Jaguars GM James Gladstone Talks Travis Hunter, NFL Draft & More with Rich Eisen | Full Interview

0:00 James Gladstone is here on the Rich Eisen Show,

0:01 general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

0:03 Good to see you, James.

0:04 How are you?

0:05 Life is good.

0:06 Jacked to be here.

0:07 I'm jacked to have you on.

0:08 You and I have some some friends in common who speak very highly of you, James.

0:14 You should know that.

0:15 Love Love those guys.

0:16 Obviously, between Les and K'Lavon That's right.

0:19 People who have made a significant dent on my life.

0:22 I bet so.

0:23 I know that they share a very

0:24 similar sentiment when discussing you and your wife.

0:27 that, James.

0:28 Look at us in the same virtual setting.

0:30 Look at us chilling out on a two-box

0:32 on a Zoom right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

0:35 All right, so what does your job look like

0:37 right now with the draft in the books, James?

0:41 What are we What are we doing?

0:42 fun.

0:42 Fresh off the field.

0:43 You know, we're in phase two of the off-season program

0:46 and rookies are traveling into Jacksonville here this afternoon and this evening

0:50 and we'll get them in the building tomorrow morning and on-boarded

0:53 and rookie mini-camp will be over the course of the the weekend.

0:56 So, a fun time with a lot of moving parts.

0:59 Obviously, you know, with the the draft just being wrapped up,

1:03 we now transition into really the the focus being

1:06 on this football team in the lead-up to 2026.

1:09 While at the same time, a lot of our college staff is turning

1:11 the page and focusing their attention on 2027.

1:14 What did we see last year, James,

1:17 from the concept of what you and Liam Cohen were cooking up programmatically,

1:22 program-wise, that you saw out on the field go, "That's exactly what we wanted.

1:26 That's exactly how it came out." What happened last year in that regard?

1:30 You think Yeah, that's a that's a fun question to ask.

1:32 You know, as I I think back on on last season as a as a whole,

1:36 I think there was a lot of positive steps in totality.

1:39 I think at the same time, we definitely felt versions of adversity.

1:45 And one of them, sort of finding our footing through back-to-back losses,

1:50 one of which you got to call the game for in London against

1:54 a team that Liam and I are intimate with in the LA Rams.

1:58 And you know, taking a bye week and resetting really where

2:03 we were sort of strategizing around how we might level up over

2:07 the course of the back half of the season and really feeling

2:09 good about that plan of attack only for more adversity to hit.

2:14 The fact that we were able to find our footing

2:16 despite some of those adverse windows and bounce back

2:20 in a real way and social version of anti-fragility

2:23 as a part of that as a collective group as a team.

2:26 It was it was inspiring.

2:28 I think it led to a lot more belief in what was being coached,

2:32 being preached and that momentum certainly has carried

2:36 over into the early portions of this off

2:38 season and look forward to seeing what that continues to look like move forward.

2:41 Did you say anti-fragility?

2:43 Is that what you said?

2:44 I'm writing down what you what what what is anti-fragility?

2:48 What does that mean?

2:49 You know, I I think the opposite of fragile.

2:52 So [laughter] It is it is a an interesting way

2:59 to I guess phrase phrase some of that but nonetheless Yes.

3:03 I I think that you know,

3:05 as you think about that game in particular right before the bye week.

3:08 We're in London and and we get beat pretty good.

3:11 We we come back off the bye and we're prepping

3:14 for the Las Vegas Raiders and Travis Hunter gets injured during that week.

3:18 We come out have a battle with the Raiders.

3:21 They're they're really trying their best to salvage the season at the time

3:25 and they're fresh off their bye week and Brian Thomas Jr.

3:28 gets hurt in that game and so we had a lot of guys

3:30 to level up towards the back half of that game itself and get us

3:35 through with a win only to turn around and play the Houston Texans

3:38 and get a big lead and surrender that lead and exit with a loss.

3:43 So I think that kind of window of a season,

3:47 you know, it's it's not uncommon territory.

3:49 It's likely to show itself you know, one season after the next in some way,

3:53 shape, or form, but to be able

3:54 to overcome those windows is a really important element.

3:57 And I think Liam's leadership, our coaching staff, they really did a great job,

4:01 as did our players, to respond the right way.

4:03 Yeah, you you won every regular season game

4:05 the rest of the way after that loss to Houston.

4:08 And I do remember, you know, [clears throat]

4:11 Liam talking about in our pre-broadcast meetings in London

4:15 about not shooting them yourselves in the foot and not,

4:20 you know, not c- having so many darn penalties.

4:24 And then, you know, and then it was one of the worst

4:27 games of the year in that regard for you guys.

4:29 And I I I I'll I'll admit, like flying back,

4:32 I'm like, what where are the Jaguars going to go from here?

4:35 You only lost one regular season game after that.

4:37 And that was one in which, as you pointed out, surrendered a lead.

4:40 And then, of course, you mentioned those injuries, too.

4:43 Let's talk about Travis Hunter.

4:44 Where where does where do things stand with him right now?

4:47 James?

4:47 a good spot.

4:48 He's out on on the grass in a limited fashion here.

4:51 And that'll be the case throughout the remainder of the offseason program.

4:54 As we get into training camp, he'll be full go.

4:56 And uh really looking forward to building off of the momentum

5:00 that was that game for him individually versus Los Angeles in London.

5:04 Obviously, being able to breach the 100-yard mark from a receiving standpoint,

5:09 getting in the end zone.

5:10 At the same time, he turns over to the defensive side of the ball

5:13 and gets a a PBU on a really critical down versus Davante Adams in coverage.

5:17 And so, being able to to build off of really where we were at that point

5:21 in time and use that momentum to carry

5:23 into this next season is an exciting piece for us.

5:26 Well, then, the phrase limited um obviously is usually used for a player

5:31 about physically going to be limited in terms of the number of reps,

5:35 number of, you know, things that he can do based on his health.

5:39 But when you're talking about a guy who can play both sides of the ball,

5:43 I'm wondering if limited is also another word that you

5:46 might use for how you're going to use him, James.

5:50 Oh, I like it.

5:52 You could have just You could have asked that a little bit more directly.

5:54 Like Oh, all right.

5:55 Let me do it.

5:55 Yeah.

5:56 Yeah.

5:56 Oh, no, James.

5:57 No, I I I mean I didn't want to be, you know,

6:00 I don't want I was testing your your your anti-fragility, you know?

6:04 Um [laughter] so, what do you think?

6:06 Are is Are we done with the two-way with him or not?

6:10 Absolutely not.

6:11 No, he is he is set to play both sides of the ball.

6:14 The The piece that I think we can expect

6:16 to see is actually an uptick in in corner usage, right?

6:20 Last year it it was a higher volume,

6:23 higher percentage of wide receiver usage than it was corner.

6:26 I think we can expect to see that corner

6:29 percentile and count go up as we move forward.

6:32 That's not to say anything impacts his availability and usage on offense.

6:36 It just means that that cornerback usage will increase.

6:40 Why do you choose that side of the ball to increase rather than the other?

6:46 Uh it's not to say that it won't increase on offense either,

6:49 but it was lower on defensive side this past season.

6:53 We also have a different defensive cornerback room,

6:57 and the bodies are are different than they were a year ago.

7:00 Our roster construction is different than it was a year ago.

7:03 So, it's more fitting to slot him in at corner in a different way

7:07 than it was uh at this time last year or even as the season progressed.

7:11 What does he want to do?

7:12 He doesn't You know, obviously, we don't get to chat with him too much.

7:16 Um what does he What speaking for him,

7:19 if you don't mind, what does he want to do?

7:22 Yeah, he wants to he wants to play both ways,

7:24 and he wants to do exactly what he set out to do when you know,

7:28 he first started putting that into action all those years ago.

7:31 And that's his dream,

7:32 and we'll look to support that in the best way that we we can and and be

7:36 able to do what we feel like is

7:38 in the best interest of of winning football games.

7:41 And that's putting him in the position to do what he does best,

7:44 and usually that's with the ball in his hand,

7:45 then it's defending defending some of the best receivers.

7:49 And so it's an exciting element and one that we feel like we're going

7:52 to reap the rewards of and and look forward to bringing it all to life.

7:56 All right.

7:56 So, to recap here, cuz I can't get enough of this kid,

8:00 and and I understand that's why you would trade up

8:03 and and give up capital in this year's draft is for somebody

8:07 that fills two spots on your roster and does it expertly

8:11 and did it expertly and knows how to do it mentally, physically.

8:15 But, to recap, his injury is not going to cause

8:19 the Jacksonville Jaguars to say what so many in my business think,

8:25 "Physically, it's an impossibility to do long-term,

8:28 and you're just going to cut that off right now,

8:30 and he's going to play one side of the ball." That is not happening.

8:34 Yeah.

8:34 He said he's he's not going to be

8:36 impacted in terms of usage from that vantage point.

8:39 He is set to play both sides of the ball,

8:41 and we look forward to bringing that all to life here in the upcoming season.

8:43 Okay, let's do that.

8:45 Um what is the plan at running back

8:48 for you now that Travis Etienne went to New Orleans?

8:53 What is your plan at that position, James?

8:56 You know what?

8:56 I think Liam's always been a strong proponent of committee approach

9:01 and being able to leverage multiple runners and varying running styles together.

9:06 So, we're looking forward to to how this room is taking shape, right?

9:08 Obviously, we brought in Chris Rodriguez, who was with Washington most recently,

9:13 but was with Liam and at Kentucky and has

9:16 a really good feel for inside runs and Brevin Jordan, who we drafted a year ago,

9:21 really took a good step in his rookie campaign with Travis leading the way.

9:26 Look forward to activating Jordan in a more significant manner,

9:29 while at the same time,

9:31 you round out that room with two guys in Laviska Shenault,

9:34 who we drafted in the seventh round a year ago and had

9:36 a real role on third downs is an extremely good pass protector.

9:41 Uh and then D.J.

9:42 Dallas who joined us towards the back

9:43 half of the season and offered special teams

9:45 contributions in a real way and has a veteran presence to him that, you know,

9:50 everybody appreciates.

9:51 Uh so, looking forward to seeing how it all

9:53 takes shape here throughout the course of the off-season program,

9:56 but really once we start to get the pads popping closer to the fall.

9:59 I imagine the 8 minutes for the first round in the draft didn't really matter.

10:02 Actually, it was to your benefit because it got you closer

10:05 to getting on the clock finally

10:06 yourself without a first-round draft choice, James.

10:08 Yes?

10:09 Correct?

10:10 Agreed.

10:10 And you got to appreciate having a little

10:12 extra time to prep for what lies after it.

10:14 You know, it's not unfamiliar territory for me

10:16 or whatever you might label as stillness

10:19 on day one of the draft without a first round pick at your disposal.

10:23 Coming from the Rams, yes.

10:24 I get it.

10:25 You've had You've had a lot of practice

10:27 with picks not coming in the first round.

10:29 I got it.

10:30 We've waited longer than pick 56 overall in the past,

10:33 so it wasn't It wasn't too bad.

10:36 So, what what do you have from the Rams organization on a daily basis?

10:40 Obviously, you were there from 2016

10:42 on to the time you left to go to Jacksonville.

10:45 How much does that provide a base and when do

10:47 you realize like in a moment where you're like, "Okay,

10:51 I did that with less." or "Okay, Sean did that with Liam,

10:55 you know, himself." You like How much does that come up in your day-to-day?

11:00 I think it shows itself in in authentic form.

11:05 You know, I think with both of us myself having less as a mentor,

11:09 Liam having Sean as a mentor,

11:11 we we both emulate certain pieces to their operation,

11:14 to their to their modes of and behaviors,

11:17 and I think at the same time we have our own

11:20 version of our relationship that's different from theirs, and you know,

11:24 I think we've installed a lot of the same things because it's what

11:27 we value and what we found success with as how we move here.

11:32 Nonetheless, being in a bunker with Liam is something you know that I get

11:36 excited about every single day that I wake up and the energy that he brings,

11:41 the the seriousness that he that he brings

11:44 and the urgency is something that can't be looked past.

11:48 He does such a great job with our players in bringing their best

11:52 out and I think that's what we want out of anybody we

11:55 invite into this building is leveling up the people around them and often

12:00 times by doing so being nothing more than who they are innately.

12:05 And I think that the more you bring that can do that, the better off we'll be

12:09 and we see a very clear path for what profiles fit this place and how we move.

12:15 But to go back to how how much it looks

12:17 like Los Angeles in our time there, it's it's evolving.

12:21 It's morphing and I think the further we get removed from it,

12:23 the the less similar it'll be just innately,

12:26 but certainly things that we draw back from during our experience there.

12:30 That said, I noticed you drafted two tight ends in the same draft.

12:33 I mean, like that's right?

12:35 I mean, you collect tight ends.

12:37 I was joking with Les last week.

12:38 He's going to start running a 16 personnel offense at one point.

12:41 You know what I mean?

12:42 Like they they they collected another tight end in the draft and you got two.

12:46 Is that something to draw connect dots here, James?

12:50 Or no?

12:51 I I think there's it's certainly in that game that we matched up against them.

12:54 It was a a notable piece to how they approached

12:57 us and how they they were able to attack us defensively.

13:02 I think beyond just the way that they operated

13:04 in heavy personnel groupings offensively is that there was success

13:09 across the league with that over the last year

13:11 and likely to be a a trend that teams follow.

13:13 At the same time, you know, it was a position that we felt like

13:16 there was good options at in this year's draft

13:19 and a space where we wanted to continue

13:21 to to level up the competition internally and Uh,

13:25 I think we were able to do just

13:26 that in two guys who offer various skills, right?

13:30 It's not the exact same player that we're looking

13:32 at in terms of what they can offer and uh,

13:34 so certainly excited about the combination of those guys

13:37 and how it works within the room itself as it stands.

13:39 And then how good is it that you don't have

13:40 to go into a draft like I got to draft a quarterback?

13:43 I mean that's that's got to pleasant.

13:45 That I mean that has to be right, seriously.

13:48 I can't say that I've I've truly ever been

13:50 in a place where that had to be the case, uh, luckily enough, right?

13:54 And that uh, my first year with with the Rams

13:57 it was actually Jared Goff's first year.

14:00 And so beyond that it was uh,

14:02 I I did see parallels to where we were in the transition from the 2016

14:09 season in Los Angeles to the 2017

14:11 season in Los Angeles where it transitioned uh,

14:14 to Sean as head coach and where we were a year

14:17 ago today with Liam as head coach and transitioning in.

14:20 So, um, I do think that there's some of those experiences

14:24 that we're able to tap into because there's a lot of connected uh,

14:28 layers between the two timelines,

14:31 but nonetheless look forward to seeing how it all evolves here uh,

14:34 in the coming season.

14:35 I would have loved to have been sitting on uh, you know,

14:37 in your office or wherever you caught the Les um,

14:40 Sean press conference the Thursday night of the draft.

14:44 I would love to have picked your brain on that moment when you watch that.

14:48 You know.

14:49 It really wasn't until the next day that Liam walked in and he was like,

14:52 "Oh man, check this out.

14:54 Everybody's talking about this thing." [laughter] I'm like, "Oh, that's classic.

14:58 You got to love it." Classic what?

15:00 Mr.

15:00 Grumpy or classic Les in that moment?

15:03 a little bit of both.

15:04 I think it's fair to say both existed, you know,

15:06 but at the same time it's like, "Okay, if things go awry in that Liam,

15:12 [laughter]

15:11 make sure you make sure you keep your composure." Now, That's funny, James.

15:17 That's funny.

15:18 Yeah, I mean it Listen, uh,

15:20 obviously you're you're putting your own stamp on things and your own spot

15:23 with Liam and you had a great first uh season um at that.

15:28 And now comes the next piece.

15:29 And I know you use the word level up quite a bit in this conversation.

15:33 Um and I look forward to you building [clears throat]

15:35 the roster that that allows you to do that even more.

15:38 And uh just wanted to say thanks for coming on here.

15:40 I appreciate it.

15:41 I appreciate you guys making the uh the invite.

15:43 It's great to connect and look forward to the next one.

15:46 Yeah, next one I'll be more direct with my questions.

15:48 Like straight I'll just rock right through the Dive [clears throat] right in.

15:52 Okay.

15:52 Deep end.

15:53 Thanks, James.

15:54 Appreciate it.

15:54 That's James Gladstone, the manager general manager of the Jacksonville

15:57 Jaguars right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

15:59 Also, the sense of humor that we all frequently have here,

16:02 our our mutual friend Cara Henderson Sneed

16:04 frequently has the same sense of humor.

16:06 Uh uh a new band name Versions of Adversity.

16:11 [laughter] That's right.

16:11 You know what you think?

16:12 Or is that Or is that an album of uh what?

16:14 Like R.E.M.?

16:16 Versions of Adversity.

16:17 That's good.

16:18 I like it.

16:18 an R.E.M.

16:18 album?

16:19 That sounds like an album name.

16:20 Yeah, don't you think?

16:23 Yeah.

16:23 Versions of Adversity.

16:24 That's what they went through last year.

16:25 Hey, you made it all the way to the end.

16:27 Thanks for that.

16:28 Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney

16:31 Plus and the ESPN app 12:00 to 3:00 Eastern.