It’s been a fun couple of weeks for me. Last Friday I got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Petco Park. I was a little nervous, but I got to warm up a little with Padres outfielder Will Venable before the big moment. I got loose and delivered a strike. I stayed for the game and had a lot of Chargers fans introduce themselves. Everybody had nice things to say to me and I appreciated the kind words from the fans.
We wrapped up Offseason Coaching Sessions last week and things went really well for me. I think it was real beneficial for me in a sense that I gained a real comfort level with the team and with the scheme of the defense. I feel a lot more confident as we head into training camp because of the base I’ve developed for myself.
I stayed in San Diego this week and worked out with my teammates. I’ve also been able to see some more of the city and I’m still working on doing the little things to get settled in, like finding a place. I’ve looked at a few I liked, but for now I’m still with my teammates at the hotel, which is cool.
On Saturday, I’ll join the seven other Chargers draft picks on a cross-country flight to Palm Beach, Florida for the rookie symposium. I’m sure we’re going to learn a lot about life in the NFL and it will be a beneficial few days. Every draft pick from around the NFL will be at the symposium, and it will be good to see some guys that I became friends with leading up to the draft. Robert Ayers from the Broncos and Kyle Moore from the Buccaneers are a couple guys I got to know really well through the Combine and workouts and things like that, so I’m looking forward to catching up with them.
After the symposium, I’ve got a couple weeks of downtime. The weekend of the Fourth of July, there’s an event in Las Vegas for a lot of the rookies and I’m going to head out there. Other than that, I’ll be in Chicago working out, spending time with family and getting ready for training camp.
My mindset right now is really using the time we have off to continue to get better. I think it’s important to get a little bit of a break, but you also have to make sure you’re ready for training camp. While I’m home, I’ll be watching film, studying the playbook and doing a little extra training. It’ll be here before we know. The break will be nice, but I can’t wait for camp to get here.
