Terrion Arnold, the new Detroit Lions cornerback, is eager to leave the glitz and glamor behind and focus on attaining his full potential as a National Football League player.
“They traded up to select me, and I’ll always be grateful for that and I won’t take it for granted,” Arnold told reporters at his introductory media session at the team’s practice facility. “I’m already coming here with a chip on my shoulder, but it’s just gonna be that much more of a chip on my shoulder. I saw St. Brown today, and I just asked him, ‘When can we get on the JUGS (machine)?’ Because I feel like I’m a workaholic. I know that nothing’s gonna be given to me. Even with them trading up to get me, it’s much more, it means more to me with that.”
“It’s damn near ‘Alabama U,’ huh? We get them every year,” said wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. “I haven’t seen too much tape of him. I mostly watch some of the receivers coming out, just because I like watching receivers and seeing what they do. But, I’m sure he’s a great player. I know Brad does a great job of doing his homework on guys. Obviously, I know they can play ball, but even besides that, the type of person he is. So, I can’t wait to meet him and get to work with him.”
General manager Brad Holmes stated that former Alabama head coach Nick Saban operated the program in such a way that evaluators felt comfortable selecting his players because they practiced hard on a regular basis.
“I have so much respect for (former Alabama head coach) Nick (Saban) and everything that he’s done with that program,” Holmes said. “That’s one of those places where, when I was a young southeast scout, you just go to Alabama and you just want to camp out there for a week, because not only do they have really good players, but you knew the level of player you were getting and you saw the type of practices you were having and the information access. But ultimately, the coaching that they were already receiving, those guys practice hard. They practice intense.”
