DE CHRIS SMITH CONFERENCE CALL
(On if the Senior Bowl helped his stock) "It helped a lot, especially since Jacksonville is the one that got me, it's crazy. That week, I wanted to come in with a great mindset. The competition level was very high and I just wanted to come in and prove myself. I love Jacksonville's defense. Even when the draft started on Thursday, I was talking about Jacksonville's defense and I'm glad they believed in me and picked me up."
(On if he did linebacker drills at the Senior Bowl) "No, I did not do linebacker drills and that's the crazy thing about it. I did play outside linebacker my junior year at Arkansas. My senior year, I had my hand more in the grass. That's where I get personal, when I have my hand in the grass. Coach (Todd) Wash showed Dee Ford and me how to play the Leo and the end and that is one spot I really like where I can put my hand in the grass and just go and make plays."
(On if the transition will be easy for him) "I wouldn't say easy. I'm always told that getting drafted is the easy part, the hard part is staying in there. I just want to come in and work hard each and every day, get to know my teammates, have my teammates get to know me, things of that nature, but I'm just coming in to work hard, that's the bottom line. I'm going to work hard and try to get better each and every day."
(On if the 'Leo' term was used at Arkansas) "We did have a Leo position at Arkansas my junior year. As far as the Jacksonville defense, Coach Wash just wants the d-linemen to go and make plays, just be erasers like my defensive line coach my senior year. He lets us go in and make plays, I just love the scheme."
(On if he moved inside for passing plays) "Yes I did move inside, only on passing situations. Even at the Senior Bowl I played inside a little bit. That's one thing about it, anything that coach asks me to do, I'll do. At the Senior Bowl, I actually started on kickoff, ran down on kickoff and was on the ones and twos during the whole game. Coming into that Senior Bowl week really helped me a lot and it really paid off."
(On impression of Gus Bradley) "Me and my former teammate, Travis Swanson, when we won we said, 'hey, we don't get too many.' We didn't have a great season at Arkansas, unfortunately, so we said, 'man, we need to give him a Gatorade bath on this one,' because we never know when our next game is. Travis Swanson came up with that. It was fun to just go out there. Coach Bradley at every meeting at the Senior Bowl was just bringing energy, having us go out there and just play hard. He brings so much energy and so much enthusiasm to the team, I wouldn't ask to play for anybody else."
(On how much the distractions at Arkansas tested him) "Yes, especially I think that helped me. People look at the bad things out of it, I think Coach (Bobby) Petrino is a hell of a coach, but they look at the bad out of it. Coach Petrino was one of those guys that had us mentally tough, Coach John L. Smith just wanted us to go out there and work hard., and Coach (Bret) Bielema, he's a great guy, players' coach and got us big in the weight room. I took good things from all three of those coaches."
(On if he has a relationship with any of the Jaguars' picks before him) "Yes, Telvin Smith. When I saw him picked, I kind of got a good feeling thinking maybe (the Jaguars) would take me as a d-end, but I didn't want to get my hopes up, but it happened that way. Telvin Smith is a guy that brings a lot of energy. Even though we would get tired out there at the Senior Bowl practices, I can see why Florida State won the National Championship because those guys have chemistry and he is one guy that can be a leader, a vocal leader, and emotional leader, and he keeps everybody going."