FORT STEWART – Jacksonville Jaguars star linebacker Devin Lloyd knows a little something about what it’s like growing up military.
The second-year linebacker held a youth football camp Monday at Fort Stewart’s Newman Physical Fitness Center, with more than a hundred kids running routes, learning pass rushing techniques and running through a number of other drills.
“It just feels amazing, for one, to have the opportunity to do this and to know how much this is going to mean to the kids,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd was a 2022 first-round draft pick out of Utah, going 27th overall. He finished his first season in the NFL with 108 tackles and three interceptions.
He said he wants the lasting impact with the kids to be that a professional player took time to help them be better at football, and he hopes they follow that pattern in the future.
“That’s just who I am as a person,” he said. “We’re on this earth to help one another and serve one another. ProCamps does a great job of setting everything up. It’s just a matter of me coming up and being available.”
Lloyd’s dad Joe Lloyd retired a few years ago after a 30-year career in the Navy. His mother, Ronyta Johnson, spent 10 years in the Navy.
While Lloyd didn’t have the normal nomadic military child experience, moving from base to base every few years, he knew what it was like to have at least one parent gone for extended lengths of time.
“I understand the difficulties of growing up in a military household,” he said. “My dad would go on deployments. Just my dad being gone for x amount of time, I can completely relate.”
Training camp begins in less than two weeks for the Jags, who are coming off an improbable playoff appearance. Jacksonville, 4-29 combined over the previous two seasons, won the AFC South in 2022, going 9-8 and upending the Los Angeles Chargers in the first round before falling 27-20 to eventual Super Bowl champ Kansas City.
Lloyd is already looking forward to the grind of training camp and working under second-year coach Doug Pederson, who won Super Bowl LII as the Philadelphia Eagles coach.
“We’re going to build off what we did last year,” Lloyd said. “Last year, we had so many ups and downs. You can expect more consistency from our whole ball club this year. Last year, we were getting a feel for everybody. I think with everybody coming back this year, we’ll be so much more connected and on the same page.”
The former consensus all-American at Utah also expects to take a step forward on his own this season, now that his rookie campaign is under his belt.
“It’s going to be a lot more enjoyable for me,” he said. “I know what to expect from the NFL season. It’s just living in the moment and having fun every moment.”
But on Monday, Lloyd enjoyed his afternoon with the kids, even relishing in the trash talk between the youngsters.
“Feeling their energy and being around their youthful energy I just think is great,” he said. “It just warms my heart to be out here with all the kids and playing a sport I love to kids I can relate to growing up.”
