Telvin Smith on Jaguars contract: 'I like to focus on football'

The Jacksonville Jaguars players reported on Monday to begin the team's offseason conditioning program and officially start the offseason. Some of the veteran defensive players met with the media on Tuesday afternoon, including linebacker Telvin Smith who is in the final year of his rookie contract.

Before there was even a question asked, Smith knew what was coming so he nipped it in the bud.

"On the contract questions, I'm going to say this to address the whole issue: I like to focus on football so when management decides what they want to do, they'll approach me and we'll go from there," Smith told reporters at EverBank Field on Tuesday, via Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union. "As a football player, I'm just here to help this team keep growing."

That stance shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's followed Telvin Smith in college at FSU and through his career so far in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. I would expect that the Jaguars do end up deciding to re-sign Smith, as he's definitely earned an extension with his play on the field.

With the changes at the top, bringing in Tom Coughlin as the VP of football operations, it's possible some of the assumed extensions get delayed a little bit as Coughlin makes his own decisions on the roster. Though, I'd be a little surprised if Smith wasn't locked up for the long term.