Meet Jacksonville's Newest Resident, Tyler Eifert
It doesn’t seem that long ago that Tyler Eifert was being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. But when the free agent signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars this past March, the eighth-year tight end pulled up the roster for his new team and realized something very quickly.
“When I first got in the league and I looked up and saw people going into their seventh or eighth year, I looked at them like they were super old and never imagined actually being in that spot but time flies.
“When I signed [with Jacksonville] there wasn’t anyone that was going into their ninth year. There’s a couple of guys going into their eighth year which would make me among the oldest on the team. So kinda figured that out and I’ll take on that role.”
Since March, the Jags have also signed defensive tackle Al Woods who is entering his 11th year, making him the oldest on the team. But behind Woods, Eifert does join five others beginning their eighth season in the league. The only tight end since 2013 with more than 20 touchdowns (24) in less than 60 games has experience with Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden since the coach was Eifert’s OC his first year with the Bengals. That coupled with his veteran status (James O’Shaughnessy is going into his sixth year) means he’s going to be counted on to lead a young room.
"You learn a lot over the years and for me being familiar with this offense and understanding I’ve gone through all of the installs once a long time ago. So some of the nuances and how it’s taught, I kinda understand and then just a lot of the things I’ve learned over the years, I look forward to passing on to some of the younger guys and just helping them out.”
To this point, Eifert hasn’t been able to meet most of his teammates as they remained quarantined during COVID-19. Virtual team meetings, position group calls, and lots of mental reps through the playbook have had to suffice. Eifert credits quarterback Gardner Minshew II—going into his second year—for taking charge of the unusual offseason and preparing his team.
“He’s taking charge already. We’re doing some group stuff and trying to learn the offense. I haven’t watched a lot of tape on him but obviously I saw last year with the Mania going on. He seems like a guy that the offense wants to rally behind.
“He seems like he’s a, kinda a fearless leader and you need that when you’re on the field and the bullets are flying and things are going your way. You need that type of guy that’s gonna take charge of the huddle and be like ‘we got this’ and so yea, I think it’ll be fun to see he’s growth from year one to year two and excited to get to work with him."
He has however been able to become familiar with his new home. On lockdown with his family in Delray Beach, Eifert, his brother and his father drove the four hours to Jacksonville for his physical. Then in one of the more unceremonious monumental moments, Tyler Eifert signed a contract for his new team with absolutely no fanfare.
“I had went to a Fed Ex, printed it out, signed it and sent it back. So it was pretty painless.”
Before heading back though, there was one other thing he had to do to be introduced to his new hometown. After years of playing TPC on Tiger Woods golf video game, he wanted to play it in person.
“It was pretty cool to see that monstrous clubhouse and actually play some of the holes.”
When he got to the 17th hole, it became real.
“My adrenaline was racing, they still had the grandstands up, it was pretty cool.”
And then, “I hit it in the water over the green.”
There’s still much more for Eifert to learn about his new team and his new home. It’ll be a strange transition after being with one team for seven years. But if anything, that history will motivate him to establish the same bond in Jacksonville even quicker.
"When you’re with a team for that long you know every single person that works in the building from the equipment staff to the training staff to the people that work in the kitchen so along with all the players and the relationships that you build, so it’ll definitely be different and I’m excited to meet a lot of the people in the building and my teammates."
