'I think he understands what it takes to stay in the league and have success'
Tyler Shough doesn't have time for vacation. While some of his peers around the league may be enjoying their summer break between OTAs and training camp, the New Orleans Saints quarterback has been busy racking up his frequent flier miles. After an extra week of work with other rookies at the team's mandatory minicamp practices earlier this month, Shough spoke about his offseason plans and counseling high schoolers at the Manning Passing Academy.
"Immediately we're gonna go throw in Oregon and Dallas, and we'll get some receivers. It'll be good to connect with them and, like I said before, there's a sense of urgency and we've got to get going," Shough said.
He's eager to get to work with his teammates, but Shough says it's a former first-round pick taking point in organizing those summer workouts: "It'll be all the Saints receivers. Yeah, we're getting a good group together. It's Brandin Cooks kind of leading that charge. He's such a great influence, just on the whole team, offensively-wise."
Very few players get to enjoy careers as long as Cooks; while he's moved around the NFL a lot since the Saints drafted him out of Oregon State, he's appeared in 158 regular season games and seven playoff matchups, including two Super Bowls. He's stacked up six 1,000-yard seasons, which is tied with legends like Marques Colston and Hines Ward for 30th in NFL history. Younger guys like Shough look up to him, and that's one bond the rookie quarterback hopes to gain a lot from. He sees the immediate value in having Cooks in the receiving corps and the team hasn't played a single down."It's awesome," Shough added. "Because he's done it in the past. He's had it with Dak (Prescott), he obviously has his place in Oregon. And he's had the experience, he's been with the Saints. I think he understands what it takes to stay in the league and have success. He's something I want to continue to learn from and also grow in my own right as a leader. I want to do everything I can to grow that relationship."
That's a good attitude to display, and it lines up with what we've seen from Shough all offseason. He knows he's an underdog. The Saints have a more-experienced quarterback (a couple of them, really) on the depth chart. He has to earn the opportunity to lead the team out of the tunnel in September and he knows it could very well be Spencer Rattler or Jake Haener getting the nod instead of him. So if he can squeeze in some throwing sessions before training camp and pick up some tips from Cooks, he's game for it. Injuries in college meant Shough had to wait longer than most to turn pro. Now that he's here, he isn't wasting a minute.
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