Courtesy NY Jets PR DepartmentÂ
I’m just excited to be a New York Jet. They’re a great team. I want to say thank you to the owner, (Woody) Johnson, the general manager (Mike) Tannenbaum and Eric Mangini for drafting me.Â
On if he knew the Jets would trade up for him…
I had no idea. I’m just thankful to have the opportunity. I’m thankful to come in and compete for the team. I’m grateful.
On the opportunity to play along side Jonathan Vilma…
On the 3-4 defense…
The defense changes from week-to-week depending on what you want to do that week and the opponent. I played a 3-4 my sophomore year here at Michigan.
On playing inside linebacker…
Everybody has different concepts and it varies from week-to-week and some of the new game plans. You never know.Â
On Victor Hobson…
He was a fifth-year senior my redshirt year. He’s a great player. He’s a leader and I talked to him a lot about when I was training in New Jersey and I can’t wait to get started.Â
On Linebackers’ Coach Jim Herrmann…
I have a great relationship with him. He was my D-coordinator at Michigan all four years and he’s always been a great person to talk to, a great coach.Â
On meeting with the Jets…
I met them down at the combine.Â
On who he spoke with there…
I spoke to almost everybody on their staff.Â
On his strengths as a player….
I think I’m a well-rounded person, a well-rounded athlete. I will try to come in, work on myself overall with everything and try to compete on the NFL level.Â
On knowing if the Jets would pick him…
You never know at the draft if an NFL team will call you and I’m thankful that the New York Jets called me.Â
On talk that teams were considering him late in the first round…
You can’t listen to what they say. Hopefully they like the way you play and you can help contribute and you can help them win. The Jets gave me the opportunity.Â