Jarvis Landry has quickly become a receiving threat for the Miami Dolphins. During his rookie season, the LSU product racked up 84 receptions and 5 touchdowns, making opposing defenses take note of his sure hands across the middle.

Landry is expected to play a major role in the rejuvenated Dolphins offense this coming season, as a threat on both the inside and outside. We caught up with Landry to see how he’s preparing for his sophomore season in the NFL.

STACK: How’s your off-season going?

Jarvis Landry: We just finished up with OTAs last week. It was exciting to finally get back to football. I had a lot of time off and enjoyed it, but it was good to get back and be around the guys. Now we have another break before we wrap it up for camp in late July.

STACK: What are your expectations for this season?

JL: I hate to be a guy who strives for numbers. I just want to put as many W’s in the win column as possible, and have more wins than losses this year. We are trying to make some noise coming in the AFC East, having the opportunity to compete against some of the league’s best. I love the competition and being able to face New England, the Jets or the Bills defenses. You have the opportunity to really make a name for yourself.

STACK: It seems like you’re a competitive guy. Does this fuel your work ethic? 

JL: I love everything about competition. I believe the more I work, the more I can elevate my game. The competition makes me have to always do something different to improve, because they are going to catch on to me eventually. It’s one thing I really love about the game and why I enjoy playing. It’s the competition, it’s the grind and everything leading up to those times when you can celebrate. But it’s the things that come before it that I’m really excited about.

STACK: You had a great season last year. How do you plan to build on that?

JL: I need to continue to be consistent and make the plays I always make day in and day out—especially as my role expands this year, which it has based on OTAs. It’s all about being able to make plays when I’m counted on. When there are plays dialed up for me to get separation, I need to take advantage of the opportunity. 

STACK: How are you training this off-season to help you evolve as a wide receiver?

JL: I’m working on a lot of things, but mostly speed. I recently started doing Pilates, which made my body feel way better. It’s improving things that might not have been perfect before, like glute activation. That, along with the work I’ve done here in Fort Lauderdale at Pete Bommarito’s facility, has helped me attain a new level of speed and explosiveness at OTA’s, which was recognized by my coaches and teammates.

STACK: Tell us more about how Pilates has helped your game.

JL: I do an hour-and-a-half session. It hurts when you’re in it, but I always feel good that next week. The entire session is mostly core work. It allows me to have access to all my strength and speed while running or trying to do certain things on the field, which I always didn’t have because I was compensating on one side of my body. It helped get me aligned and allowed me to be as explosive as possible.

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STACK: How does Pilates fit in with your traditional strength and speed workouts?

JL: I’m doing Pilates once a week on an off day. I usually train on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Thursdays and Fridays. I’ll do Pilates on Wednesday, a pool workout on Saturday and relax on Sunday. My Pilates sessions usually start with a chiropractor coming in to check on me. He’ll give his analysis to my Pilates instructor, Miss Jackie. She’ll work to strengthen the issue or work around it if she has to.

STACK: Pilates seems to be growing in popularity in football, especially with skill position players. What’s the reason behind that? 

JL: I recently talked to Chris Chambers, who’s a former Dolphins receiver, and I told him I was doing Pilates. He said, “I wish I would’ve taken advantage of that when I was playing. It probably would’ve allowed me to play for a couple more years.” He told me I was doing all the right stuff and was on the right track. A few other older guys in the league who’ve been around for a while told me about Pilates and got me into it. I was interested and started doing it to see how it made me feel. I kept going with it and it’s now one of the things I’m going to do for the rest of my career. 

STACK: What’s your nutrition like? Do you have any guilty pleasures?

JL: It’s one of those things that as a young man, you don’t take serious at first. But that changes when you get to the league and you see guys (who are) a pound overweight and get fined.  Now it’s definitely picked up and something I take seriously. I actually did this fish diet where I ate for a month and a half and leaned out. Now it’s kind of a steady diet for me now.

My guilty pleasure is ice cream. It’s hard to stay away. I used to eat ice cream in college every night and now I stopped eating dessert the last two years. I only eat dessert on my birthday because my mom makes me eat a piece of the cake. Counting all the times I go out to dinner, it’s tough. I have to walk away when desserts come out.

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STACK: Take us back to your high school days. What were you like as an athlete?

JL: I played around a lot of talented guys in high school. I was never the biggest, the fastest or the strongest. But I always had the work ethic, worked hard and never left nothing out there. I always believed somebody out there somewhere was working. When they called on me to be great, everything I did allowed me to be great. I prepared my body and mind, which has allowed me to succeed up to this point.

STACK: Were there any obstacles in high school you had to overcome?

JL: It’s easy to get off track in school and to not focus on anything but football. I wanted to make it to college and get into a big college. My obstacle most definitely was school, because I wanted to focus on football so much. But I was failing in school, and in my junior year I had all these offers, but had eligibility issues. It’s just one of those things I struggled with personally—trying to flip that switch on and off. I couldn’t watch game film all night. I had to do my homework. There are little things you forget about when your mind is so focused on getting to the next level.

STACK: What do you like to do off the field? 

JL: I’m really a family oriented guy. I try to stay away from the night scene and spend time with my family, niece and brother. He’s expecting another child, so it’s an exciting time for our family. That’s what I do most in my free time—find ways to get better but spend time with my family. I’m also really into music and fashion.