CB Dwight Lowery
Transcript of the Jets' second-day draft choices in conference calls with New York Jets beat reporters today:
ROUND 4 — DWIGHT LOWERY, CB, SAN JOSE STATE
On the Jets' interest in him before the draft and if this is a surprise to him …
I think they had interest. We sat down at the combine and I had a chance to go over game tape with some of the coaches. They were at my pro day and I talked to a scout at my pro day. But in the end, they're going to make the best decision for their team. I hope to bring a good situation to them.
On how tall he is …
I'm about 5'11½".
On if he still weighs about 200 pounds …
Yes.
On how quickly he can make a transition into the NFL …
I think it's hard to say. I think you have to come in, just play hard and fulfill whatever role the team wants you to fulfill. Everything else will fall into place.
On if he plays special teams as well …
Yes, I do.
On what positions on special teams he can play …
I can do all specials. I've done punt return. I've played gunner. Anywhere the Jets need me to play, I'm going to play.
On making the transition from safety to corner at San Jose State …
I think it was a smooth transition because of the system we had at San Jose State. It allowed me to do what I do best, so it ended up being pretty smooth.
On what it is that he does best …
My whole college career, I've had good ball skills and that's probably the thing that I do best. I'm going to try to bring that ability with me to the New York Jets.
On if he considers himself more of a safety or a corner in the NFL …
It's hard to say. I'm just coming into this situation trying to put my best out there for the New York Jets and see where they want to put me. It's really out of my hands. I trust the coaching staff and the whole organization that they'll put me in the best situation for them.
On if he got any indication about where he will play when he talked to the Jets today …
No, they just want me to come in, play hard and work hard. As a rookie, you really have to establish yourself and establish some type of role on the team. Whatever that role will be, I'll embrace it and I'll go at it 100 percent.
On if he expected to be selected at this point of the draft …
I was expecting that everything was going to fall into place. I think as a competitor, you want to go as high as you possibly can. But in the end, as long as you're in a good situation — and I feel like I will be with the New York Jets — you can't ask for anything more than that.
On if he's been to New York before …
I've actually never been to New York, so I'm looking forward to seeing the place and playing for the Jets.
ROUND 5 — ERIK AINGE, QB, TENNESSEE
On the round he thought he would go in …
Honestly, it sounds cliché to say that I didn't care what round I got drafted in. Being as competitive as I am, I wanted to be the first pick in the draft. That's just how it works. The round regardless, I couldn't be happier about going to the New York Jets. That's kind of one of the teams — I talked to Coach [Brian] Schottenheimer, Coach [Mike] Devlin early on. I know Chad Pennington well — he's from Knoxville. I know Kellen Clemens well — he's from Oregon. I just couldn't be happier to come play with those guys.
On how he knows Pennington …
Chad puts on a camp in Knoxville every year, and obviously playing at the University of Tennessee, I would always go over there and throw some balls to some people and do all that kind of stuff. Chad was always a very nice guy and he always said, "Maybe I'll play with or against you some day." So now we get to play against each other, with each other — you know what I mean [laughs].
On how it's going to feel practicing with Pennington during training camp …
I'm just excited. There's two good quarterbacks up there, and they are competing for a starting job right now. I know as well as anybody what it's like to compete for a starting job — it's what I had to do my sophomore year. There's a lot to learn from both of them. They play different styles. They do different things better than the other one. I'm going to be writing everything down and learning from them. That doesn't mean I'm not going to be competing, but at the same time I'm just going to go in and take it all in. I'm really glad that Mr. [Woody] Johnson and [Mike] Tannenbaum have given me the opportunity.
On scouting the Jets quarterback situation …
It's weird because I know them personally, both. That's really the only team in the league I can tell you who their top two quarterbacks are, the New York Jets. I'm just really excited.
On his interaction with Clemens…
Yes, I've met him several times. I actually was going to go to Oregon originally, but he was going into his junior year. I didn't want to wait two years to play because in college you've only got four. I came to Tennessee almost because of Clemens. He's a great guy. One of the guys we work with back home as far as quarterback training in the off-season, myself being a Volunteer and Clemens being a Duck, we were able to get a lot of young kids to help me working from camps together from so on and so forth.
On the scouts' opinion on him …
I think the more film you watch the more negative things you find. I think the more I watch myself the more negative things I find. I think there are a lot of good things I do, and I think there are a lot of good things both of those quarterbacks do. How it translates from the college to the NFL, I can't answer that question for you now. There's a lot of things at the collegiate level that I did very well. We'll see how that works out in the NFL.
On the impact of his injuries …
My injuries have been kind of fluky. I tore my meniscus lifting weights. It was a very minor tear. Breaking my finger in practice with a backup snapper is just one of those things. Spraining an ankle, it doesn't matter how big and strong you are, high-ankle sprains happen. I played the whole season with a shattered pinkie finger. Have I been hurt a little bit? Yes, but at the same time I know how to play through it and how to be successful.
On his relationship with his uncle, Danny Ainge …
Well, he'd better give me some tickets now that I'm going to be living in the Northeast. My father is here and my mother and everybody. We're just excited about being able to start the next transition to go up to the Jets. It's a storied franchise. I'm just proud to be a part of it. I'm not going in expecting to beat them out in the first few months but at the same time that's exactly what I am going to try and do. If I told you I wasn't going to try and beat them out, I would be lying.
On if he is a Celtics fan …
Oh, huge Celtics fan. I was a Phoenix fan, a Portland fan, a Sacramento fan — whoever he was playing for was my favorite team. I'm not on the bandwagon as far as being a Celtics fan. I think they actually play here pretty soon. I was glad to get drafted before the game starts. Hopefully, [the Celtics] can pull it out. They didn't play too well the other night.
On his competitive instincts being similar to Danny's when he was a player ...
My thing is as a quarterback, I am very calm and collective. I know how to handle things, same as a basketball player. I play golf every two or three weeks and if I don't score under 80 I am just so upset because I think I'm Tiger Woods when I'm out there. Baseball, I get so mad. I wouldn't really practice at it, I just assumed I was going to be the best at it. But football and basketball I was always able to stay calm and collected. In the same right if you ask Danny, he will say the same thing, in this sport and this sport. I think it sticks together. Basketball really wasn't one of his sports. He got after it.
On some of the draft publications questioning his mental toughness …
You know I would disagree and I am not disrespecting anybody but I would be the complete opposite if I could tell you that. I broke my finger on my throwing hand three days before we played our first game and played the first seven games with pinkie and ring finger taped together, and if you have ever done that, it's pretty tough throwing the ball. In that first game I actually sprained my AC joint in my right shoulder, so I could hardly practice during the week and by gametime I was out there playing. We won 10 football games in the SEC and it's probably the hardest year the SEC has had in a while. I am not tooting my own horn but at the same time I think I am very qualified to come in there to have fun and learn under those two quarterbacks.
On who his agent is …
Jimmy Sexton. Jimmy's got about half the Jets.
ROUND 6 — MARCUS HENRY, WR, KANSAS
On any surprise over the Jets' interest in him …
After the combine and everything, I got a couple of calls from scouts from the Jets, but I really couldn't tell that they had a strong interest in me.
On whether he has been in New York before …
No, I've never been there.
On what the last couple of hours have been like …
It's a lot of sitting around and waiting for phone calls. I wasn't too nervous or anything like that, just waiting around.
On how he would describe himself as a receiver …
I think I could be a possession kind of guy. In college, I was considered a tall guy who could go up and get jumpballs. I think I could bring that into the NFL and develop that more and be that type of receiver.
On where his nickname "Mute" comes from …
That name was given to me when I first got up here. I really didn't talk that much; so one of the older wide receivers just started calling me "Mute" and it stuck with me ever since.
On whether he has become more loquacious since then …
Yeah, I've gotten a lot more talkative over the years.
On the Jets being in the market for a tall WR being motivation for him …
I wasn't too aware of it, but knowing it now, it's motivation for me. I can get up there, compete, and try to put that position on the field.
