Henry Ruggs III will attend his first NFL game on Sunday. He’ll also be starting at wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders when they kick off their 2020 season against the Carolina Panthers.
“For me, it will be my first NFL experience because I’ve never been to an NFL game,” Ruggs said, “so it’ll kind of be a lot of emotions going through my head at the time when I first get in and probably pregame and things like that. But after the first play, it’s back to football, doing what I’ve been doing since I was a kid.”
The Raiders began training camp with the first-round draft choice from Alabama working as a slot receiver. But when Tyrell Williams went on injured reserve, Ruggs moved into his spot as a wideout. Williams led the Raiders' wide receivers with 651 receiving yards and topped the team with six touchdown receptions in 2019. A torn labrum sustained at practice will keep Williams off the field for the 2020 season.
MEET THE NFL ROOKIES WITH ALABAMA FOOTBALL ROOTS
“It’s not been too hard,” Ruggs said about shifting his focus. “I kind of told (Raiders wide-receivers coach Edgar Bennett) when I got here I wanted to play all positions at receiver, so just moving around, the versatility. We got guys versatile in the room. But just practicing different things and having versatility in the offense keeps me comfortable at any moment so I can move around at any time.”
Williams' injury left Las Vegas with Ruggs and Bryan Edwards, a third-round draft selection from South Carolina this year, as the Raiders' probable starting pair at wide receiver.
“We know that’s a big role as starters as first-year players, but at the end of the day, it’s football,” Ruggs said. “We came here to play football. We both played in the SEC. I feel like we know what football is, and just come in and compete and play the game that we know how to play, and it’ll speak for itself, our hard work.”
Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr said he had no qualms about starting the season with rookies as his top targets.
“I’m very confident,” Carr said. “Those are my guys. That’s who’s on our team and that’s who we’re going to bat with. That’s who we’ve been equipped with, and we got all we need, and so we’re ready to rock.”
The Raiders made Ruggs the first wide receiver selected in the 2020 NFL Draft after he caught 40 passes for 746 yards and seven touchdowns at Alabama in 2019. Ruggs went to Las Vegas with the 12th choice to earn that honor, edging teammate Jerry Jeudy, who went 15th to the Denver Broncos; and Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, who went 17th to the Dallas Cowboys. Jeudy caught 77 passes for 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns and Lamb caught 62 passes for 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2019.
Ruggs said he wasn’t concerned with being the first wide receiver picked and he’s not worrying about how his rookie stats will stack up against his contemporaries.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think about it,” Ruggs said. “I really don’t care. I’m going out to play football. I’m going to do what I have to do to help my team. And what people say about me is what they’re going to say. I can’t control what other people think. I just got to go out and do my job and let them handle that.”
The Raiders are starting their first season representing Las Vegas after relocating from Oakland in the offseason. The franchise’s first game in its new guise will come on the road. The Raiders face the Panthers at noon CDT Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team will make its home debut at Allegiant Stadium in a Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 21.
Ruggs already has played at the $1.8 billion indoor stadium with a grass field during a team scrimmage on Aug. 21.
“Just putting on that uniform and stepping out on the grass with my team, I can’t even put it in words,” Ruggs said.
While he’s felt the emotion of the moments as he’s progressed toward his NFL debut, Ruggs said he won’t be overwhelmed on Sunday.
“You don’t want the moment to be too big,” Ruggs said. “It’s always going to come back to the same thing. You’re playing football, and that’s what I’ve been doing for a good bit of my life, so once we get there, then I’ll embrace the moment. But until then, we’ve got work to do.”
Before Alabama and the NFL, Ruggs earned All-State selection twice at Lee High School in Montgomery and was named Alabama’s Class 7A Back of the Year as a senior for the Generals in 2016.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
· Meet the NFL rookies with Alabama football roots
· Ravens Pro Bowler to see what Browns rookie Jedrick Wills has
· Mark Ingram retains ‘burning desire to prove that I’m one of the best’
· Philip Rivers ready for new start with Colts
· Falcons' Julio Jones hikes toward another NFL milestone
· Chiefs pick up in NFL season-opener where they left off in Super Bowl
· Houston Texans skip national anthem before NFL season-opening game
· NFL Week 1: Schedule, TV and odds
· Alabama Roots: $100,000-a-week NFL players
· Terrell Lewis to miss at least first 3 games of Rams' season
· 54 Alabama alumni ready to play in NFL Week 1
· 26 Auburn alumni ready to play in NFL Week 1
· Cody Parkey, Cam Sims on first-of-its-kind NFL list
· Angelo Blackson makes quick return to the NFL
· Ronnie Harrison ‘relieved to be out of Jacksonville’
· Steelers bring back quarterback Devlin Hodges
· Damien Harris to miss at least first 3 weeks of Patriots' season
· Bo Scarbrough goes on injured reserve to create roster spot for his ‘idol’
· Washington coach explains decision to put Reuben Foster back on injured reserve
· Tua Tagovailoa to open NFL career as backup with Dolphins
· 26 players with Alabama football roots join NFL practice squads
· FOX’s ‘Tua’ documentary rescheduled after drag racing runs long
· Nick Coe returns to NFL in Auburn practice-squad signings
· 7 Alabama alumni join NFL practice squads on Sunday
· Cody Parkey gets another NFL opportunity
· 2 linemen with Alabama roots return to NFL rosters via waiver claims
· Cam Newton likes mystery surrounding New England’s offense
"really" - Google News
September 12, 2020 at 11:59PM
https://ift.tt/3k8zemD
Henry Ruggs III’s first NFL game really will be his first NFL game - AL.com
"really" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3b3YJ3H
https://ift.tt/35qAk7d
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Henry Ruggs III’s first NFL game really will be his first NFL game - AL.com"
Post a Comment