Jordan Matthews talks position change

Shalom shom you've been in a lot of training camps you worked with a lot of different head coaches um what sticks out to you about Dave and his message to the team and the rhythm of training camp under yeah you know Dave always comes in with very positive energy um that I think exudes throughout the locker room um he's told us from the very beginning guys this team's going to go as far is you guys want to take it and he's completely right you know I love the fact that Dave is always telling the truth you know I've heard a couple of his interviews with you guys he doesn't sugar coat stuff he tells the truth he's the same way with us in the building um so you know you like being around a guy who's um whole who's the same around you and when he's not around you and I think a lot of the guys respect that and it makes you want to win for a guy like that so you know um I mean he I played for some really really good coaches I mean I literally was just at the Niners with Shanah and you know he was very similar he says the how it is I think all players respect coaches who are willing to just go ahead and say the truth so that way we know how to go forward so yeah I I really have been enjoying this Camp under Dave um you know he's he's doing everything that you would expect you know a head coach to do to get his team ready you've also worked with you know Kyle and Doug Peterson who were basically the head coach the play caller and in some ways the quarterback's coach that's a lot to take on motivator yeah exactly that's a lot to take on how has he done so far in being able to manage all those jobs from a player's hands I mean I think he's done an amazing job you know um you know and I'm I'm just excited to continue to um just go through camp with him um you know being in the game and being in the Huddle now we're getting into more play call periods instead of it just being scripted so I love hearing what um you know Dave and with Brad are cooking up back there to continue to attack the defense so look I'm just going out there every day and trying to figure out all right you know how can I fit into this thing best as possible but at the same time man I think obviously Dave's doing an amazing job so I'm just really glad to be able to play for him you you're practiced like 30 minutes before basically everyone what what are you getting out of that those early reps before practice yeah um you know I tell people all the time cuz like some of the guys see me leaving I'm like ain't nothing left for me in this locker room everything that everything that God got for me on this grass you know um and I have meaningful conversations with a lot of the guys I mean sheo probably more than anybody I love connecting with all of my teammates getting to know them getting to know their families but uh we can do that after practice um it's time to go and I I got kids to pay pay for private school for you know so playing buay and all that playing ping pong that don't do nothing for me um I need to get out here get my body going get my mind right because um you know um you know I love this game and you got to respect it and second you don't you'll be done with it so was that always your approach or was there a pivotal moment for you where you made that no that's always been the way I've been you know I think there's tweaks to you know um how I approach the game I think when I was younger it was always just go go go now there's more of a recovery aspect to it with the with the age but at the same time I've always felt like you had to put the time in um I was fortunate enough to have a parents that both um show me what work ethic looked like um my dad was always up in the morning you know shirt tie ready to go to work and um and even my mom my mom's a computer engineer she worked work for NASA work for the Department of Defense and she came up in a time when you know they wouldn't even let her wear her natural hair to work she had to get it stength so I'm like Mom you get up you work out you do your hair you get dressed and you go to and you get food on the table for us so I saw parents that put the work in and put the time in and so I feel like that's my responsibility now as a father and as a husband to do that for my family so I take a lot of pride in getting a having the ability to go do what I love to do um especially for an organization like this so I just think there's a there's respect level you got to have when you have the opportunity you got to give that back what did your mom do with n she was a computer engineer and I'm not smart enough to answer the rest of that question okay you know you you almost got me but um no both actually heard so I'm from hunbille Alabama where the the US Space and Rocket Center is and also a rest on Arsenal is so my dad also works for the Department of Defense um so like I said they do stuff that's way over my head but um at the same time I could I pieced enough together to know that they they weren't leaving home just to go you know play around they was getting stuff done so good did she know the ladies from hidden figures you know you know what's funny is she did not but my mom's very similar to those like so you can ask my mom like hey what's 56 time 40 and she'll be like she'll give you the number like she's just a genius my brother's an engineer too so like my whole family smart and I I'm getting my head crashed in but you know um but I got the Vanderbilt so people think I'm smart at least so it was good it worked out Jordan uh this transition to tight end's been mostly behind the scenes over the last few years um when you came in the league you were number one wide receiver getting a lot of targets not playing special teams what how have you grown as a blocker as a tight end as a special teams player behind the scenes with San Francisco with Carolina that's a great question um you know I think when I was a receiver I'd played that position since I was a kid so so much of it was natural like I said I did put the work in I always wanted to be great at what I did but at the same time there's a monotony in doing something over a long period of time that you're not you think you're intentional but you do let something slip through the cracks when I actually called K and nobody no coach made me change the tight end um I called Kyle Shanahan because my last couple years with them I was doing a lot more blocking I was doing a lot more things that I felt fit the tight end position there as opposed to the receivers because they were switching more like jet sweeps and you know stuff they do do with dball and IU that positional stuff and I was like I feel like I'm doing more stuff that Kyle Juck is doing stuff that KD's doing and so on when I call and asked him you know what he thought about me switching he was like look I love you running against safeties and nickels so let's do it um the thing that he told me though was he was like if we're going to take you seriously though you have to get to at least 235 pounds and at that time I was like 215 and he said if you can get there by July 4th um we'll give you a shot this was like 20 2020 21 and he and I was like okay July 4th what day it was May 30th so he gave he gave me a month to gain 20 pounds and I knew he still wanted me to be able to run the same way I could run he wanted me to be a receiving tight end but um what it did was um it forced me to go to another level of preparation I could just wake up and be a receiver but to put on 20 pounds not lose weight not gain five% body fat and still be able to play football at a high level was tough I never used to think about what I just ate that much but at that point I got a chef I was eating at 5:30 um 8:30 11:30 2:30 5:30 and 8:30 10 ounces of grains 4 ounces of protein couple veggies I I ate so many freaking digestive enzymes and make your head spin to get food down um and then protein shakes mixed in after workouts I never had to put that much time into a process before playing receiver it was just what do I do on the field that process it didn't Escape me at all times like what's my weight like you know how's my body feel what's my inflammation like so it just took me to another level of the grind but I realized at that point like I really do love this I really do love it and this is what I've always wanted to do and um it just continued to push me playing special teams that's just part of the game I don't look at football as a um it's not segmented anymore you know it's not like oh I only get excited on third down because I know I'm about to get the ball I only get excited in the Red Zone about score a touchdown tight end position first second third fourth as a special teamer it's a holistic game and a holistic approach that I look at football now and I think that's also been cool about this whole growth so I've really enjoyed it um I kind of wish I would have probably done even sooner man because I think I'm a better man because of the tight end position so i' I've really like I really liked it a lot I should say was there ever like a l SP I mean was there a concern that to be switching positions that late in your career was there ever a worry like this might not work out no there there was never really a worry I I will say one um you know I I've never taken that like fear approach I've always said if you like go after something like super like like with all intentionality you're probably going to end up if you don't hit that you'll be successful in something else you know I think people always like you know what if football never worked out I worked so hard at football I would like I probably became a coach because I would have learned enough to be good as something else um and also too just to be honest at that point the 49ers was the only team I've been with the last four years years there were a couple LS in there where I wasn't with the ners and nobody would call until until Kyle called again and so it's like well are you afraid to go to tight end because you might it's like ain't nobody else calling so I'll go to tight end I put some weight on and then the phone started ringing Jets called me to work me out Colts called me Falcons um and then obviously the Niners brought me back I was able to do enough good things on film and then um obviously Carolina finally made that call which has been amazing so I I never really worried about that um like I said I don't I don't go at life with that fear mindset you you just got to go you got to go you got to trust it and usually good stuff will happen if you're doing it the right way got I know you get I call himun M horn because that's how much he worth man he's he's a beast and um I've been around some really high level Corners um and I mean I'm obviously studied them going against I went against D revas my second year so I know what I'm talking about when I look at him and he he reminds me a lot of Ramsey long extremely athletic um very smart too um competitive as all get out team periods I mean he's like he's trying to shut down half the field so um I'm excited for him I'm always trying to just you know Speak Life over him because I know he's had a rough couple years with things that are totally out of his control so I'm just praying for health over him so that he can go out here and show people he can really do but he's I mean obviously he's a phenomenal quarterback athlete what have you seen from Bryce and his growth heading into the second season yeah I've seen a ton I think uh this staff has done a great job of just instilling that much more confidence in him um Bryce has always been talented you know he's always been able to make the throws he's a great leader um Dave actually in one of his first meetings talked about he used the word covering he and and I've never heard a coach use that word before but he talked about how the even the staff he assembled from Scott to Brad he's got a lot on his plate and so he got people that he felt like could cover him and what that means is like those people in still confidence in you but they also keep all the other stuff out so I've seen enough good stuff from Bryce to let me know that what what he needs is we got to cover him okay like from the receivers to the o line to the running backs that's protection pass game in the media where we say we've got to cover that young man because he's got a lot on his shoulders but Godly he's a winner I mean you don't you don't just wake up one day and win a Heisman you know I took it all the time you you see somebody at top of a mountain they a get dropped off there all right it climbed that so he's extremely he's he's really good and I've seen enough things from like I said I was I was with uh 13 and S Fran back when he was the running with the threes and I was calling M like hey this guy's kind of nice and obviously you know look what he's been able to do um but he's got some covering and we've got to be able to do that for him and I'm excited to be a part of that however way way whichever way I can be so yeah all right [Music]