Here are some highlights from Chris Long’s news conference Sunday afternoon at Rams Park:
On what he likes about joining the Rams: “I think schematically, the coaching staff, everything I’ve heard about the city and the organization. The combination of those things and the people that I have met here and obviously their position in the draft. It all made sense to me that this would be the place for me to be. I wouldn’t rather have it any other way.
“I know Marques (Hagans) real well. I was very excited for the fact that we will be reunited here. He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. Marc Bulger called me yesterday and I had about a five minute conversation with him. It was really encouraging to just hear how cool he was. He’s like ‘Hey you can crash at my place if you need a place to stay in the mean time. Any questions you have, I can answer them.’ And that’s a relief. It speaks volumes for this organization. He is the face of this franchise and the leader. I also talked to La’Roi Glover as well. Someone that I grew up watching back when I was a kid and now I’m going to hopefully be able to learn a lot from him.”
On learning the position from Leonard Little: “The first thing I want to do here is learn from the veterans and establish myself in the locker room because I’m not a guy who takes anything for granted and I know I have a lot to learn. Any guy like that, Leonard Little, La’Roi Glover, Adam (Carriker), any of those guys that are willing to help me, I would love to be helped. I need help. I’m a young guy. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve got a lot to learn. I can’t wait to work with guys like that. Whatever they are willing to do, I’m receptive to that.”
On benefiting from his lifelong exposure to the NFL as Howie Long’s son: “I think that because of the fact that there is more pressure in my situation growing up that it has probably given me a bit of a mental edge. But at this point we are all equal as rookies. We have all been through college football for four or five years, so I don’t have any advantage over the guys now. I think the game has changed a lot since my dad played and since I grew up around that game. I’m new to it, just like he is new to the process as well.”
On his leadership potential: “I think you are who you are throughout this whole process. As a teammate and a player, passion is not something that you can contrive and neither is leadership. I think these things come naturally to some people. I don’t think of myself as a leader or anybody out of the ordinary. I just do what comes naturally to me as a person and as a teammate and subsequently as a player. If I’m able to be a leader, great, but I’m going to come in and try to be the same guy everyday.”
On his skill level: “I need to work on everything. My technique might be good relative to some guys but I don’t think technically the college game, especially with defensive lineman, is too high of a level. I really have to step my game up in some of these phases. I mean the press conference would go on for hours if I talked about what I need to get better at.”
On his ability to rush and stop the rush: “Versatility is something that I feel that I can bring to a team. I think it’s fun to play a number of different spots. To have a number of different responsibilities is something that I did at Virginia. Obviously that’s the college level and this is the pro level. I think really what I have to do is get just good enough to get on the field and do one thing well. I’m willing to do anything that coach wants me to do. I can’t wait to lineup anywhere on the field.”