Mark Gilbert on Advice He Got From Darrelle Revis

The Blue Devils players are all doing offseason conditioning and strength training on their own, but cornerback Mark Gilbert said the team is talking regularly to make sure everyone is getting their work in.

“We just call each other on Face Time,” he told Duke’s All 22 podcast. “We all make sure we’re staying in touch, staying in shape, it can get easy to not do anything, so we’re kind of on each other to stay in shape.”

Gilbert is familiar with the importance of having people who can motivate. He’s missed most of the last two seasons recovering from multiple procedures on a hip injury. There were plenty of times during the rehab process when he needed encouragement to keep at it.

“Just my support system,” he said. “My family, everybody in my family, my close friends. They were behind me the whole way. Some days, I was down. Some days, I didn’t want to go to rehab. I had people around me to help me and keep pushing.”

The rehab helped toughen Gilbert, which is a crucial skill when playing a position like corner.

“Cornerback is, I believe, a 90 percent mental position,” he said. “You’ve got to be self-disciplined. You’ve got to be mentally tough. Like Darrelle (Revis) told me, ‘The guys across from you, the guys you play against, they’re on scholarship too. They play at the same level you play, on offense, for a reason. Sometimes, they’re going to catch a ball on you.’ Next-play mentality. You’ve got to have next-play mentality.”