[ad_1]
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — New Orleans Saints security Tyrann Mathieu wasn’t prepared to debate why he missed the primary week of coaching camp.
The essential factor, he stated Thursday, was that he’s again with the crew and feeling good about it.
“I’m sure at some point I’ll be more transparent about the first six days of practice,” Mathieu stated after his second follow since reporting for coaching camp earlier this week.
“But just more important, I’m happy to be back around the guys. I’m feeling good. I’m in great spirits, really healthy. So everything that’s important is going good.”
The 30-year-old, nine-year NFL veteran agreed to a three-year, $33 million free-agent contract with the Saints in early May. But shortly earlier than camp opened final week, the membership introduced that Mathieu had been excused for a private matter.
“It’s a little out of the norm for me. I’m usually one of those guys that never really misses a practice or anything like that,” Mathieu stated. “At the end of the day it’s a long season.”
Asserting that he sees the Saints as a membership with life like postseason aspirations, he stated there’s time for him “to be where I need to be when the time is right.”
While Mathieu was reluctant to enter element about what was troubling him, he praised each his teammates and the Saints as a corporation for standing by him.
“A lot of times, especially with strong people, we kind of just let those people go through life and we never really show that support and we don’t consider that,” Mathieu stated. “So, I think having the team support, having the coaches’ support — I think I’m a strong man, for the most part — but it allowed me to just embrace it, embrace that moment and embrace that support.”
The offseason addition of Mathieu to the Saints’ secondary was met with a lot fanfare in New Orleans, the place Mathieu grew up and performed in highschool earlier than starring in school at LSU.
Mathieu was raised by his grandparents in New Orleans, then grew to become a star soccer participant and monitor athlete for St. Augustine High School, and he maintained deep ties to town that introduced him up, enhanced by his charitable endeavors and soccer camps within the space.
He additionally nonetheless has deep ties to LSU, the place a gamers lounge on the soccer constructing is called for him.
Mathieu’s tenacious play throughout two seasons at LSU earned him the nickname “Honey Badger.” As a sophomore in 2011, he was a Heisman Trophy finalist and gained the Bednarik Award because the nation’s prime defensive participant. But his school profession was lower brief when then-Tigers coach Les Miles dismissed Mathieu in the summertime of 2012 for repeated drug check failures.
Matheiu frolicked in a Houston rehabilitation program, but it surely wasn’t till he was drafted by Arizona within the third spherical in 2013 that he put his life collectively. Mathieu grew to become a reliable defensive standout for coach Bruce Arians and has since added two All-Pro nods with Kansas City to go along with one earned in Arizona. He additionally has been chosen to the Pro Bowl every of the previous three seasons.
Mathieu stated plenty of his Saints teammates have “followed my career a long time. They’ve seen a lot of ups and downs throughout my career.
“A lot of those guys want the best for me,” Mathieu stated. “They want me in a great space. They want me healthy. They want my family doing well. Because, at the end of the day, all of those things kind of benefit us.”
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://apnews.com/hub/pro-32 and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
[ad_2]
Source link
Comments are closed.