Quote:VRENTAS: Have you and Blake Bortles gotten started yet on building your relationship?

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">THOMAS: I got to meet him this past weekend. We went out and ran a couple routes. It’s exciting, that first time you get to work out with your new quarterback. We’ve got a couple thousand more reps to go, but I’m really looking forward to that chemistry and growing with that entire offense. Bringing in all the experiences I’ve had and sharing them, and taking [offensive coordinator Greg Olson’s] coaching out there to the field, and doing what I can to help us be a successful offense.

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">VRENTAS: Where did you and Bortles meet up?

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">BORTLES: Down here in southern California. When I signed, I called him and I told him I was very excited about working with him and looking forward to meeting him, and he actually told me he was down in southern California. We went out there with some other guys and threw the pigskin around for the first time.

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">VRENTAS: First impressions of the way he throws?

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">THOMAS: He can throw it. He’s got a strong arm, that’s for sure. The rest of it is him learning the way I run, and me trying to do my best to be available for him.

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">VRENTAS: Are you out to prove you can have the same production without Peyton Manning throwing you the ball?

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">THOMAS: I think I’ve got to be a little bit cautious on trying to prove so much. I think I’ve just got to go out there and work my hardest, and do everything I can to win every route, and see what happens. I don’t want to set a goal of “I gotta have these numbers.” I’m just going to work my hardest every day, do everything I can to become a better player, and do everything I can to help out my team and this offense.

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">VRENTAS: The Jaguars also have a 10-year veteran tight end, Marcedes Lewis, who has started for the team since 2006. How do you think the two of you will work together at the same position?

<p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:15px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">THOMAS: I don’t think we’ll have any problem playing together. I was actually talking to him this weekend. I ran into him; we both live in L.A. He’s a really good guy. I’ve met him a couple times before. We both have the same marketing company, so we know the same people, and people that I respect speak very highly of him. I think we complement each other very well. There are going to be things that he can teach me, and I can learn from him.