While we're still about two months from BC training camp, we've got a few guys to follow just starting their NFL careers with some pretty high expectations attached to them.
One of those guys is Elijah Jones, who went 90th overall in the NFL Draft. We heard the Cardinals DC praising the rookie's length, speed, size and athleticism a couple weeks ago, but how is Jones adjusting to NFL life early on?
Here's what he said in a recent press conference (I left out the 3:00 of music talk at the end, classic weak market media)...
On if the first day of rookie minicamp felt like real football
"Yeah. I mean, honestly I'm just happy to be back out here and like, actually do football stuff. No more just 40's and 5-10-5 training. So, it''s good to be back out here. Great weather, you know, I went to school in Boston from New York, so it's just nice to be in some sun, no clouds in the sky, just back playing football."
On if he'll be able to handle it when it reaches 105 degrees
"Yeah. I'll take 105 over five."
On if he feels he's asked enough questions early on
"Yeah. To be able to have a defensive guy, specifically a defensive back guy as like a head coach, is just a blessing. I was able to have that with Coach Hafley. Just being able to pick (John Gannon's) brain and even being with him during our indy period sometimes, he just comes over and gives you little nuggets. That's just great to have. He's your No. 1 resource to be able to have that person that knows your position very well is just really good."
On where he gets his recall ability from
"Just understanding situationally...I feel like there's a lot of times where there's three or four plays in a game that could really change the outcome of situations. Understanding those moments and understanding how to be able to fix those mistakes because they're gonna end up coming up later in the season. A lot of teams try to attack the things you messed up on, so just own those and be able to get those down, just correct simple mistakes."
On competing with a lot of other young DB's in Arizona
"It's cool. I feel like the ability to be able to grow together has also been really good. I think just in general there's a lot of young DB's on this team and to be able to have that chemistry and be able to grow together is really big. It's not just gonna be a one year thing. I'm a rookie, but we're all two, three years in, so just to be able to get that experience together and understand each other and build that chemistry is going to be something exciting to see."
On if things in Arizona are similar to what BC ran
"Yeah, pretty smooth transition over. Coach Gannon and Coach Hafley know each other pretty well I think, I believe they coached together. I think it was in Seattle. Just being able to have that kind of simple transition and a lot of overlap, even just with certain things schematically that we ran verbatim in college. So, it's nice to not have a crazy learning curve. I feel like the easier it is to learn things then the faster you can play."
On if it's more important to have confidence or the ability to forget about a bad play
"They're both important, but I'll say forget about the last play. Memory of a goldfish is huge because if you get too high in your highs, even if I catch a pick one drive, come back out there and I'm still high on the pick, I give up a touchdown , no one cares about the pick I just caught. You beat me? Ok, line up and do it again. Every play...it doesn't matter. Every play is a one-on-one play that you gotta win. You can't just get too stuck on good plays."
On how much is upbringing influenced where he is now
"Just, everything man. Growing up in New York No. 1 was just huge. You talk about that confidence and that kind of swagger that comes with it, I feel lie you automatically have a chip on your shoulder growing up there. People say 'there's no football in New York City,' and stuff like that. Just being able to have that and carry it all the way through. My parents...my brother played basketball at the D1 level. My dad played basketball, my mom was like, a model, so those kind of things just came around where it was always just competitive. I'm the youngest of three brothers, so everything was literally just me following their footsteps, losing every battle I could until I was finally big enough to fight my own. It was just great to be able to apply that all the way through my life."
On facing Marvin Harrison Jr. in practice every day
"Yeah, I'm excited. I've seen tape, but just to be able to experience it first hand, and also Teshaun Palmer is a really good player. I was able to be with him at the Hula Bowl and just be able to see what he was able to do, I think he's going to surprise a lot of people as well."
On how he started playing football
"I played one year just kind of randomly just wanting to get into football. I was like a nose guard and a center. So, you have to play those four-play-minimum kids with the youth teams and I'd go in randomly on kickoff or punt or whatever. I was at the park one day playing - everyone calls it something different - 'Kill the Man,' 'Kill the Carrier,' and no one was really able to tackle me. I had an older brother who was playing basketball and everyone was kind of like 'oh, that's Moose's little brother,' so I wanted to be able to create my own lane and identity. From then, I played probably since fifth grade and was just kind of able to carry that through, I was a little tempermental, angry kid so to be able to take that out there and knock some heads was cool."
On if he ever considered playing basketball instead
"I didn't want to be little brother in this. But, I credit him with a lot. Even though he never tried to push that on me. Even my dad, like, yeah I hooped through high school, but I kind of always knew for myself that football was the rout I wanted to go. I played wideout in high school, corner a little bit. But, I knew once I started to get into being a DB, it's harder to find a DB like me than it is to be a receiver. So, there's a dime-a-dozen guards in New York...that's the mecca. So, to be able to go out there and play basketball at a high level is going to make it way harder to be seen I feel like than playing football."
