Foye Oluokun says ‘think takeaways’ is Jaguars’ new defensive mantra

The Jacksonville Jaguars forced 27 turnovers during the 2022 season, fourth most in the NFL, but linebacker Foye Oluokun says the team is focused on forcing even more in 2023.

At a press conference Wednesday, Oluokun was wearing a shirt that said “think takeaways” and he explained to reporters that it’s a mindset the team is taking into its offseason practices.

“If you go to sleep thinking it, if you wake up thinking it, it’s going to happen for you.”@foyelicious says the defense had “Think Takeaways” shirts in their lockers on the first day of OTAs. pic.twitter.com/b3V4DaigXu

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) April 19, 2023

“This shirt man, this is what the defense believes in right here,” Oluokun said. “We were down and out. Then, we started talking about thinking takeaways. Coach Bob Sutton said if you want to become an effective defense in the league, you’ve got to take the ball away. So, we all came back after OTAs, and this was in all of our lockers: think takeaways.

“Me personally, I want more takeaways. Elevate my game, elevate this defense, and we got to be thinking it at all times. You go to sleep thinking it, you wake up thinking it, it’s going to happen for you. We’re going to get more takeaways.”

Oluokun, 27, joined the Jaguars last offseason after leading the NFL in tackles during his final season with the Atlanta Falcons. In his first season with Jacksonville, Oluokun defended his tackle champion title with 184 on the year.

But for the first time since Oluokun was primarily a backup in Atlanta, he finished the year without recording an interception. He did, however, force two fumbles and recover a pair of fumbles, as well.

Rayshawn Jenkins, Devin Lloyd, Tyson Campbell, and Andre Cisco each recorded three interceptions each, and Josh Allen led the way in strips with four forced fumbles.