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Pats' rookie cornerback is all business
BY MARK FARINELLA / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:15 AM EDT
FOXBORO - A few things you can always expect to see from Notre Dame athletes who are trying to make the Patriots' roster:
** They're usually very well-spoken.
** They probably already know a lot about the Patriots' offensive and defensive systems, having played for former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.
** And for reasons that aren't as easy to fathom, they've usually been drafted in the lower rounds and have to work a little harder to prove themselves than some of their fellow rookies who came from equally successful major college programs.
That's all right, though. Mike Richardson had Plan B ready.
"I just wanted to try to put myself in the best position I could to hopefully get drafted high," the rookie cornerback said Wednesday, "but if not, I was just going to take advantage of the opportunity I had for whatever came forward."
Richardson, a sixth-round selection (202nd overall) in the April draft, is also a graduate of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business with a degree in marketing, and he has enrolled in graduate courses there. But he may have to put those plans on hold for a while, as the cornerback-challenged Patriots are looking for a few good men to fill the holes in that position group.
With Asante Samuel still absent from camp in a contract dispute and Chad Scott on injured reserve from a blown-out knee suffered in the second practice session, the Patriots have a need on the corner. Richardson has shown some skill and a work ethic that immediately reminds long-time observers of another former Golden Domer who turned the opportunity born of a low draft position into a productive job in New England, wide receiver David Givens.
Richardson, a native of Sumter, S.C., who played his high school football in Warner Robins, Ga., started 30 of 49 games played for the Fighting Irish, making 170 career tackles and eight career interceptions. But he knows that he's just another know-nothing rookie in the pros.
"There's definitely a lot of things I could improve," he said after the morning practice at Gillette Stadium's practice complex, "and a lot of things I'm working on now. Just different aspects of being a cornerback. A lot of the older guys are helping me out, and the coaches here also.
"There's a lot of different things you can learn coming up to this level of play," he added. "I'm just trying to learn from the older guys, just watching them and the things they do, and just trying to feed off that and build off that."
An example of that came in the third quarter of Friday night's 13-10 loss to Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. Covering Bucs' wide receiver Chad Lucas along the sideline, Richardson got good position and leaped to knock away the ball, but his deflection almost still wound up in Lucas' hands before it fell out of his reach.
"I wish I could have come up with the ball," Richardson said. "But it's a positive that I actually didn't give up a big play on that play. I was in the right position and used what I've been taught here just to go up to the highest point and try to get the ball."
On the next play, Richardson came up in run support and stopped running back Lionel Gates for a 1-yard gain.
"Mike's aggressive," Patriots' coach Bill Belichick said Wednedsay. "He's shown up a few times. He looks like a rookie he's got a long way to go. He's competed well, he's a tough kid and he's been out there every day. That means he's improving because he's working hard.
"He's a lot better now than he was a few weeks ago," Belichick added.
Richardson is smart enough, however, not to get a big head over any praise from the head coach, limited as it may be.
"I don't think I'm really in there yet," he said. "It's still training camp. But I always come in with a positive mindset. I just wanted to come out and show the coaches that I could compete at this level and that I was capable of it."
As a rookie, Richardson has turned to others for examples of what it means to be a pro cornerback. He enjoys watching and learning from Ellis Hobbs, who, while only in his third NFL season, has the confidence and swagger of a cagy veteran.
"It's a great thing and it's contagious," Richardson said. "You really feed off a guy like him. A lot of people say he's not that big, but he plays bigger than he is. I really admire that."
But while he said he can learn from Hobbs' technique, he may not be able to duplicate his style - at least not yet.
"If I get a couple of seasons under my belt, actually make the team and get on the field, hopefully that's what it will turn into," he said.
Another thing he has learned is that football is less of a game than it is a business at this level.
"At this point, you're trying to make the team," he said. "It still has that aspect of a game you still have different situations you have to work out. All we're trying to do right now is to learn to better position ourselves to be successful in those situations."
At no point, Richardson said, will he let his guard down and allow himself to feel too secure. At this level of football, that's not good business - and he should know, given his academic background.
"You never can be comfortable, you never can be content with where you're at," he said. "You always have to try to get better, and that's where I am right now, trying to keep getting better every day I come out here."
BY MARK FARINELLA / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:15 AM EDT
FOXBORO - A few things you can always expect to see from Notre Dame athletes who are trying to make the Patriots' roster:
** They're usually very well-spoken.
** They probably already know a lot about the Patriots' offensive and defensive systems, having played for former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.
** And for reasons that aren't as easy to fathom, they've usually been drafted in the lower rounds and have to work a little harder to prove themselves than some of their fellow rookies who came from equally successful major college programs.
That's all right, though. Mike Richardson had Plan B ready.
"I just wanted to try to put myself in the best position I could to hopefully get drafted high," the rookie cornerback said Wednesday, "but if not, I was just going to take advantage of the opportunity I had for whatever came forward."
Richardson, a sixth-round selection (202nd overall) in the April draft, is also a graduate of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business with a degree in marketing, and he has enrolled in graduate courses there. But he may have to put those plans on hold for a while, as the cornerback-challenged Patriots are looking for a few good men to fill the holes in that position group.
With Asante Samuel still absent from camp in a contract dispute and Chad Scott on injured reserve from a blown-out knee suffered in the second practice session, the Patriots have a need on the corner. Richardson has shown some skill and a work ethic that immediately reminds long-time observers of another former Golden Domer who turned the opportunity born of a low draft position into a productive job in New England, wide receiver David Givens.
Richardson, a native of Sumter, S.C., who played his high school football in Warner Robins, Ga., started 30 of 49 games played for the Fighting Irish, making 170 career tackles and eight career interceptions. But he knows that he's just another know-nothing rookie in the pros.
"There's definitely a lot of things I could improve," he said after the morning practice at Gillette Stadium's practice complex, "and a lot of things I'm working on now. Just different aspects of being a cornerback. A lot of the older guys are helping me out, and the coaches here also.
"There's a lot of different things you can learn coming up to this level of play," he added. "I'm just trying to learn from the older guys, just watching them and the things they do, and just trying to feed off that and build off that."
An example of that came in the third quarter of Friday night's 13-10 loss to Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. Covering Bucs' wide receiver Chad Lucas along the sideline, Richardson got good position and leaped to knock away the ball, but his deflection almost still wound up in Lucas' hands before it fell out of his reach.
"I wish I could have come up with the ball," Richardson said. "But it's a positive that I actually didn't give up a big play on that play. I was in the right position and used what I've been taught here just to go up to the highest point and try to get the ball."
On the next play, Richardson came up in run support and stopped running back Lionel Gates for a 1-yard gain.
"Mike's aggressive," Patriots' coach Bill Belichick said Wednedsay. "He's shown up a few times. He looks like a rookie he's got a long way to go. He's competed well, he's a tough kid and he's been out there every day. That means he's improving because he's working hard.
"He's a lot better now than he was a few weeks ago," Belichick added.
Richardson is smart enough, however, not to get a big head over any praise from the head coach, limited as it may be.
"I don't think I'm really in there yet," he said. "It's still training camp. But I always come in with a positive mindset. I just wanted to come out and show the coaches that I could compete at this level and that I was capable of it."
As a rookie, Richardson has turned to others for examples of what it means to be a pro cornerback. He enjoys watching and learning from Ellis Hobbs, who, while only in his third NFL season, has the confidence and swagger of a cagy veteran.
"It's a great thing and it's contagious," Richardson said. "You really feed off a guy like him. A lot of people say he's not that big, but he plays bigger than he is. I really admire that."
But while he said he can learn from Hobbs' technique, he may not be able to duplicate his style - at least not yet.
"If I get a couple of seasons under my belt, actually make the team and get on the field, hopefully that's what it will turn into," he said.
Another thing he has learned is that football is less of a game than it is a business at this level.
"At this point, you're trying to make the team," he said. "It still has that aspect of a game you still have different situations you have to work out. All we're trying to do right now is to learn to better position ourselves to be successful in those situations."
At no point, Richardson said, will he let his guard down and allow himself to feel too secure. At this level of football, that's not good business - and he should know, given his academic background.
"You never can be comfortable, you never can be content with where you're at," he said. "You always have to try to get better, and that's where I am right now, trying to keep getting better every day I come out here."
