Overlooked in the draft, and perhaps even overshadowed by his Alabama teammate, first-round pick Calvin Ridley, rookie receiver Cam Sims finally got the chance to show his value to the Redskins Thursday night.
"Ah, I really don't know," Sims said. "I dropped that pass. I dropped two."
"But you caught a couple nice ones, too," Paulsen said.
"I don't care about that," Sims said. "I care about the two I dropped. So, I really don't know."
Over four seasons at Alabama, Sims collected 467 yards and two touchdowns through the air on 41 catches. A big-bodied receiver in a rush-happy offense, Sims' presence kept throwing lanes open for Ridley, who caught 63 passes for 967 yards and five touchdowns as a junior in 2017. Sims could have played anywhere with his size, but chose a supporting role on a Crimson Tide team that won two national championships in his four seasons.
"I wasn't worried about that at Alabama," Sims said. "Whatever Coach (Saban) needed me to do, I was there to do it. If he told me to do this, I'm going to be the first one to do it."
"If he needed me," he said, "he knew I was there for him to do it."
Sims was asked, despite his importance to Alabama not showing up on the stat sheet, what gave him the confidence to know he'd still get a shot in the NFL.
"If you keep working, somebody's going to notice you're working and notice your talent, so just keep working," he said. "They gave me a shot and I can't let 'em down."