Q. What's your comfort level like, your understanding of everything?
JONATHAN OWENS: It's always better when you're able to be in the system a year before and the next year you get to come in and you can teach the younger guys just from your experiences and what you felt and the stressors you feel in certain defenses. It's definitely a great feeling to have playing time, and it gets your confidence level higher because now you know you can do it. It's not just seeing plays on film or having to major get mental reps. It's been great just coming and trying to build off last year.
Q. You mentioned that confidence; instead of watching other people's film you got some of your own. What did you learn from those experiences looking back as you're preparing for another year?
JONATHAN OWENS: Man, just stay down. It's actually a pretty humbling experience because I've always been the one, I'm trying to learn off everybody else, or Justin Reid was here last year so he's a guy I always ask a bunch of questions with, and it's just a great feeling, man. It's a confidence boost, and just you want to keep going. You want to build off of it. You don't want to be complacent.
Last year did happen, but that's over with now, so my mindset is moving forward and getting better, and like 1 percent better every day.
Q. Do you feel 100 percent now? How is your health after rehab and everything?
JONATHAN OWENS: Yeah, it's been a great rehab all off-season. The trainers we have here are amazing. They've done a great job of preparing me and getting me to be able to come back out here and do everything in OTAs and just continue to improve and get better.
Q. What are some of the things you think you need to improve on going into training camp?
JONATHAN OWENS: From what I felt last year, I knew with myself I wanted to get a little bigger, a little stronger because I felt kind of grown men strength in the games, and I wanted to get my shoulders a little stronger, be quicker with my eyes, quicker run-pass reads so that I can play faster and just let talent take over from there. Just a lot of pre-snap recognition things is what slow your mind down, can't see this formation, this is what I think I'm going to get from this. That's been a big thing, just trying to learn and talking to vets and watching more film of other guys from other teams, just plays they've made and learn off of it.
Q. It seems like there's some momentum to the group, a couple of new players, some new tactics. What do you get a sense out of Lovie Smith and how he wants to do more this year on defense and how he can use you guys around the secondary?
JONATHAN OWENS: He really wants competitive guys that are going to come out, play the defense the way he wants and play full speed, man, and give your all out there on the field and make the plays when they're presented to you, and I think we have a great group of guys who can go out there and do that and execute the game plan.
Q. In a second year with Lovie are there things you're noticing more from him? Are there different things you're noticing?
JONATHAN OWENS: I got pretty close to Lovie last year, so just with him becoming a head coach it was like an easier transition, so guys are just grinding in. Lovie is a guy that you have a lot of respect for, so you want to play hard for him, you want to make those plays for him. I feel like the whole team now, just not the defense that understood him last year. It's the whole team that understands Lovie's vision and how he wants the team to play and perform, so I'm excited.
Q. To that point, what are your early impressions of Stingley?
JONATHAN OWENS: Great ball skills, athletic, and smart and willing to learn, asks a bunch of questions. That's really a thing where you're a new guy, you never want to -- you're always going to be a sponge, anything anybody tells you. I'm relaying my past experiences to them, letting them know, okay, this is what you did, this is probably what you could do better, this is what somebody taught me. I'm excited.
Q. What's that transition process been like for you from being the guy asking the questions last year to now being the guy that they have to come to you now?
JONATHAN OWENS: It's crazy, man, because it took a long time to get to that point. Even in my fourth year I still didn't have the playing time and the experience. It was just a confidence thing. You see those plays, you tell yourself you can do it, watch the film, but actually going out there and doing it, it's a different confidence you have, especially coming into the next year, because younger guys are seeing you on the film, so they're coming and asking you, like bro, what did you do, how did you do that, what did you see. It's a great feeling, man, just being able to relay information and teach guys stuff that I've learned.
Q. You've always been a guy fighting for your spot, fighting for playing time. I'm sure that doesn't change but do you get hungrier after what you just said?
JONATHAN OWENS: Absolutely, because now you have more to prove. You can't just live off of stuff that you did last year. Last year is over with, it's a new season, new team. You have a lot of new players. So everyone has to prove theirself again. Last year was a confidence boost, but that happened last year, so I'm just trying to get better every day and prove things that myself I analyze and when I watch film that I think I need to do better, so I'm just trying to move forward and get better every day.
Q. What is the difference you've seen between Lovie Smith, the defensive coordinator, and Lovie Smith, the head coach?
JONATHAN OWENS: Honestly it's not much that he has to say to us because of his respect level. Like you respect him so much, you want to go out there and you're attentive. Everybody is watching. He comes into the meeting room -- I guess now he cracks a few more jokes now because he's running the team meetings now. But he's been the same guy since I got here, man, just he's the type that you see that beard, it's just a respect factor, so you want to go out there and do everything for him and execute the game plan the way he wants it.
Q. You mentioned people are coming to ask you questions now and that's a bit different, that dynamic. When you're talking to other veterans on this team do you get a sense things are different this year and how are they different?
JONATHAN OWENS: Absolutely because it's our second year within the same defensive scheme. For me personally this is my first time with a defense in my second straight year because I've had a lot of just coaching shuffles since I've been in the NFL. It's a great feeling knowing that you have the same scheme, you can learn. You learn from what you did last year. You know the plays that are going to hurt or the plays to look for or the routes to look for, the big plays teams are trying to hit us with.
Like I said, you can just relay that information and your past experiences to the young guys and let them know to be prepared because we had to go through it in a game and learn versus now we can just watch the film, we've felt the pressures. It's a great feeling being able to relay those experiences.
Q. How is the wedding planning going?
JONATHAN OWENS: It's been going pretty good. I just let her handle most of it and I kind of sit here and handle my business on the field.
Q. You touched on it, but from the outside looking in, it looks like there's a sense of calm in this practice as opposed to a year ago. Is that right? What's it like as a player? There's a different vibe.
JONATHAN OWENS: Honestly, Lovie was here with us last year so a lot of the players are familiar with him. I guess you could say it's calm where people are learning more. He has that confidence in us. He believes in us, so he kind of lets us kind of run -- especially when we're out there we kind of run the practice and they'll coach up the film. He's just kind of taken, I guess, a player's approach to it, but he does a great job of getting us prepared, and we owe everything to him, so we're just trying to come out here and execute the game plan.
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