On the Eagles saying that they had more exposure to him than any other player in the draft:
"It began day one. At the Senior Bowl, it was my first interaction with them. I had a meeting with basically the entire coaching staff at the Senior Bowl. It was the only full meeting like that that I actually had there, and then went to the [NFL] Combine and had another meeting with them. Then, [Eagles inside linebacker] coach [Rick] Minter came out to my Pro Day and then I came out here for a day. That whole experience – the Eagles were basically the only team that I truly saw who continued to pursue [me]. That showed a lot to me and to them as well."
On whether he was surprised by that:
"You obviously have no clue what's going to happen and I was extremely anxious. To me, this was the team that was pursuing me the most, so it made sense."
On playing for four different defensive coordinators and four different linebacker coaches at Texas:
"I think the first [change] was the most difficult. When I was a freshman, I came with the expectation that [former Texas defensive coordinator] Will Muschamp was going to be my coach the entire time. He was the coach in waiting at that moment. When he left, it was a big blow, but what I think it did was it taught me to be versatile and learn new defenses. I've come away with so many different schemes and terminologies. I've played in just about everything. You talk about 3-4, 4-3, playing [middle linebacker], [strongside linebacker] and [weakside linebacker]. I've done just about every single position. I think it's done a lot of good for me, making this transition into the NFL where you have no clue who is going to be your coach and you have to roll with it. That's just how it is."
On what he knows about the Eagles scheme and whether it is familiar to him:
"I'm sort of familiar with it. The only exposure I have with it was my day one visit and that was a few plays. I'm not extremely familiar with it, but like I said, I think I'm versatile, I can pick up on things quickly and I expect to do that."
On whether he is aware of the number of inside linebackers on the team:
"I am aware of it, but I think one thing it's going to do for me, especially being a rookie, is have the opportunity to learn from a lot of guys who've had a lot of experience in this league and guys who have been successful. There are a lot of great linebackers on this team who I can learn from and go under their wing. I know one of them personally, Emmanuel Acho. He was my mentor at the University of Texas when I first got there, so hopefully that will help smoothen the transition out a little bit and I can't wait to learn from him."
On when he got a sense that the Eagles were interested in him:
"I went on a few visits, went on a few workouts. Like I said, the Eagles were really the only team that continued at each phase – you have the Senior Bowl phase, you have the Combine phase, the Pro Day. Each time they were there and we were having a real conversation about what was going to happen here on draft day, and it actually worked out. Compared to other teams, that's the biggest difference for sure."
