WESTFIELD, Ind. – JuJu Brents has three goals for the 2024 season: stay healthy, limit his mental errors and continue to establish himself as the best.
After a 2023 season in which he frequently battled injuries, Brents doubled down in the offseason to get healthy both mentally and physically. He is all too familiar with what it's like watching from the sidelines and is doing everything possible to avoid that feeling in his second year in the NFL.
"It's just a blessing to be out here, first and foremost," Brents said after the Colts' second training camp practice Saturday. "I feel great. Just been busting my ass just to be out here."
Brents was forced to sit out during the first half of training camp in 2023 – his first training camp in the NFL – due to a hamstring injury. He had already missed OTAs and offseason mini-camp due to a wrist injury, and the blows just kept coming. Brents missed the first two games of his rookie season and started Weeks 3-7 before sustaining a quad injury that kept him sidelined until Week 15. In the final game of the season, he exited with a hamstring injury.
But now, after an offseason full of hard work in every area of his life, Brents is back in fighting – and tackling – shape. According to general manager Chris Ballard, the cornerback underwent a small ankle procedure after OTAs, but Brents made it clear Saturday that he's not just feeling back to normal – he's feeling better.
"I feel great," Brents said. "And I would say the main thing is my mentality. I ain't got to come out here right now and think about doing this and that, now I can just allow my body to do it 'cause I've put that work in."
Brents made sure to work on everything he could during the offseason, from training properly, learning from his veteran teammates and keeping the proper mentality to simply making sure he's eating right – even if it comes at a cost.
"(I) can't have as much of Mom's home-cooked meals even though she's in the city," he said with a laugh. "So just making sure I'm watching all that and being intentional."
Brents is nothing if not intentional with everything he does. In the nine games (eight starts) he played in his rookie season, the second-round pick totaled five pass break-ups, one interception, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 43 tackles. At 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds, Brents' length and physicality made him an immediate impact player for the 496 snaps he played.
He was also as competitive as can be, and that's a trait that hasn't wavered during training camp. Brents isn't afraid to go up against guys like Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and Michael Pittman Jr. during training camp partly just because he wants to prove he can beat them, but also because he knows it only helps strengthen his own game.
"Iron sharpens iron," Brents said.
The versatility of the Colts offense translates directly into how the defense works and develops; as they compete against each other in training camp, they learn and adapt in ways – physical and mental – that carry over into the regular season.
"Being a defensive back is like mental warfare," Brents said. "You've got to know when to use this technique, when to get in your bag and switch it up."
Brents certainly has the chance to switch up his techniques when he's facing someone like Pittman on one play and someone like Downs on another, and he welcomes every opportunity. In fact, he really doesn't care who he's up against; he just cares that he has the skill and the ability to beat them.
That was his mentality in the offseason, that's his mentality during training camp and that will be his mentality during the season.
"I don't care who it is in front of me," Brents said. "(I want to) prove to myself I'm the best like I say I am."
