Former University of Washington quarterback and current Tennessee Titan Jake Locker took some time to speak with 104.5 The Zone in Nashville recently to discuss how his offseason is going, how he felt his rookie campaign went, and about the competition with former Seattle Seahawk Matt Hasselbeck for the starting job next season.
Locker discusses the NFL lifestyle, which is largely filled with study time and fim review:
Are you looking at tape during the off-season of your throws or of other teams? Do you do any of that stuff during the off-season?
"Yeah I took some stuff home with me. All of our games from last year on tape. I watch those and kind of go through them especially some of the games I had opportunity to get in and kind of see where I can improve and get a little bit better and kind of keep yourself familiar with the offense, so when you get back you are not having to retrain your mind to the verbiage and kind of the structure you play and then watch some of the guys that I have respect for in the NFL that play the position really well."
As for his evaluation of himself, Locker felt that his rookie season was certainly helpful and a positive experience:
How do you evaluate your performance in your rookie season? What do you need to work on?
"There's a lot of room for improvement, but I think as far as being able to come in and we were able to have a little bit of success, but figuring out how to close a few of those games and win of a few of those games we were in...I felt like I wasn't overwhelmed. I wasn't...I didn't feel like I hadn't prepared hard enough throughout the week to feel comfortable when I got in over the course of a game, so that's one thing I was happy about."
As for the starting QB job next season, Locker feels that competing with Hasselbeck is the best thing for him right now:
How do you think you can handle Matt Hasselbeck being so close with you and now you having a chance in training camp according to Mike Munchak to win the starting quarterback job?
"I don't think that is any different of a approach then we took last year. I try to go into practice and to camp every time I have the opportunity to play that way. I was competing for a chance to possibly start. I think that is how Matt is. You understand it as competitive guys, who have played their whole life and having been used to being on the field. I think by us going out and competing as hard as we can every day against each other is only going to bring out the best in each of us. At the end of the day the best guy will play. Personally, I don't feel it will have any effect on our relationship at all. I think we have a friendship that is a lot deeper than just football. I think whoever ends up getting the nod at the end of all of it? The other guy will be giving him all the support he can from the sideline and throughout the week of practice. I truly do believe that."
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