camp

Defensive End Chandler Jones 

Q: With your resume and a guy like Tyree [Wilson] that wants to learn, have you seen him gravitating to you to learn from you and gather wisdom from you? 

Jones: "Yeah, all of the young players. Whatever opportunity they have to talk to me and try to pick my brain, they do, especially Tyree. But all the young players, they kind of see me as they older OG. They know that I have a lot of knowledge in this game, and they pick my brain every chance they get." 

Q: When we last talked to you had cut some weight coming back from the injury and everything like that. Are you where you want to be kind of physically and is there a fine line of trying to figure where that is? 

Jones: "It's more of a feel thing, how I feel. And I feel amazing, so we’re just going to stay there and just keep building on that." 

Q: How much does it help these players who are returning for a second year in the same defensive scheme? 

Jones: "Yeah, you're just more familiar with the area, the location, faces, the system, the program. I mean, speaking for myself, you don't want to use the word comfortable but you kind of get in a groove, in a routine, you get acclimated. So, that's definitely where I am now, and I'm excited for year two." 

Q: This is your 12th training camp. What's the one constant for you going into this phase? 

Jones: "I try to stay consistent, and my biggest thing is proving to myself and the coaches every day that I can be relied on, and that's what I'm doing every day. It's like day one and it's like year one for me every day, and that's what keeps me going, that's what keeps me young." 

Q: How does the addition of Marcus Peters as a ball hawk, as a guy that's known for getting interceptions, how does his addition help the pass rush? 

Jones: "Yeah. Well, anytime you can get a veteran on the team, someone that has experience and Marcus is a hell of a player. He's someone that I think is a lock down corner, he's someone that plays very hard, and it helps them. If you can get more impact players in the secondary it also ties together, it correlates. So, hopefully the quarterback holds the ball longer, more time for me and Maxx [Crosby] and the others to get to the quarterback." 

Q: What goals do you still have left? And is that something you kind of assess every offseason and kind of change your perspective on what you’re going for? 

Jones: : "A lot of my goals - I'll be broad on this answer. A lot of my goals are team goals to be honest. There's a lot of things I want to do as a teammate that will help my legacy. And when I say my legacy, that's the selfish part, but my goals as far as accolades, it’s more of a team thing. Did Chandler Jones help the team do this, that? So, a lot of my stuff is on the defense side of the ball, so hopefully we can have good defense this year, that's one of my goals." 

Q: Maybe you were in your best stretch as a Raider when you got hurt last year. Did you feel that way? Do you feel like stuff clicked as you went along in the season and did that make it harder to be out or make you hungrier to come back? 

Jones: "I understand that being injured is a part of the game. I don't want to label it a good or a bad stretch. In this profession you'll have a good game, you'll have a bad game if you look at the stats. My biggest thing always was just being graded well. At the end of the day, if I went back and sat down with the coaches and they said 'Hey, you did your job. You got an A grade.' Then I was fine if it was a sack or not. But the biggest thing is just being consistent, doing your job, putting the team first, and always ignoring the noise." 

Q: I know you mentioned that your goal is to have good defense this year. What do you think it needs to do to reach that goal? 

Jones: "To be honest, I don't think we have to do anything miraculous. We don't have to do anything new. We have to listen to the coaches. We have to really dig deep and grab what is being told to us, and it has to be second nature. If we get 11 guys out there that's not thinking and just flying, ‘Oh, it's dangerous.’ That's on any team, not just this team, but ultimately that's what training camp is for, guys are gelling together. Guys are getting familiar with the coaching style, what he likes to call on third-and-whatever, second-and-whatever. And I'm speaking from the defensive standpoint, just guys not thinking and just playing, you'll get a lot better ball that way."  

Q: At this point in your career, you've done so much and you're still playing for the love of the game. Where does that come from? 

Jones: "I say this in every interview, but when I was a kid, I said when I grew up, I want to be an NFL player. And 12 years in, I still have that opportunity. I still get to live that dream. I'll let you in on a quick story – Day one of training camp, I couldn't sleep the night before and I was telling my coaches, and he's like ‘It's year 12, you've done this 12 times.’ I get so excited. And I love this game so much that I want everything to be perfect. I don't want to miss a meeting. I don't want to be late. So, I think every hour I was up checking the clock, just from being anxious and being ready. So, I don't think that'll ever fade and we'll talk about when it does, but I don't think it will." 

Q: You're talking about guys, "Not thinking and just kind of flying around and just playing." I know it's early on, it's only a couple days into training camp, but are you starting to see what you're looking for from your point of view? 

Jones: "Yeah, it's still early. But yeah, of course. Where we are right now, it’s not to give you guys a diary, but I think things are gelling and only time will tell with how things go. And that's on every team, that's every roster." 

Q: You've always talked about consistency and doing things the right way at this point in your career when you're trying to mentor young guys. You can give them advice, but how much more emphasis do you put on your actions speaking louder than your words at this point in your career? 

Jones: "It has to be more actions louder than words because I don't ever want to be hypocritical. I don't want to be an older guy that says, 'Oh, hey, run to the ball.' And then when it's my turn to go, I'm not running to the ball. So, being consistent is not just on the field, but it's also in the classroom. But you have to you have to understand a lot of these guys are not just hearing what you're saying, but they're watching you too. And I think one of the aspects of being a good leader is walking the walk and talking the talk, and you don't have to be a ‘oorah guy,’ you don't have to get up and talk all the time, but if you're doing it and you're leading by example, you know what time it is." 

Q: How much trash have you talked to Jakobi Meyers? 

Jones: "No trash at all, no trash. Not to talk about the past, but I thank him for doing that. I thank him. For sure, there's no trash, there's no slander at all." 

Q: The word Coach McDaniels used for the defense is "disruption." He wants you guys to cause more disruption. What does that mean to you? 

Jones: "Any negative plays. And being disruptive doesn't mean having a sack, it doesn't mean making a tackle for loss. You could blow up a guy into the backfield and knock him to someone else and make the quarterback trip and fall or something like that. So, being disruptive is just having a presence. And if everyone in the D-line or in the defense could have that kind of mentality, being disruptive, but not just trying to make a play, everyone just stay in their gap, you'll be fine. Everyone's just doing their job."  

Q: Did you happen to catch the Quarterback documentary on Netflix? If so, what did you think of Maxx Crosby’s guest appearance? 

Jones: "I’ve seen clips of it, but I'll have to sit down and watch the whole thing to kind of give you a full comment on it. But I saw some of it were Maxx and [Patrick] Mahomes are going at it and Maxx is just – he's a problem to deal with, he's a menace. So, it's fun actually being on the other side of the field just hearing his motor, hearing him talk to people and I'm just watching it, so it's fun. But I have to watch it to kind of give you more comment on the documentary." 

Q: So, Maxx is the trash talker? 

Jones: "Yes. Maxx does talk a little trash, but he backs it up. So, you can't really like slander or anything." 

Q: How different isto look across the line and see Jimmy Garoppolo over there as the quarterback? And you had him when he was a rookie in New England, is he the same guy as back then? 

Jones: "Yeah, me and Jimmy, we sit there and just reminisce all day and during any downtime we get. I don't know if you guys noticed, but Jimmy was my scout team quarterback. And I just admire watching his career, him taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl and all those things. And then him being here now, it's full circle, but it's very cool to see Jimmy's career and see him come here and us being here together. I'm glad to have him here, for sure." 

Q: When you're looking at the younger players on D-line, do you think about where you were back in those days? Do you kind of compare your growth at that point in your career to what these guys are going through now? 

Jones: "Yeah, a lot of these guys, I see myself in them, as far as their body type and their mindsets, or the questions that they have. And I say that in every interview that, 'I wish I had a Chandler Jones and a Maxx Crosby in the room with me as a young player.’ Because me and Maxx are both guys that we want to share the game, we owe it to the game and we both love football so much that we always want to teach. And the coaches can only teach so much, they only get so many hours with these players. When we're in the hotel and we have some downtime, anytime we see a young guy, we'll say, 'Hey, let me let me see your stance and see how that looks.' And that's what you need in the locker room because it's those extra reps that you're getting that's not on the field, that's what matters." 

The Silver and Black open the preseason by hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

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