On whether he traveled from Austin, Texas: "I came from Austin. Seven o'clock flight, so there wasn't much sleep last night."
On whether he met anyone yet: "Yeah, I've been meeting with all the coaches. (Head) coach (Andy) Reid, (offensive coordinator) coach (Marty) Mornhinweg and (quarterbacks) coach (Doug) Pederson. We talked about the different plays, playbooks, and what I need to do before getting to the rookie mini-camp. After this I'll go back and start getting into the playbooks."
On going to the same high school as Saints QB Drew Brees and whether it was uncomfortable to follow in his legacy: "You know, I really didn't even worry about it. I looked up to him as a kid. I think Drew is a heck of a player and a heck of a role model for young players and young kids. I was a kid in the stands while he was playing. I was playing tag because I was such a young kid, but it was a great honor to go to his high school. I've never worried about breaking records, ever. That's never been my importance. My importance has always been winning games. I knew growing up he had a state championship at Westlake and that was always my goal to win a championship. My personal goal was to lead my team to that state championship, whatever it took. We ended up going to the state championship my senior year, but we didn't win the championship. It was a successful career, but that's why I play the game was to win the championship and we didn't get that done."
On transferring from Michigan State to Arizona: "Well, originally, throughout the whole process – recruiting is such a crazy process – I actually committed to Arizona State my junior year of high school under Dirk Koetter and I was committed there for over a year. Then my senior year (of high school), we were in the football playoffs and the coaching staff at Arizona State got fired and I waited until after my senior year, after we were done, to really worry about what I was going to do with my future. After it I realized, hey, I know the coaches and I know my family that it wasn't the right fit so I de-committed. It was late in the process so there were very few teams that were available to go. There were probably three or four teams that were possibilities and I really based it on the coach I wanted to play for and that was (Michigan State head coach Mark) Dantonio. I don't regret anything. I think he's a heck of a coach, heck of a person, just everything. I went there for a year. I grew up in Austin, Texas, I went up to Michigan State and you really learn a lot about yourself, you mature as a person. I realized, hey, I'm in college, I'm getting a degree, I want to play football at the highest level and you need something to counteract it at such a young age and I wanted to go to a school I enjoyed. Michigan State is a great University, I wanted to go to school, I really enjoyed going to, and playing football. I just had a gut feeling – it was just a good decision. I met with Dantonio for an hour. After a year there, it was tough and I made the decision and it was a blessing in disguise. I went to Arizona and so many great things happened at Arizona. I got my degree, so many great people I met and football as well. It was a blessing in disguise."
On whether the lack of Arizona quarterbacks going pro was ever a concern for him: "No, not at all. I didn't worry about that. You want to play in the NFL, it's a goal as a kid. My goal when I went to Arizona was to make that team better. Then it so happened after my senior year I had the opportunity to play in the NFL and then I was very fortunate last night to get drafted in the third round by the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a dream come true, but never once when I went there did I even worry about that. I was worried about winning games, making my teammates better and being a good teammate to my teammates."
On how adversity at the college level with his head coach getting fired midseason and playing with a young team will help him transition to the NFL: "I think you grow as a leader. It's tough. When you lose your head coach part of that is because of you as a player. It's not because of the coach. We didn't do our job. I didn't do my job as a quarterback. I didn't win the games. That's on me and I didn't get that done and I take that personally. It's tough because (head) coach (Mike) Stoops is a heck of a coach, I love the man to death. He gave me my opportunity to play and I'll always respect him. We just had a young team and we didn't teach the young guys how to win. I think just facing adversity and continuing to grind no matter what – always wanting to get better. That's how I approach everything and that's how I saw my team every day. We went to work every practice. We were on a big losing streak, it was a tough year, and guys went to work every single day. We had a young (offensive line) and they got better every single day, and by the end of the season, they were really doing a great job and they grew up. It was really neat to see those aspects. Our record didn't reflect the players and the season we had, but I don't regret anything and I was proud of my team."
On what the Senior Bowl experience was like for him and on being coached up by NFL assistant coaches: "It was a great experience. You're going non-stop, you're getting a whole new playbook, you're getting all this new verbiage and there's not much time to study. When you're studying the playbook it's probably 12:30 at night after you've been meeting for four hours. You're worn out studying the playbook and then you go practice. You learn to continue to grind, and to be with NFL coaches you really realize – it's all business. It's a business now and it's still the game of football. I love the game of football, but you're expected to get everything right every time. Sure, I can't do everything right every time in practice, but it's learning every single day. I felt like I grew and got better and by gametime I was ready to play."
On why Arizona WR Juron Criner is slipping in the draft: "I don't know. Everybody finds out everything throughout this process. I think Juron is a heck of a player, and he had a couple family and personal things he could be the reason why. He's a stud and he's going to continue to excel. When the ball is in his hands or the ball is in the air, he's coming down with it. I'm excited to see where he ends up and I feel like he'll do really well in the NFL."
On how much he has worked in a West Coast system: "I've had a chance to look at it a little bit. I got my playbooks a few minutes ago before I showered and cleaned up for y'all. I'm going to get into them. We have a mini-camp from May12-14, and that's a great opportunity for me. I have two weeks, and when I first got out here, we got into a little bit of the protections and schemes and I have a lot of work ahead. That's why I love this game, you get to go to work. This is my job and it's unreal. It really hasn't set in yet. This is my work and I love watching film and I love getting better. Now I have four big playbooks that I get to look at over the next two weeks so I'm looking forward to that."
On what kind of offense he ran at Arizona: "At Arizona, we went under center my sophomore year a little bit but a lot of gun. We did mix in some under center, runs, and boots so we did a little bit of everything. You can't really classify it as anything. Some people say spread because you see so much gun, but we were making checks and run checks with a tight end. We weren't just throwing the ball, we were reading safeties with half-reads and reading coverages and this side of the field or that side of the field progressions. We did a little bit of everything and I had a great quarterback coach, Selfin, and a good wide receivers coach in Coach Nade. We had a good core group and I had a chance to learn a lot."
On what he thinks is his best attribute: "I feel like as a quarterback, leadership is the most important thing in how you carry yourself and your work ethic. My parents have instilled working hard. I can't just come in here and have the guys respect, that's unheard of. You have to go to the grind. I'm fortunate that I'm here with the Philadelphia Eagles and I have to bust my butt every single day to show that I deserve to be here. I understand that. Football-wise, I'm a bigger guy and a basketball player, too. I played all the sports growing up, and I know the big thing is that everyone says I'm not mobile, but I feel like I can move around and extend plays with my feet, break tackles, and throw off balance. My ultimate goal is to get the ball in the playmakers hands and however I do that, whether it's taking a hit right square in the jaw and completing it, that's what I'm going to do. I love moving the chains and scoring points."
On Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg's legacy of developing quarterbacks: "I understand that I'm very fortunate to be here and I'm excited. When I saw the call last night, our power went out last night at the house so we had no clue what was going on. Then, my phone went off and I knew I was coming here and I know I'm around some of the best coaches ever to develop quarterbacks. It's a great honor for me to be here."
On whether he had a chance to talk to QB Michael Vick or former Eagle Donovan McNabb: "I met Vick when I came on my trip and I saw Donovan in the hallway but didn't have a chance to speak to him. Both of those guys I grew up watching and they're heck of players. When I met Vick here, he's a great guy and I said it was nice to meet him and he said it was nice to meet me. He sent me a text last night congratulating me and so did(QB Mike) Kafka and (QB Trent) Edwards. It's a great honor to learn from him and see how it goes."
On how he knows Trent Edwards: "Just mutual friends throughout the years. I was able to meet him three years ago. He went to Stanford and we played Stanford a bunch of times. Just to develop a relationship and he's just been giving me wisdom and saying it's a business, work so accordingly and work hard, work your butt off, and grind. It's been great getting to know him the past several years."
On anything in particular he worked on at the Senior Bowl: "I was with the Redskins, and the big thing we talked about was footwork and always keeping a great base and always keeping your feet in a position to make a solid throw. That's probably one of the big things."
On using west coast terminology at the Senior Bowl: "Yes, it was west coast terminology."
On continuing to play after taking hard hits behind an inexperienced offensive line: "I got a little bit. It's football and that's why you play this game. You try not to get hit but it happens. I took a few hits last year but every quarterback does."
On where he gets his toughness from: "My mom and my dad, I don't know which one because they're both tough people. I guess I just don't worry about the hits. When you're playing the game, you don't think about it. You just worry about delivering the ball. A lot of times you don't feel it until after the game, and I guess mentally you're more worried about completing the ball than what's coming what at you. You're just trying to move to avoid getting hit and throwing the ball."
