Saints rookie Tommy Stevens said he’s always done whatever a team asked him to.
“That carries back to even when I was in high school,” he said. “I did a lot of things early as a young guy and then kind of transitioned into a quarterback role.”
So when the Saints asked the former Mississippi State quarterback to switch to tight end, he made the move quickly.
“It really wasn't like a long drawn out process,” he said. “It was kind of like, we’re going to start teaching because the whole offseason I was learning the offense as a quarterback. So they got me in, they got me to start going over some of these things as a tight end. So that was really, really all we did. And since then, it's just been all tight end stuff.”
Stevens said he hasn’t closed the door on playing quarterback or any other positions but is focused specifically on being the best tight end he can for the Saints.
He said learning the offense as a quarterback has helped with some aspects of his new position.
“It definitely helped me more in the pass game, I should say,” Stevens said. “But, so I basically had to kind of relearn all of the run game. Just because I was looking at it from a quarterback’s perspective, and I didn't really know all the details of (what) the tight end was going to be doing. But (in) the pass game, learning it conceptually has really helped me and it's definitely shown up in practice and knowing what to do.”
Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell said Stevens has shown a good ability to catch the ball and impressed with his athleticism, but is still starting from the ground level.
“Honestly, you’ve got to go back like you are teaching somebody that is straight out of high school and has never blocked before, just like he's coming into college,” Campbell said. “We have just tried to take baby steps for this stuff and into where he gets more comfortable with it. And it is no different than when we had Dan Arnold here.
“He's starting to be doing things that that he is not familiar with (and) he's never done. So it's all just everything starting from the beginning.”
Stevens has also impressed on the special teams unit.
“Look, he's had some plays in the kicking game,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “There's a play today where he did a good job as a punt hold up player. He runs extremely well. Obviously, there's a large learning curve for what he's doing. And yet I've been encouraged with his approach each day. He'll correct the mistake and not let it affect him on the next play. But he's green and he's got a lot of work in front of him."Stevens welcomes the challenge and said he's enjoyed his first NFL training camp
"It’s been a good time," he said. "Obviously there’s a learning curve but, I’m having a good time so far.”
