0:05

Oh soon.

0:08

Welcome to the Ozone Podcast

0:11

with Jaguars senior writer John

0:13

Oser. Welcome into this

0:15

week's Ozone podcast. And I always say I'm

0:18

excited about every guest, but I'm always excited

0:20

to talk to this week's guest, Jaguar

0:22

safety Andrew Winguard.

0:24

Thanks for joining us for this, Thank you for having me.

0:26

And it seems like in

0:28

a lot of ways you've really come to symbolize

0:31

this franchise and define this franchise. First

0:33

of all, you know, do

0:35

you like that and do you feel like that's true in

0:37

any way?

0:40

You know, I'll take what I can get from from

0:43

where you know, from where you

0:45

know the team has been right,

0:49

And if

0:52

the team or the fans look to me

0:54

for energy and for enthusiasm,

0:57

then I can absolutely give you that. And I

1:02

do love that because I

1:04

believe in positivity. I believe in all

1:06

that stuff and I try to embody

1:08

that. And obviously

1:10

people have started to see that and it

1:14

feels good. It does for sure.

1:16

When you're out and about how often

1:18

you hear it was always the Jags.

1:19

All the time, especially because I can't

1:22

hide and stuff like that. So

1:25

but I remember talking

1:27

with with our doctor

1:30

Franco and he was talking about

1:32

last year how that a

1:35

word or a sentence or a phrase

1:38

became almost tangible to

1:40

where when that was said, energy

1:43

came from it. And to me, that was the coolest

1:45

thing. How something

1:47

that just came came to me and

1:51

in the you know, heat of the moment, you say something,

1:53

and yet that becomes kind

1:55

of a driving force into a

1:57

playoff, run, a turnaround, if you will.

2:00

So that's probably the coolest thing to me. But

2:02

yeah, I get it all the time.

2:03

So when you're at target and publics and somebody comes

2:06

up to you and says that, I

2:08

gotta think that that's a

2:11

great feeling for like you

2:14

remember it. And I mean sometimes

2:17

I get anybody in public eye doesn't love being approached,

2:19

but I gotta think that's a great thing.

2:21

Yeah, never ends. And I'm definitely

2:23

you know, I'm the simple guy who just wants

2:26

to be another human you know, I'm not looking

2:28

for any sort of recognition.

2:30

I actually, and don't

2:32

take this the wrong way. I prefer

2:35

just to go out and not be recognized and just being

2:37

you know, another you know, another human being, because

2:39

that's what we all are at the end of the day. But

2:41

it is cool, especially you know, when I first

2:43

showed up here my first couple of years, I was

2:45

like, I don't even want to be seen

2:47

in public first picking

2:49

the draft two years in a row, stuff like that. But

2:53

it is cool, and it's cool that the fans

2:56

now have a team to root for that's

2:58

produce, that can produce and can you

3:01

know, not just be terrible?

3:03

Right?

3:04

And this

3:07

is a little bit of a different season than

3:09

last year, where

3:11

there was just momentum going at the end of last year,

3:15

do you guys sinse that it's a different season.

3:17

And as you go into this game against Tennessee,

3:20

which is a must win, somehow

3:23

through.

3:25

A wild route, you're.

3:26

In the same place as last year with the chance to go

3:29

after it. Is that what you're embracing

3:31

this week as a team.

3:32

You have to right again. When we stepped

3:35

in in training camp, we said win the

3:37

AFC South and we've put our

3:39

here. We have the opportunity. And

3:41

if if your immediate gut reaction

3:43

is to start to think, oh

3:46

well it could, you've

3:48

lost already.

3:49

Right.

3:49

If that's your gut reaction to go

3:51

into the what I call the sewer

3:54

cycle of negative thinking,

3:57

then you're gonna get negative results, So flip

3:59

that positive mindset. Here we are

4:02

and all we can ask for is an opportunity,

4:04

an opportunity to control our own destiny,

4:06

and we do when that's it. So

4:10

I'm sorry, No, you're fine.

4:11

And first of all, is a sewer

4:13

cycle yours?

4:14

It's not, okay, I kind

4:16

of I guess I did kind of steal it's it's

4:18

from this book. It's called The Confident Mind by

4:21

doctor Nate Zencer. He's

4:24

like the head of sports psychology at

4:26

Army West Point.

4:27

Now you like that stuff,

4:30

right, sort of thinking it is like you're

4:32

really has it helped you

4:34

at all? I mean, I guess it's a way of life

4:36

for you, and it's helped you get here?

4:38

Right? The mental game is everything for me,

4:40

okay, And that

4:42

has taken me here.

4:45

It's taken me farther than guys

4:47

I was with in high school. It took me farther than guys

4:49

in college. It's taken me farther

4:51

than guys I came in with. And that's

4:54

where it is. And I've learned

4:57

along the way that learning is

4:59

my if I

5:01

was to have a superpower, if you will,

5:03

it's my ability to learn, capacity

5:05

to digest information

5:07

and learn from it. So I think that's

5:11

where I have improved the most in my game,

5:13

is just being able to learn and get

5:15

better and better and better and better and just

5:18

maximize my opportunities. But as

5:20

a captain of this team, I've really felt

5:22

the calling of how do I

5:25

fire guys up and how do I get guys

5:27

in the right frame of mind? And

5:30

it goes along with that stuff, with stuff about the

5:32

mental edge, with principles

5:35

such as the sewer cycle, and you've

5:37

seen I've monitored it all year

5:39

and there's been times when we've been in the sewer

5:41

circle. There's been times when we've been in the opposite

5:44

is the success cycle where you're seeing,

5:46

like I just said, this opportunity,

5:49

not this you know, oh,

5:52

let's look back on the negative where we could

5:54

have won the division. No, the success

5:56

cycle would say we here, we have

5:58

this opportunity, what a great opportunity,

6:01

This is awesome, high pressure,

6:03

let's go ball out. What are you know?

6:05

So that's I've done

6:07

that all year with the guys, and it's been different principles

6:10

here and there, but in this point in time, it's

6:12

that of this is a great

6:14

opportunity. The same goals.

6:17

Let's go ball out. Who doesn't

6:19

want to be in this spot in a high pressure

6:21

situation. Let's thrive on it.

6:23

So that's kind of been the.

6:25

Message from

6:27

undrafted guy as

6:30

a rookie to team captain.

6:33

What does that mean to you?

6:34

That that really does mean a lot. That's cool,

6:36

that got when the guys see

6:38

it. Yeah, and it's not fake. It's

6:40

not like you're just some raw

6:42

ra guy that talks and no, it's

6:45

it's actions. And that's the coolest

6:47

part for me, you know, being able

6:49

to sit in those captains meetings on

6:52

Wednesdays. You know, it's and

6:54

it's been a challenge too for me because

6:57

before you didn't have to. You know, you

6:59

just plut you just go play. You know, the

7:01

success and failure of the team.

7:03

You know, there's not so much you know kind

7:06

of correlated back to you as a leader

7:08

of the team. But so that's been you

7:10

know, if I was to look back on the seat, not that

7:13

it's over, but if I was to look back, this

7:15

has been a great year for me in terms

7:17

of growth and stuff. And you know,

7:19

how to talk, how to talk to the guys, how

7:21

you come off, you know, the

7:23

things you say even

7:25

talking to coach Peterson. You know, we've

7:28

had great conversations in those captains

7:30

meetings. So it's been super cool. Definitely

7:33

the highlight of my career so far, just being you

7:35

know, named the captain, wearing the sea on the jersey.

7:38

It's it's really freaking cool. I can't lie.

7:40

Has that pushed you?

7:43

I personally think you're missing your calling if you don't

7:45

coach at some point? Has

7:47

that made you think about that more?

7:49

I think about it all the time, Okay, And

7:52

it's funny. I don't even think about like

7:54

coaching in the NFL. I think about like coaching high

7:56

school kids. To me, that would be that would

7:58

be the coolest and most fun thing, you

8:01

know. I think that definitely not college

8:03

those hours, I wouldn't

8:05

be able to play golf. I wouldn't be able to you

8:08

know, I wouldn't be able to go play poker at the casino.

8:10

But now it's

8:12

it's just kind of what I do.

8:14

What's the biggest thing you've learned about leadership?

8:17

I guess that's where I'm looking for leadership, but that

8:20

this year anything in particular, it's

8:23

more that.

8:24

Like leadership isn't about leadership

8:27

is really the only thing leadership is about

8:29

is influence, Like just

8:31

because you know, all the things you do don't

8:33

matter unless you can influence people and

8:36

move them in a direction and cast

8:38

a vision to them, you know what I mean. So

8:41

that's really what I've learned about this year

8:43

is when you go up and you talk, are

8:46

you painting a clear picture? When you go up and you

8:48

talk, are you bruin something

8:50

within the guys? So that's been the

8:52

most kind of fun thing for me is over

8:56

the course of this year. You know, I remember after

8:59

the Houston game, we

9:01

were one and two and

9:03

there was just you know, we were in

9:05

the sewer cycle. Yeah, we were in the sewer cycle.

9:07

A lot of negative not just the energy

9:10

was dead. So I called up a team

9:12

after the team meeting the night before we played

9:14

Atlanta, I could just called all the guys up

9:17

and I said, hey, open for him, like

9:20

wide open, let's chat, let's you know, let's

9:23

start bouncing ideas off each other, let's get on

9:25

the same page. And you

9:27

know, I think we won like five or

9:30

six games straight after that. So

9:32

that was the cool thing to me is I

9:35

just offered a platform. I got the guys

9:37

talking, we all got on the same page. We all

9:39

felt better, we all felt some energy.

9:42

And it's stuff like that, the things you do as

9:45

a leader in those scenarios, there's

9:48

your influence, and if that influence

9:51

works, you're doing something right

9:53

as a leader.

9:54

Could you've ever imagined this version

9:57

of Andrew winning Guard Year five when

9:59

you were starting out?

10:00

Absolutely, it was all okay. Maybe,

10:03

I mean, I never thought I'd be a captain, but

10:06

I knew I was gonna be here for sure. I

10:08

knew when I knew,

10:10

I knew. I've I've always known how good I

10:12

can be. I've always just

10:16

I've known that there's no way another

10:19

There's no way another man can do that and I

10:21

can't. There's no reason I can't

10:23

be the best in the world. And

10:25

I you know, I still believe that obviously.

10:28

You know, I re signed here and

10:30

I'm still not a starter, but I still see myself

10:32

as a starter. I still prepare like a starter. My

10:35

film won't lie. You know. It's like I've been

10:37

balling and I've just continued to keep getting,

10:40

you know, better and better. And

10:42

it's just the cool part is that

10:45

belief in yourself is really the only thing that

10:47

matters. What you know you're gonna fail, You're gonna mess

10:49

up. But the guys that keep going, the

10:51

guys that keep getting better, you know, will

10:53

always come out in the end. And that's kind of

10:55

how it's been for me. And you know, you gotta, I gotta

10:58

thank God, you know. With out

11:00

him, I'm absolutely nothing. And

11:02

that's really been my driving force. But he

11:05

kind of casts that vision for me when I was young.

11:07

You know, it's crazy because when

11:09

I was young, I would pray every night.

11:11

I would you know, I was like a freshman in high

11:13

school. I would pray that I would make varsity as

11:15

a sophomore, and then I would go on to get a D

11:18

one scholarship, and then I'd go on to the

11:20

to play in the NFL. And I just prayed for it. And it's

11:23

you know, here it is now, and you

11:25

know, I now just feel like I'm the I

11:28

now feel like I owe this responsibility

11:30

back to that little kid, right you know, I

11:32

that when you you know, when you lay

11:34

your head on that pillow at night, that self esteem.

11:38

I really kind of see myself still as a little

11:40

kid, and you know, I it's really self

11:42

compassion. You know, Guys beat themselves

11:45

up. Guys and I've just tried

11:47

not to do that. I've tried to always been positive, and I've

11:49

always tried to you know, kind of see

11:51

myself as too different, see myself as a

11:53

man, and see myself as the as that little

11:55

kid that that belief, that joy, and

11:58

to kind of still you

12:00

know, kindle that spirit of a kid and in

12:03

a way give back to myself. So I now

12:06

you know the discipline Now it's hard,

12:08

you know, now, it's now it's when you really got to be a man.

12:10

That that discipline, that training, that

12:13

effort, that attention to detail so that when

12:15

you do go out on Sunday and play, you

12:17

can really let that kid be free.

12:21

Were you better now than when you're a

12:23

rookie?

12:24

Why?

12:24

And why is it? Is

12:26

it just experience or how does that grow?

12:30

I would just say, man,

12:33

you know it's a tough question. Obviously, you get, like

12:35

you said, experience, You get so many reps against

12:37

great players in practice that you just

12:39

naturally have to adapt. But now

12:42

I think I just take extreme

12:44

ownership of my job. Before

12:46

you know, you get in you're kind of just unconscious.

12:48

You're kind of just learning the way. You know, You're

12:50

not really you're just playing right right.

12:53

And now it's like I

12:55

remember in twenty one under

12:58

urban Meyer said something he's he

13:00

brought up the pain of discipline versus

13:03

the pain of regret, and I was like

13:05

that that hit me like so

13:07

hard. I was like, I don't

13:10

want to regret a single thing while I

13:12

have this opportunity. So that really

13:14

led me down this path of discipline of like

13:17

kind of just relearning everything I did,

13:19

like because I was unconscious of it. I didn't you

13:21

know, getting a journal and like write down how

13:23

I was playing ball, how I was seeing, how

13:25

I was studying, how I was, you know, doing

13:27

all that stuff. So I really just took extreme

13:30

ownership over myself and you

13:32

know, started journaling, started doing

13:34

stuff like that, started learning, started

13:36

to like have goals,

13:38

have purpose, you know, game in, game out.

13:40

And I think that's just where I've really elevated

13:42

myself is looking at

13:45

myself through a clear lens without

13:47

you know, judt, you know, without the negative

13:49

voice in your head, but just looking at yourself,

13:52

identifying strengths and weaknesses,

13:54

getting better at your weaknesses while you

13:57

know, elevating still your strengths and

13:59

stuff like that. So just those you

14:01

know, and it's it's small details, but

14:03

that is the stuff that leads to

14:05

big games, you know what I mean. So, but

14:08

from a football aspect, I just think I

14:11

I can play all you know, I can play both spots

14:13

at free free safety, strong safety.

14:15

I've really gotten better planning man coverage.

14:17

You know, we do one on ones all the time. I felt

14:19

like I've taken fifty thousand

14:22

one on one reps and just being able to

14:24

operate, communicate, and that's

14:26

really what it is. So

14:29

I went off kind of on a tangent there, but great.

14:32

That's how you improve in this league. And that's

14:34

been another thing for me as a captain, is teaching

14:36

these young guys getting right. I remember

14:38

when I came in the league, Jared Wilson. Jared

14:41

Wilson was a guy who I

14:43

remember they, you know, all the guys said

14:46

find a vet who has had success,

14:48

find a vet who has kind of been on

14:50

the similar path as you, and copy them.

14:52

And I can drafted

14:54

guy Goby Jared Wilson to

14:56

it, and best teammate, best guy I've ever

14:58

met my entire life.

15:00

I just copied him. And

15:02

now that I'm kind of in that same spot

15:05

as he was, now it's about

15:07

being that vet that young guys look

15:09

to, that young guys look to for advice.

15:12

And it's just been maybe if

15:14

one thing I say to to the to young

15:16

Tank Bigsby, if I if I chew

15:18

Tank out about jumping off sides

15:21

on a fourth and four, it's

15:24

gonna you know, no one wants to be the guy that wants

15:26

to get up in a guy's grill and right, But

15:29

now every time we're in practice, Tank looks at

15:31

me when we're on punt return he heye ear mufs ear mus

15:33

fourth and four, right, Just little little

15:35

things like that, and it's a that's

15:38

kind of where I've you know, found

15:40

the calling to as a captain is teaching those young

15:42

guys, you know, just those little minute

15:44

details about how to be a pro,

15:46

how to elevate themselves because

15:48

this game offers so much outside of here.

15:51

What this game gives us financially

15:54

among other things, that's not the only thing, obviously,

15:56

but what it gives you financially, it allows you to

15:58

just create this life you want outside

16:01

of football and after football. So why not give

16:03

it your all? Why not own your role so

16:05

that you can continue to ball out, make money,

16:08

play as long as possible. You

16:10

know, yeah, you.

16:11

Might say high school coach, you'll be coaching special

16:13

teams in this league. So that's

16:15

just that's just my opinion. We'll talk in fifteen,

16:18

we're talking five years. The

16:21

final thing along these lines, A chance

16:23

to win back to back division titles on

16:26

on Sunday, first time in

16:28

twenty five years has been done. A chance to beat the Titans

16:30

for the fourth time in a row had been done

16:32

since the nineties. Do

16:35

you think about anything like

16:37

that in terms of just I

16:39

guess this team sort of making

16:41

a mark and being a team that people look back

16:44

on.

16:45

It's funny you say that, because I've been thinking

16:47

about that lately too. It's like, let's

16:50

go boys. That's what it's been. Let's go

16:52

boys. You don't under like I hope they

16:54

all understand, like the

16:57

back to back division titles, and I

16:59

believe this, when this team gets into the playoffs,

17:01

I believe I think that's when we take

17:03

off. I really do. But you become

17:06

the first you know, you win a super Bowl in

17:08

Jacksonville? Are you kidding me? Are

17:11

you kidding me? How freaking

17:14

sweet? Would that be? First super Bowl

17:16

in franchise history? Like you're

17:18

like you're a legend forever, Like, are you kidding me?

17:20

So? And I've been in

17:23

seasons where you're packing your

17:25

bags up right now making sure that on Monday

17:27

you can get the hell out of here, you know what I mean. Yeah,

17:30

Now it's like, dude, like now

17:32

you really don't want to have.

17:33

Reason an opportunity here.

17:35

Big opportunity. So it's

17:37

it's awesome and our fans they deserve

17:40

it. They've been great. And to have

17:42

a team to like we said, to have a contender

17:44

year in year out to cheer for, that's

17:46

awesome in itself. But now, you know, back

17:49

to back really shaking up this division because

17:51

Coach talked about it too the other day. It's like Tennessee

17:54

and Indye have owned this division and

17:56

you know, Houston had that little run with Deshaun

17:58

Watson and stuff, but this could,

18:00

you know, this could really set the standard. And I

18:02

think this has really been a growth

18:05

here. You know, for everyone in this organization.

18:08

We've never been in this situation right for

18:10

the most part, where you you

18:12

know, weekend you got to be a contender, you know what I

18:14

mean.

18:14

So right, playing first place schedule right.

18:16

Right, And it's been a great growth

18:19

here. And so many, so many lessons learned

18:21

and stuff like that. And now here we

18:23

sit, you know what I mean. Here we sit, So it's

18:25

it's about going to do it. But back

18:28

to your question, you do think about

18:30

that, and that's the when you think about

18:32

cool things and high aspiration

18:35

things like that, it really gets

18:37

you going and really gets you excited. Very

18:39

cool.

18:40

The last thing we do is the ozone five,

18:43

So it's

18:46

five quick fun questions. If

18:49

you have time between reading, what was your last

18:51

binge watch?

18:53

Oh goodness, I'm

18:55

not a huge Netflix guy, but

18:57

I think I rewatched Breaking Bad about six

19:00

months ago.

19:01

I could see that big times you would be across

19:03

all or not.

19:04

I didn't get into that.

19:06

It's it's I would advise.

19:08

I did the same thing. Breaking Bad was great.

19:11

Tried Saul the first time, couldn't get into

19:13

it, and once I got into it, I

19:17

I don't know if it's better, but it's the same

19:20

thing. But you have to sort of get through the first couple.

19:22

So anyway, gotcha where his advice? A

19:24

song you heard on the car on the way in this morning.

19:28

It's funny because today's the one day I didn't

19:30

listen to music. Last

19:33

night, I was listening to Hall and Oates. Okay,

19:35

out of touch, Okay, okay, well that's right

19:37

out of my out of touch Okay,

19:40

come out of time.

19:42

I would join in with because I know the song that nobody

19:44

wants to hear. That. So, best

19:46

player you've ever played against probably.

19:51

Probably Deshaun Watson when he

19:53

was in Houston. We played them, and we

19:55

played them in London my rookie year,

19:58

and that guy

20:00

was on another level, making every throw,

20:03

no one could sack him, running around and everything.

20:06

It was one of his better game, best or

20:09

most memorable play that

20:11

you've been involved.

20:12

With, prop

20:18

probably my It was. My first

20:20

interception of my career was against Indy.

20:22

Yeah, in twenty twenty, first game

20:24

of the year, picked off Phil Rivers, only

20:27

to lose fifteen or so games straight

20:29

afterwards, but got the.

20:31

Dub, saved, saved

20:34

it from sixteen, which is saying something.

20:36

So that was pretty cool. That's right. First

20:39

interception, Yeah, first interception of my NFL

20:41

career on a future Hall of Famer,

20:44

got pretty cool.

20:45

Five year old Dewey's favorite

20:48

movie Lord.

20:49

Of the Rings.

20:50

Really that eulogy okay, yep,

20:52

that young you're in it? Okay, oh absolutely those gott

20:54

Are staying cartoons, but you weren't that guy.

20:56

Still best best movies

20:59

of all time. Still watch them. And you know I'm a nerd

21:01

at heart. I really am. I'm a like dungeons

21:03

and dragons, swords and shields

21:06

and stuff like that.

21:07

Yeah, I'm not a Lord of the Rings guy, but you get

21:09

along with my wife. She's hardcore

21:11

into it and loves it. I could talk to you all

21:13

day. I appreciate you joining

21:16

the ozone podcast. Good Luck Sunday

21:18

Dude, Thanks sir, appreciate it.