By New Jaguars safety Jessie Bates is doing everything he can to get up to speed as quickly as possible with the Jacksonville defense.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile joked that Bates was a part of the coaching staff because he hasn't seen him leave the building since arriving in Jacksonville.
"Once you learn coverages conceptually, you can understand what they are doing over here," Bates said of learning Anthony Campanile's defense, via Jaguars.com. "It's just different terminology. It's a challenge, but what a great challenge to have."
Bates was the first of three trade deadline deals that the Jaguars made. Jacksonville parted with a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to acquire him from the Atlanta Falcons.
Bates has been durable during his time with the Falcons and has had very strong ball production over his career, totaling 30 interceptions and 46 pass breakups since entering the NFL in 2018.
Before joining the Falcons in 2023, Bates was a second-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018.
"Nobody cares if you are a new guy or not, you have to make sure that you are up to speed and ready to execute at a high level," Bates said.
Liam Coen compared Bates to Jakobi Meyers, who gave the Jaguars' offense a big boost last season, after he was acquired at the trade deadline.
Bates will step into a starting safety role with the Jaguars next to Antonio Johnson. Whether or not he plays this Sunday in Tennessee still remains to be seen at this time. As of Thursday, Bates has yet to practice.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars S Jessie Bates working to get up to speed quickly in new defense
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jaguars-jessie-bates-working-speed-010634357.html
