If you’re a casual college football fan, then your introduction to LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson very well may have come during the Peach Bowl on December 28, when the junior caught 14 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns in the Tigers’ 63-28 shellacking of the Oklahoma Sooners. It’s a crazy stat line, only made crazier when you remember all four touchdowns were in the first half.

Jefferson was a steady hand in the National Championship game as well, catching nine balls for 106 yards as he, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow, and America’s favorite head coach Ed Orgeron capped off an undefeated season with a 42-25 victory over the Clemson Tigers.

Now Jefferson is a week away from being selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, almost certainly in the first round. Of course, this year’s draft, which runs April 23 to April 25, won’t resemble prior years. Because of the coronavirus crisis, NFL general managers will be making their picks from their own homes, and incoming rookies like Jefferson will also be hunkered down. (For Jefferson, that’s with his family in St. Rose, Louisiana.) As a highly-ranked prospect, Jefferson was sent camera gear by the NFL that’ll capture the exact moment he finds out his pro destination.

In the meantime, Jefferson is mixing in receiving drills and whatever weight training he can, while also studying playbooks in order to ace phone interviews with NFL general managers and scouts. Below, Jefferson tells GQ more about this unusual draft prep, what Coach O is like in the weight room, and who would win a game of one-on-one between himself and his LSU teammate Burrow, the presumed top overall pick.

GQ: What’s the at-home draft-day outfit going to be?

Justin Jefferson: I don’t know yet. Still thinking about whether I want to be all classy, or if I want to lay back. It’ll be a last-minute decision, but I’ve got to figure out what to rock.

I imagine it’s been a busy few weeks for you. Can you walk me through an average day of late?

It’s been very weird. Everything has been all over the place. Nothing is really scheduled besides interviews. You go to sleep whenever you can and wake up whenever you wake up. I usually get a breakfast in with eggs and bacon and toast, because I’ve been trying to keep this weight on me. I tried to keep weight on at school too, but just with all the running we were doing, and the college schedule we have, I wasn’t able to maintain the weight that I wanted to. My parents are cooking for me, so for other meals, I’m having chicken on the grill, salmon, beans and rice, lots of protein.

I do an afternoon workout, and it’s chilling the rest of the day. I’m not as much a morning person, so if it’s on my time, I workout in the afternoons. I’ve been cleaning up the little things I need to improve on to be the versatile receiver the coaches want me to be. I’ve got a field near my house that I’ve been working out on with a couple of high school friends. It’s been a combination of football workouts and weight-room workouts. I want to keep this strength on me.

How are you staying mentally sharp, especially given all the draft interviews you have lined up?

I’m making sure I’m studying and looking over plays at night on my iPad when I’m laying down and chilling. As long as I’m doing that, I’m still being reminded of the formations and maintaining my football smarts. [The NFL general managers] definitely want to see if I’m a smart football player. Luckily we had similar concepts at LSU, so it’s been more so seeing what NFL teams call those concepts, and adjusting from there.

What hobbies are you keeping up to stay sane right now?

Video games! That’s the main thing that everyone’s doing right now. I’m playing them all—2K, Madden, Call of Duty. I’m best at 2K.

How does your exercise routine at home compare to when you were at LSU?

It’s a little bit different because at LSU, everything is more organized and there are more resources to choose from. At home, you don’t have all those resources. So I’ve been using what’s around me and also am being mindful about being safe and not being around too many people.

I’ve heard a whole bunch of stories about Coach O. What is he like in the weight room?

He’s lifting with us most of the time. He’s in the trenches with us. If you look over at what he’s doing, he’s breathing hard and sweating. If your head coach can do it, you can do it.

Did your day-to-day routine differ at all in the lead-up to the NFL Combine?

Yeah, everything had to change—the way you were eating, when you go to bed, all of that. At the combine, it’s a whole different schedule with a lot of meetings and other things that your body isn’t used to. That month was about working my body, eating right, and performing at the level that I needed to. I was eating baked meals and pasta. Lots of carbs. Also taking more vitamins and shakes for after workouts. You don’t have quite as much of that right now.

I was reading an ESPN profile about you and your brothers that mentioned a bunch of competitive backyard basketball games when y’all were growing up. I’ve seen Joe Burrow’s game too, and he looks pretty good. Who wins one on one, you or him?

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Me, I’m definitely winning. He might tell you otherwise, but I’ve been talking trash to him all the time. I’ve been asking him to play one-on-one for a while.

Sounds like he’s dodging you.

I think he is! I think he’s scared. He doesn’t want to lose.

What’s the final score if you go to 11?

He’s a good shooter, so I’ll give him seven points. Final score 11-7.

You’re a week away from the NFL Draft. How are your nerves right now? Have you been able to absorb this moment, especially given everything else going on right now?

I don’t think it’ll fully hit me until draft night. Taking all these meetings on the phone at home, I feel like that’s making the days go by faster. Everything has been a blur lately, but it’s exciting and I’m ready for the next experience, the next chapter.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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