Metairie, La. — With the Saints regular season opener just a few days away, nerves may be setting-in for the rookies as they get their first real NFL action after their 4 preseason games these past few weeks. One of the rookies that has excelled throughout training camp is Erik McCoy, the Saints second round pick out of Texas A&M. He’s been taking first team reps at center all camp and feels prepared for their opener Monday night against the Texans.
“Nerves are going a little bit,” McCoy said. “Not going to sit here and lie to y’all. But I’m excited for it. I’m ready for it. I feel like I’ve prepared really well this week so far. I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
McCoy said he’s spent a lot of time picking the brains of the veterans on the offensive line, trying to soak-up as much advice as possible. His fellow lineman, Terron Armstead weighed-in on McCoy’s progress and what may be his biggest adjustment come game time.
“Erik just has to prepare for his first NFL game,” Armstead said. “He’s got a lot of things going. His communication between him and Drew, that’ll be his biggest focal point.”
“I’d say it’s been pretty smooth honestly,” McCoy said. “The speed of the game’s picked-up a little bit. There’s been a lot of technique stuff I’ve had to get better at but throughout the course of camp and this preseason I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better in all of that It’s the same base offense that we ran at [Texas] A&M just different calls for everything so that was really the only adjustment I had to make.”