I actually watched Tom Brady a good amount in college. My coach in college was Kliff Kingsbury, and he actually was a backup for Brady at one point, and so he showed me things that he liked with Tom and his pocket movements and stuff he did within the pocket that I've tried to put in my game a little bit.
With any player, especially at quarterback, I don't care if you're talking Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Drew Brees: you want to make sure to continue to hammer down the fundamentals, and it all starts with your feet. Everything starts with footwork.
I always felt like hanging around the pocket was trouble, but the truth is, the great players take the beatings in the pocket and expose themselves -- and that is the real risk.
I've got to have two hands on the ball when I'm leaving the pocket, when I'm moving in the pocket.
The quarterback gets plenty of protection in the pocket, and he picks up protection out of the pocket; he's got protection down the field on his slides.
Some of the best quarterback play is when you're able to move in the pocket and still make throws down the field because it's not going to be clean every time.
I think my pocket presence and my ability to extend plays speak for themselves.
So the truth is, if there's a lesson to be learned from mobile quarterbacks, it is deliver the ball from the pocket, which demands mastery of the data that is involved working in the pocket, which is, 'I know everything about everything.'
There's a way you have to play the quarterback position in the NFL. Maybe I'm a little bit old school, but I think you have to play the game in the pocket with consistency.
The truth is that in the NFL, the job is to deliver the ball from the pocket. That's the job.
You have a little more time to make moves when you're in the slot.
