On whether he thought the Eagles would draft him: "I had a little bit of a sense. I really had a good feeling after my trip up to Philadelphia and meeting with [secondary/cornerbacks] coach Johnnie [Lynn] and [head] coach [Andy] Reid and coach [Juan] Castillo. So I had a really good feeling going into the draft about Philadelphia."
On where he's at in his development as a cornerback: "I feel like I'm at a very high level. I had a great position coach Corey Raymond that helped me along in my transition. Right now I feel like just any other corner in the country. I don't feel like I'm making a transition. I'm just out there playing and I felt like I was playing at a very high level at the end of the season. I feel really comfortable at corner and I'm just really anxious to learn NFL schemes, to learn Philadelphia schemes and depths and contribute substantially to the team."
On why he converted from running back to cornerback: "The first thing that happened was our coach Brent Guy got fired. We hired a new coach and we lost three seniors at the cornerback position the year before. We were kind of stacked at the running back position, so I saw an opportunity to help the team, you know, because I had played corner before and I knew that I was capable of playing at a high level and I knew that it was also my best shot for the NFL with my skill set. I saw it as an opportunity to come up to coach and approach him about switching positions."
On how long it took him to feel comfortable in that scheme as a cornerback: "I'd say it took that whole spring ball. I moved January and then we went through spring ball, so it took that whole spring ball for me to feel acclimated. That summer, working out and coming into my junior season of fall camp, that's when I started to really feel like I was in the groove. Once spring ball hit my senior year I felt all the way acclimated. I just feel like that first six to nine months at the position. After that, you know, I was good."
On how his father playing in the NFL helps with the transition: "It helps because I can come and ask him questions if I need to. He's my inspiration. When I was younger, the only reason I really wanted to play football was because I wanted to be just like him. Everyone thought it was so cool that he was in the NFL. That was kind of my inspiration for playing the game. If I ever need to ask him questions, you know, it is real convenient. Especially because him being a receiver and me being a corner because he lets me know a lot about what to expect in the next couple of months."
On the decision behind attending the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, RI: "Well, I mean, I wasn't that highly regarded of a recruit coming out of high school. The United States Naval Academy was the only Division-I school that offered me a scholarship. I took it because I wanted to play Division-I football so bad without considering the whole military thing. When you go there, instead of redshirting you, they send you to the Naval Academy Preparatory School for one year and then you go to the Academy.
"I went there and I just realized that the whole military thing wasn't for me. I just wanted to go to school and play football and get a chance at the NFL. When you go there it's a tremendous opportunity, but military is first, school is second and then football. I was planning on leaving and going to junior college, but fortunately Utah State picked me up on a scholarship that very next spring when I came back home. I played four straight years after that."
On what his biggest attributes are at the cornerback position: "I would say my speed, my size and my arm length. I use them to my advantage especially in press coverage. I also think my intelligence. I feel like I don't have a hard time at all ever learning schemes and things like that, so when I get on the field I'm able to play loose and compete. I'm just a competitor, you know, I've been playing this game since I was eight. When I'm out there my competitiveness I feel like takes over and I'm really hard on myself and I feel like that's one of my best attributes."
On where he's at right now: "I'm in Simi Valley, California, with my family in my hometown."
On whether he expected that he would be drafted in the third round: "I was expecting somewhere between the second and fourth [rounds]. So, yeah, the third round you could say that I definitely expected that."
On his meeting with defensive coordinator Juan Castillo: "He just said that they really like my game and they really like me as a person. I felt like it was a really good meeting with coach. I really like Coach Castillo. We were just kind of chatting it up. We were chatting about my background and he was kind of talking to me about his son who plays at the University of Iowa, a defensive back. We were just kind of vibing as people, not more so as much on a serious football note."
On how long his reach is: "I think it's like 32 [inches] and some change, or something like that for my arm length. I'm not exactly sure, but I just know that the length of my arms helps me at the line in press."
