00:00The Jets just wrapped up another training camp practice, but Jared and I, or me and Jared, I don't know, he's the beat writer, so I want to make sure I get that right.
00:08We ain't talking about practice, we're talking about Sauce Gardner.
00:11Spoke to the media today, you've got an article coming out about him on the post.
00:16I guess, what are your takeaways, not only from his media availability, but Sauce going into this new season after securing the bag before training camp?
00:26One thing I was interested in was, he spoke a couple weeks ago and he said, I'm Sauce Gardner, everything I do gets blown out of proportion.
00:34My missed tackles, my penalties, my good plays, my bad plays, everything is a big deal.
00:39And I was kind of wondering, does he embrace that? Does he like that? Is that something that angers him?
00:45And he said, that's something that he's learned to embrace this year specifically, that as a rookie, his first couple years in the league,
00:52he would see stuff on Twitter and on social media and analysts talking and he would get angry and he would say,
00:58well, I didn't really make a bad play, that was this guy, or they're being too harsh and stuff like that.
01:02And now, you know, being a star player in this league, being through it a couple times around, getting a big contract like he did this year,
01:10he knows it comes with the territory and that's something that he's really learned to embrace, something that he's really learned to almost enjoy.
01:17And, you know, he says he's the harshest critic, you know, on himself, but that's definitely something he's learned to embrace.
01:23And, you know, when you get a contract like you did this offseason, it's something that you have to embrace.
01:27And, you know, there's a lot of negative news around the team the last couple of years.
01:32He's someone that has learned to accept that negative news and wants to turn it to positive news.
01:37Biggest takeaway, what we learned, stay off of social media, kids at home.
01:41But, yeah, because I followed up and I asked the question about what he's been working on or what he worked on during the spring
01:47that he feels like is paying off now that the pads are on and you're actually out there at practice.
01:52He didn't post at all in terms of his social media workouts.
01:56And you know how the NFL guys are.
01:58It's like if you don't post it, you didn't even work out.
02:01But he's a guy that kind of flew under the radar this spring.
02:04One, obviously, were you waiting for a contract extension?
02:07But, two, I think he feels disrespected in a way and then, like, in the sense of the right he got knocked down
02:13in terms of his rankings as being one of the top corners in the NFL.
02:16And then, two, reading what the people are saying.
02:20So it's like he's come in here and he has, like, a new look at life or a new look in terms of his career.
02:27And when I was asking him, like, all right, what are those things?
02:30What's that one thing you were working when you were working out?
02:35And he was just, like, everything from tackling.
02:37Like, I've never heard of someone talk about they worked on tackling during their winter or spring workouts.
02:43He's talking about catching the ball, which gets a lot of pass breakups.
02:47But we would love to see him catch the ball and force turnovers a little bit more.
02:51So you can tell.
02:52And I even said it.
02:53I was like, okay.
02:54So you kind of just put all the social media to the side and got back on your grind.
02:59And you're seeing it whether you're here at practice or you hear the reports.
03:02He's having himself a really strong camp again.
03:05And he's ready for another year to be one of the top corners, if not the top corner in the NFL.
03:12You know, one thing he also didn't post was any pictures of himself playing golf.
03:16If you remember last offseason, he got super into golf.
03:19And he was posting, you know, once a week, multiple times a week of him playing golf.
03:23And that rubbed a few fans the wrong way.
03:25It was get on the field, you know, get back to work.
03:28Like, especially last year when he had a bit of a, you know, I wouldn't want to call it a rough year.
03:33But maybe a down year.
03:34Down year, you know, for someone of what we expect from him.
03:38Those memes on social media came.
03:40You know, he spent too much time playing golf.
03:42He's worried about his swing and stuff like that.
03:43And we definitely saw less of that on social media this year.
03:47And like you said, tackling.
03:49That is one area of his game that he has gotten some of the most criticism is tackling.
03:53And like you said, also, is turning those pass breakups into interceptions.
03:57So those are two things he said he really focused on this offseason.
04:00And if he can add those to his game, he's elite.
04:04I mean, he already is probably elite.
04:05But if he can add tackle, you know, becoming a better tackler and turning, you know, recording some more interceptions.
04:12Man, the sky's the limit for him.
04:13It's almost like having a former corner, a guy that played 15 years in the NFL as your head coach.
04:19And then having a guy like Dre Bly as one of your secondary coaches.
04:24It's like this has really been something that's been good on this kid.
04:27We never had a problem with him.
04:30He's never been arrested, never put anything out on social media that would really damage his brand.
04:36But when you have a down year or people call it a down year and then you've got a lot of noise surrounding your team in New York,
04:44you're going to be the talk of the town.
04:46Finish this off, Jarrett.
04:47You know, you talked about that a little bit.
04:49We know what he is as a player for the most part.
04:51You know, we know he's one of the faces of the team.
04:53When you get a big contract like he did, leadership becomes part of the equation.
04:58What I'm most looking forward to seeing this season is what kind of leader does he become?
05:02What kind of vocal leader does he become?
05:04You know, he went from a star player to a face of the franchise.
05:06That adds responsibility.
05:08And I'm looking forward to see how he handles that responsibility.
05:11Absolutely.
05:12Expecting big things from Sauce Gardner this year.
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