Albert Regis is still getting his footing in the NFL, but one thing already seems settled: his daughter had the Jaguars figured out before anyone else.
Nine-month-old Akari was given a simple family test in LaPorte, Texas, on the morning of Day 2 of the NFL draft on April 24. Four styrofoam cups sat on the floor, each marked with an NFL team logo.
Regis had lined them up with the clubs he thought might call his name. Akari crawled straight to the Jacksonville Jaguars cup, passing over Kansas City, Baltimore and Miami.
A few hours later, the call came. Jaguars coach Liam Coen was on the other end of a 904 number, telling the Texas A&M defensive lineman he had been taken in the third round with the 81st overall pick.
“That was all a blur,” Regis said after the Jaguars practiced Aug. 17 at the Miller Electric Center. “I don't remember the phone call.
I just remember seeing the '904' and underneath it said 'Jacksonville, Florida.' The phone rang, and everyone looked at me and I picked it up.
I've never heard the house go so quiet.”
Regis said the cup game was more than one lucky guess. He first had Akari choose between the AFC and NFC divisions, and she picked the AFC South. Then he put her in front of the team cups twice, and both times she landed on the Jaguars.
The rookie has already shown flashes on the field, too. In Jacksonville’s 24-20 preseason win over the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 15 in New Orleans, Regis came through with a sack in the third quarter that helped swing the game.
On the play, Saints quarterback Zach Wilson had moved the ball to a first down at the Jaguars’ 37 when Regis broke through and dropped him for a 14-yard loss. New Orleans settled for a long Charlie Smyth field goal attempt, and the kick missed. Jacksonville later scored 10 points on its next two possessions and held the lead the rest of the way.
Regis said the moment came at him fast.
“When a play's happening, your eyes always get big … just naturally wants to see everything,” he said. “As I go through, it was just me, the turf and the quarterback. I swear, I didn't have eyelids the whole time.”
He downplayed the play as nothing flashy.
“Wasn't really SportsCenter Top 10,” he said. “It was a normal move but it was a good feeling … it was a great feeling.”
That kind of production is exactly what Jacksonville is hoping to see from a young interior lineman learning the ropes. Coen said Regis and the rest of the rookie defensive line group have been making progress, but he made clear how steep the climb is for a first-year player inside.
“It’s a work in progress for any of these young guys,” Coen said last week. “I think [defensive line], especially [interior defensive line], is one of the most difficult positions in the NFL to play young, to play early.
You're 23 years old playing against a lot of grown men … [offensive] O-linemen are typically smart, savvy, tough, strong, those things. And so, you can get exposed a little bit in there, not just because of getting moved, but little details of technique and fundamentals that I think takes time.”
Regis is backing that up with his own view of the league. He said the speed and precision of the NFL have been the biggest adjustment.
“I think just the intensity and how intentional everything is,” he said. “That's something that I know now that I didn't know on my first day of training.”
At 6-foot-1 and 317 pounds, though, he said the physical part has never been the issue.
“I know that for a fact,” he said. “I can't remember when, but like it kind of just hit me … 'oh yeah, I can I can hang with them.'
I can do this. It just all clicked; it all clicked one day.
Since then, I haven't looked back.”
Family is the through line in all of it. Regis grew up with parents who immigrated from St.
Lucia, and he said faith, family and hard work were central lessons in the home. His father and brother were accomplished soccer players, and those roots stuck with him.
His path to Texas A&M wasn’t straightforward either. He originally committed to Minnesota before deciding to stay in Texas, where he also had offers from Illinois, SMU, Tennessee, Texas Tech and TCU.
It was in College Station that he met Kaley, the woman who would become his wife, in 2022. He made his intentions clear from the start.
“I told her first time we talked I was going to marry,” he said. “I knew what my intentions were, and I let her know it. God worked everything else out, and I loved it.”
Akari arrived on June 12, 2025, while Regis was still at Texas A&M, where he started all 13 games last year. He carried her onto Kyle Field on Senior Day, and she was there with his wife when he impressed scouts at the Aggies’ Pro Day and the NFL Combine.
After Jaguars practices, Regis joins the rest of the team on the field with family, including Akari and his wife. One of the easiest smiles in camp comes when the big defensive lineman tosses his daughter in the air.
“She’s got no fear,” he said.
Regis said his bigger mission has always been tied to the example he sets at home.
“Show your daughters the type of man they need to marry,” he said. “Even when they're young, lead by example. Lead in the right way through the Lord.”
For now, the rookie’s getting used to life in Jacksonville. But between the sack, the draft-day call and the daughter who picked the right team, the story already feels like it’s got a head start.
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