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Foye Oluokun: Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 was abysmal; Here's why he's optimistic about 2025
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- Foye Oluokun: Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 was abysmal; Here's why he's optimistic about 2025
Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun didn't sugarcoat it: last year's team went through the season "abysmally."
It wasn't just that the franchise was losing. Jacksonville had lost the team's first four games of the season and never recovered. Really, the team's mentality never got off the ground after a heartbreaking Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins — the team was snake bitten from the onset.
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"Obviously, last year did not go great. It's easy to get down on yourself, kind of get through. That's a toxic mindset of football there, and we got through the season abysmally. So, come back this season, try to right our wrongs and let's get out on the right foot," Oluokun said plainly after practice, not mincing his words.
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The eighth-year veteran is likening this year's mindset to the year he first joined the team in 2022.
"When I first got here, everything was exciting. It was new. We had the same opportunity as kind of this year coming in, proving people wrong and stuff. I feel like we got some of that chip back. We got a new staff, we got some new players. Let's show the people who we want to be, who we are as Jaguars , as this team," he said.
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Oluokun emphasizes communication improvement under Anthony Campanile
When Oluokun was first brought to Jacksonville, former Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell often referred to the veteran LB as an "eraser," meaning he could clean up others' mistakes before they impacted a play.
But, now, he feels that he doesn't have to as much with great communication coming from the backend of the team's defense.
"I think it's so important for the whole defense to know what everybody's doing. When you have trusted people behind you, it's really cool. I'm seeing the growth that we take as a whole defense and the growth that I'm taking as a player just playing my play," Oluokun said.
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"I remember Coach Caldwell called me an eraser way back in the day and sometimes that hurts you because you're trying to make sure everybody else is right. Obviously, I'm around the ball every play, but I can just trust my play, and if the ball gets funneled back to me, staying in my gap, then I feel like I can make even more splash plays," he added.
Oluokun has been one of the league's top linebackers since he earned a starting role in Atlanta ahead of the 2020 season, his first as a full-time starter. Since then, he's continued that trajectory, leading the NFL in tackles twice, leading in solo tackles twice as well.
Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun (23) stretches during an NFL training camp second session at the Miller Electric Center, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]
In his career, Oluokun has totaled 927 tackles (571 solos), 38 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, 10 forced fumbles, 29 pass breakups and seven interceptions.
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The Jaguars have struggled particularly in the backend of the defense for years. This year, the franchise signed veteran safety Eric Murray and brought in two other safeties via the NFL Draft ( Caleb Ransaw and Rayuan Lane III ). The team's also being led by a new defensive coordinator in Anthony Campanile.
Oluokun was asked about Campanile's defense and specifically if he feels he's back to his natural position at middle linebacker and the responsibilities that come with it. He said he's willing to do whatever the coaches need, but he enjoys where he's at right now.
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"I like what I'm doing right now. It's all about being in the right spot, trusting the defense, trusting my guys around me. I feel good where I'm at," he said.
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Oluokun said the entire defense understanding what everyone else is doing is a change from previous years, too, something that can help with communication from all levels of defense.
"It's from everybody knowing what everybody is supposed to do. That's echoed across the whole defense. Sometimes, the safety will come to me and say, 'This guy, I thought he went out, but he ended up going vertical. So you're supposed to have this on this play.' Maybe two years ago, a safety might not know that, what I'm supposed to do on the whole backside of a play," Oluokun explained.
"Now I know exactly what everybody's supposed to do, and it helps you be in the right spot because I can trust that he knows he's going to be in the right spot, too."
Foye Oluokun unbothered by NFL Top 100 snub
Oluokun didn't have a good season last year, nor did the team. But, for the veteran linebacker, missing four games and playing with a foot injury throughout the year, he didn't live up to his expectations.
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It was not a surprise to him that he missed out on being in the top 100, but he believes that'll happen again sometime in the future.
"No. We had a bad year last year. I can't lie to you. Sometimes I feel like people are gifted the Top 100 because of who they are, and I've never been one of those guys to have been fortunate to have been high drafted or in a high market with a high win percentage," Oluokun explained.
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: Foyesade Oluokun #23 of the Jacksonville Jaguars on the field with an injury during the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on September 23, 2024 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
"Obviously, we made the playoffs one year and I led the league in tackles a whole bunch, but I did not make the list. I just add that as fuel to the fire, but unfortunately, last year, injuries and I didn't play to my potential. It's a blessing every time. It's a blessing. I want to make it, I want to be the best out there and I work to be the best out there, but if I don't do it, then shoot that's what it is."
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Oluokun continues to work on earning respect around the league by just being himself, but understands the team must have success for that respect to be granted.
"They're going to reward me when I earn it. They're not going to gift it to me and I never had that in my career," he said finally.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars' Foye Oluokun calls out 2024 team mentality
