Increased comfort. That is the biggest difference WR Elijah Moore feels in his second training camp with the Green and White.
"Last year, I felt like I was more in a learning state," Moore said. "I had to go and experience it. It was my first time going to do it, seeing how it looks, and understanding the speed. But I feel like as time went on, just like you've seen with Zach [Wilson], we are getting more comfortable. So now just hearing it over again, it's more like clockwork."
Familiarity and having the plays come to Moore routinely is exactly what HC Robert Saleh wants for the second-year wide receiver.
"I know it's a cliché, but hone in on your craft and all of the different things you have control over," Saleh said of what he wants for Moore's next steps. "I think Elijah is wired that way. You want him to master the playbook, which he has control over. You want him to master the precision of his routes, which he has control over. As long as he's always aiming to do that, he'll naturally get better, and the production will come."
The production Moore had his rookie season last year was solid before his quad injury sidelined him in early December. He finished the season with 43 receptions for 538 yards and 5 touchdowns in 11 games. This year, with the new and returning talent in the WR group, Moore says the sky is the limit for their production.
"This year is going to be as big as this group takes it," Moore said. "We are all really just working day by day trying to sharpen our tools and be the best that we can be whenever our number is called."
But as far as Moore needing encouragement to take his game to that next level, Saleh knows that Moore doesn't require any extrinsic motivation.
"When you look at guys like Elijah, he doesn't care who's surrounding him," Saleh said. "He's going to give everything he's got every time."
If anything, Moore's effort has shown through the three practices of training camp so far. His route running has been more precise and the game looks like it's coming slower to him than it did last year.
"The more times I hear the play, the more I go through the same route thousands and thousands of times, see the looks in practice, I'm only going to get better at it," Moore said. "So, I'm just waiting and ready for the games."
