Travon Walker: NFL a ‘mental game’ entering Year 3
Jacksonville Jaguars pass rusher Travon Walker says he began to play more freely towards the end of the 2023 season.
5.5 of his 10 season sacks came in the final six games, rounding off a breakout season for the 2022 No.1 pick. Travon Walker has always considered himself a leader. Now he’s acclimated to the NFL, he wants to establish his role in the locker room.
As if he needed more motivation, teammate Josh Allen has just signed a mega extension. Travon Walker says his job is to emulate the work rate of Allen and Trevor Lawrence.
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“It was just time for me to just go play freely and not be thinking as much,” Walker said.
“So I feel like that helped me take a major step into my second year, and now it’s more of a mental game for me than physical.”
“It’s just one of those feelings, that I have guys counting on me,” Walker added. “Throughout my time of playing football, from the collegiate level to now, I’ve had a lot of guys looking up to me, to go out there and handle my business, and they looked at me in a leadership role just because they know the type of person that I am and the type of player that I am.
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“Just from watching those two guys alone, they show you a lot of the things that they do inside the building, on the field and off the field, just from them being one of the first people in the building to being one of the last people leaving the building,” Walker said.
“And just a lot of the extra things they put into the game that you probably won’t get from a game unless you put in that extra (time).
“So it’s definitely fuel to the fire for me, just seeing those guys doing it the right way. I mean, who wouldn’t want to follow in those footsteps to be in that position one day?”
