DENVER — Sai'vion Jones says Denver feels like home — and he's ready to make his mark on the Broncos' defensive line.

"This feels like home," Jones said.

Jones describes himself as naturally reserved, but says that changes once he gets comfortable around people.

"I'm always a quiet person, but once I know everybody man I'm outgoing. I like to talk, I like to make jokes," Jones said.

To sharpen both his voice and his game, Jones studied under one of the Broncos' more outspoken players — John Franklin-Myers — absorbing lessons that went beyond football.

"That was my dog. His favorite is 'the standard is the standard.' So you can do all this other stuff, but at the end of the day we set a standard and we gotta uphold that standard," Jones said.

Their relationship was built on an unusual foundation. Jones was drafted to replace his mentor — yet Franklin-Myers embraced it.

"I feel like you don't get many vets that say 'take my job, I want you to go for it,'" Jones said.

When asked whether it was awkward to have someone of Franklin-Myers' caliber welcome the idea of being replaced, Jones said it felt like something else entirely.

"Not awkward, I think it's more like an honor. He sees something that I don't even see yet. He knows I have the ability to become better than him," Jones said.

Now with Franklin-Myers in Tennessee, Jones says the responsibility falls on the entire defensive line — not just one player.

"Nobody can replace JFM. JFM is JFM. All of us as a D-line we can replace him and be able to be better than him," Jones said.

Jones says the unit is motivated heading into the season.

"Man, we hungry. Everybody on that d-line got that dog in him. Say you know Roach he can bring it out every day. Me, it takes me to get going to bring the dog out. But what I realize is when we do bring it out, it goes," Jones said.

Off the field, Jones has an unexpected passion — bearded dragons. He received his first as a birthday gift at 17 and has been hooked ever since.

"Just having them for some years having them sit on my shoulder and stuff like that it's like a companion that don't go nowhere. That's when I started to fall in love with bearded dragons," Jones said.

The reptiles taught him more than he expected.

"It's a reptile so it's not like a cat where you can let it just sit around, you gotta have the right amount of light, it can't eat the same food every day. It's like having responsibilities and it's gotta be the same time because you can't switch his schedule up, that won't work with his diet," Jones said.

His bearded dragon, Coco, lives back home in Louisiana — but Jones sees a reflection of himself in the animal.

"He's really laid back but when it's time for him to eat live food he hunts," Jones said.

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