Leonte Carroo – June 7, 2017
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Wednesday, June 7, 2017
WR Leonte Carroo
(What have you been working on this offseason?) – “Just getting accustomed to being a better NFL player. I realize that last year didn’t go as well as I wanted it to, so this year I really honed in on working as hard as I can to not only be a better receiver, but a better student to the game. I lost a ton of weight off the field, eating better, eating healthier. Kenny Stills got me involved in pilates. I was doing that to loosen up my hips and become a more fluid receiver. (I’m) just doing the little things that I didn’t do before to make my Year 2 even better.”
(How much weight have you lost?) – “This offseason the lowest I was down to was 210. Last year when I came in, I was 220.”
(Does that make you faster? Quicker?) – “Yes, definitely. That was the goal – to lose some weight and to become a faster and more quicker receiver.”
(Besides the weight, was maybe last year problematic due to effort or intensity? What was the problem last year?) – “Last year, (I) didn’t have as well of a year as I wanted to. I kind of took getting drafted for granted. I wasn’t doing all the little things I used to do right in college. I was excited more with the whole draft process than really focusing on being an NFL player. Now I realize that this is my job and I’m taking the NFL life more serious and becoming a better student of the game and a better player.”
(This is no reflection for your view of WR Rashawn Scott, I know you have great respect for him; but was it a wake-up call, was it upsetting to you to not be active as a draft pick as opposed to an undrafted player being active late in the season and for the playoff game?) – “It definitely made me upset. It had nothing to do with any of the coaches or the players. I was just upset with myself, because it was totally on me. I was playing bad on special teams. I was performing poorly in practice. I wasn’t doing enough. I wasn’t asking my coaches to watch extra film or anything like that. (I was) not really focused on being a better player last year. You take a guy who has probably been starting since Pop Warner and then he comes to an NFL team and things aren’t going his way and I honed in on that instead of focusing on getting better and better every single day. Now, same approach. I got three guys ahead of me, but my whole mindset and philosophy is different. I’m attacking practice every single day to get better, because I want to prove to these coaches that I’m going to be a better special teams player, and I’m going to be a better receiver. When we went on that winning streak last year, to see how guys were doing, it made me upset that I wasn’t doing anything to contribute as a third-round draft pick. This year, I want to focus on having that respect for my team and for my coaches and go out there and make plays and contribute to the wins that we’re going to have this year.”
(With all that being said, those three guys are still here. How are you going to make your impact this year?) – “Definitely have to start with special teams. That has to be my main focus. When guys go down … God forbid guys go down this year, I’ve got to be ready. It has to be just like clockwork. If any one of those guys go in, I’ve got to … The coaches need to have enough confidence in me that I can take any one of those guys’ place. Today was a perfect example. I went right in with the ones and I performed pretty well. I have to keep that confidence and keep that mentality going.”
(It seems like every time your name was brought up, it’s not just Leonte Carroo, it’s Leonte Carroo, a third-rounder who Dolphins gave up multiple draft choices in a future draft for. When you hear all that, what has gone through your mind? How do you process all that?) – “That last year the coaches and my teammates had a lot of expectations of me. I did a poor job fulfilling those expectations. Last year is totally behind me. I’m a new guy this year; I’m a new person. I’m just excited for these OTAs, these next couple practices and then training camp and controlling what I can control, and that’s getting better on the field every single day and proving to these coaches that I’m not the same Carroo from last year. I’m a different player and I’m ready for the new year.”
(Are there any other guys in the room with you that you look at set an example and say, ‘What he’s going to do, I’m going to do.’?) – “I would say Kenny Stills is a prime example of that. I look up to all the older receivers – Jarvis (Landry), DeVante (Parker) – but Kenny really took me underneath his wing this offseason. I came back about two months earlier to train. I was down here probably the end of February. I was running, doing pilates and training with Kenny every single day and getting better and also watching film with him. He’s a guy that I look to, to follow his lead.”
(WR Kenny Stills is known as a burner, so to speak. Was there any speed training involved in that?) – “That’s a plan that we have set for this upcoming summer. I’m going to be here with Kenny, and we’re going to work on a lot (of) speed training and things like that. I don’t think I would look at myself as a guy that really needs speed. It was just the weight that I was dealing with last year. When I played at Rutgers and I was the fastest and my healthiest, I was about 205, and then I get here and I’m 220. It’s just a total different player. My whole thing is keep maintaining my weight, and I’ll be fine.”
(Last year, I think you were taking practice reps in the positions that WR Kenny Stills, WR DeVante Parker and WR Jarvis Landry all play, right? So this year, has there been more of a focus on one of those positons?) – “I wouldn’t really say that. Last year, I would say probably a lot was thrown at me at one time and now I have a better feel for the offense. I’m able to … Instead of learning … Last year, I was trying to learn each position – X, Y, F. But now, I’m learning the whole offense as a whole, like a concept. Just to get the concepts down pat will help me be able to play either position. Now that I have a better feel for the offense, I’m able to play any one of those three spots.”
(You said you ran with the ones today?) – “Yes.”
(Who was that for?) – “I think Kenny (Stills). Kenny went out during practice. Nothing serious. I don’t know what happened. I was just in with the ones.”
(And do you feel like you took advantage of the opportunity?) – “I played pretty well, especially with the mental side of the ball and stuff like that, just lining up right, putting trust in (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase that he knows that I know what I’m doing. I went out there and I made a couple plays.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase has said back in March that he has a better idea of how to use you, what kind of routes to use you on. In your mind, what are you best at this point? What type of routes do you feel like, ‘I can beat an NFL cornerback at.’?) – “I would say in college I was a receiver that I used my physical ability to get past defenders, deep balls and slants and things like that. This offseason, working with (Wide Receivers) Coach (Shawn) Jefferson and (Assistant Wide Receivers) Coach Ben (Johnson), I’m trying to become a whole wide receiver. I want to be able to run the same routes that Jarvis (Landry) can run and things of that nature. I’m really honing in on becoming a better receiver period so that either way, I can be out there and any route they ask me to run, I’ve got to be able to run. That’s what a receiver is.”
(You said the X position, Y and F. When you say F, you kind of lose people a little bit. Can you explain?) – “The F position is more like a slot position – what Jarvis (Landry) plays. Kind of that inside player. X and Z is kind of outside.”
