Darrelle Revis, “I just want to be here”

As the Jets were checking in at Cortland today for training camp, Darrelle Revis spoke to the media.

On why he decided to report to camp…
I just want to be here. I want to be around the team and just play ball. I think that’s my focal point, just come in here and get prepared for the season.

On whether holding out was a possibility…
Everything is a decision. It is my career I have to see what the best fit for me and my family is. So there were talks, there were decisions made on what we’re going to do and it happens for me to be here.

On when he reached his decision to be here…
Probably a couple of days ago. I had a team sit with my representatives, and we talked. We had numerous meetings through OTA’s but we talked and hashed it out and the best thing is for me to be here.

On the team of his decision or if he just showed up…
I just showed up. I showed up when I needed to and that was it.

On reactions from people upon his arrival at the facility…
I talked to Rex (Ryan). I caught him in the hallway and he just said he is glad for me to be here. We talked for a little bit. I just told him I am excited for the season and I’m ready to go and play football.

On wanting progress to be made with his contract…
Something has to happen sooner or later in terms of my future with the team. Like I said, I want to be here and I hope Mike (Tannenbaum) and Mr. Woody (Johnson) want me here. Besides that, I just have to play football and keep on playing the best I can.

On whether his presence at camp should be interpreted as him being happy with his contract…
I never said I was unhappy about my contract. I know what I signed a couple years ago. There were talks a couple years ago about a “band-aid” and that was that. Now we’re here and we have to move forward. We’re preparing to have a good season.

On his representatives approaching the Jets in the off season to redo the deal…
My representatives did try to talk to Mr.Tannenbaum. I think they talked briefly, but that was it. That was really it. It was not further.

On if the team agreed to revisit his deal after two seasons…
No, not really. Just like you guys heard it was a “band-aid”. You never know what day or year you’re really going to discuss it. That’s how you have to look at it. It isn’t anything big. It can happen in the season. It can happen after. It can never happen. As of now, my mind is on getting ready for the season.

On the Jets front office’s response to his representatives’ proposal …
The response was we’ll deal with it later, we’ll handle it later. I trust Mike and what he’s saying. We’ll see. My situation is a little bit different from others, but it has to boil down to something sooner or later, getting a deal done or not.

On whether he will have a deal at this point next year…
I really don’t know and that’s really not my focus. Right now my focus is not to get a new deal. My representatives have had talks with Mike and they didn’t go anywhere. Right now, I’m going to move forward, just play ball this year and help this team win.

On if he is open to contract talks during the season or does ne not want the distraction…
I don’t think any player would deny it if the GM came to talk to you about a contract but I don’t think Mike would do that during the season because it is a distraction. I think you probably want to handle that matter in the offseason.

On the biggest factor in coming to camp…
Just because I want to be around the team and I haven’t been to a lot of training camps in the past.(laughter). I just want to be here and get ready for this year. My focus right now is to try to dominate again and do what I do best to help this team win.

On what he is most excited for this camp…
Really excited. Everybody is happy. Everybody is on a positive note. We are just excited. This is a new year for us and we are just trying to do what we can to get back to the AFC Championship game and hopefully go further.

On whether his contract having a clause has played a factor…
That was in the talks as well. Like I said, we had to go through all the phases and all the decisions to figure out what was best for me. That was in the talks but also other things as well.

On if he would be more inclined to test free agency without a new deal…
If that’s the case in my career at that time then I have to do what I have to do. To answer your question, like I said when asked  in OTA’s, yeah I want to be a Jet for life but if management does not see that to be a fit then I have to move on.

On if there was a consideration that holding out would have prompted the Jets to go after his bonus…
We discussed everything. We knew that and that didn’t really matter. We came up with a bunch of scenarios of trying to find the best fit for me and it was close,  of that happening as far as me holding out.

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