It's not complicated for Jonas Sanker, though it'd be understandable if that was the case for the New Orleans Saints rookie safety, who's preparing to make the sixth start of his NFL career Sunday.
There's family, there's ball, and that's pretty much it.
He'll sprinkle in some video games and dip a toe into being a presence on social media, though the latter mostly is just dabbling as he warms to the possible benefits that may be connected. But the quiet route is the one taken by Sanker, the second of two third-round picks by the Saints this year.
"When I have a lot of time I do like to travel," he said. Domestic travel, mostly. He has family in Germany and his first name is a homage to those roots; his mother is German, and her side of the family lives in Germany. But with six siblings — two older brothers, three younger brothers and a younger sister — his travel mostly occurs in conjunction with their schedules.
"I like to go see my family — I have a big family," said Sanker, whose two older brothers played college football, and whose younger brother is currently playing college ball. "I think those always turned into — not hobbies, but little events. Whether one of them has a sporting event — or my youngest brother plays the piano, so there were times we would go to his piano recital. I think being present is not a hobby at all, but it takes time so it's something that I'll commit my time to."
His Sunday commitments belong to the Saints (1-5), who face the Bears (3-2) at Soldier Field in Chicago and hope to win their second game in three weeks. Sanker elevated to starter following Julian Blackmon's season-ending shoulder surgery after the season opener, and is doing the right things to stay there.
After totaling eight tackles against San Francisco in his first start, he had three against Seattle in a game that largely was forgettable for the Saints, then popped the next two games. On consecutive plays against Buffalo, he ranged to the left sideline to break up a pass, then ranged to the right sideline to snag his first career interception, against Bills quarterback Josh Allen, last season's NFL Most Valuable Player. Sanker had five tackles and three pass breakups in the 31-19 loss.
"That's really cool, for sure," Sanker said. "In the moment I wasn't even really thinking about it like that, but looking back, that's pretty cool to pick off such a great quarterback like him."
A week later against the Giants he had seven tackles, but his second-quarter fumble recovery and 27-yard return led to a field goal that ended the half and gave New Orleans a 16-14 lead. Sanker and the defense pitched a second-half shutout in the 26-14 victory.
It was an impressive flurry of activity, but Sanker seemingly always has been around the football. After playing sparingly in nine games as a freshman at Virginia he finished with two interceptions, 17 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown), two sacks, 13 tackles for loss and 273 tackles in his final 34 games.
"I think it's a feel," said Sanker, who totaled five tackles, with a tackle for loss, in Sunday's 25-19 loss to New England. "I think it's also just kind of trusting and believing what you're doing, and really being bought in to the scheme and the coaching, the system in place.
"Also, at the end of the day, it comes down to just going out there and making it, being confident."
The confidence properly is rooted because Sanker's NFL career somewhat mirrored his career at Virginia.
"I think just understanding how good the NFL is, how many good players there are," he said. "So, coming in as a rookie, with that mentality of learning and trying to grow, understanding that you're competing with all the other best football players in the world, you have to really understand that and buy into it.
"Whether your shot is your first year, your second year, third year, you kind of just have to capitalize on that opportunity. I feel like that's the biggest thing in the NFL: Capitalizing when you do get the chance.
"You make that transition from high school to college. Things didn't happen fast for me coming into college right away. I was able to play some during my freshman year, but it wasn't as a starter. Just understanding it's that same process again, you're just starting over."
And, like then, Sanker has chosen to keep things minimalist, rather than overexpose.
"Understand that anything that gets in the way of your goals or anything that gets in the way of what you want to achieve, you've got to find ways to eliminate and simplify your life," he said. "My coaches have kind of told me that my whole life. I think that's one thing that has stuck to me, been important to me."
