Here’s what new draft pick Ja’Lynn Polk said after being selected by the New England Patriots Friday night:
On what the Patriots are getting from him:
“Man, they’re getting a beast, man. A dude that loves football, loves his teammates, and ready to build and be able to come and bring a great player and a very electric person and go on to win games.”
On what he knows about Drake Maye:
“Yeah, man. The guy’s electric. He goes out there, and he’s able to make plays for his team and be a captain on offense. A great guy, man. An awesome player, man. I had an opportunity throughout this process to see a lot of his plays that he’s been able to put up for his team, and I’m excited to be able to get to work with him.”
On the fact he had a hat ready:
“Hey, man. I had all of them ready. You know, God was able to bless me to give me the opportunity to be a part of a great organization. So, I’m blessed to have this hat on my head and represent them Patriots.”
On the connection with coach Hughes being here in New England:
“Yeah, man. I just remember him always being in a facility, always trying to build our team up and find ways for us to go out there and win games and when you have an opportunity to be around great coaches like that who are determined to get their players better and their team as well, it creates a championship team. So it’s a blessed opportunity to just be able to be coached by a guy that loves to work and loves to win games.”
On if he has any relationship with the Patriots’ current receivers:
“Yeah, so when I first got to Washington, Junior Adams was our receiver coach. We had the opportunity to pop in a Zoom meeting with Kendrick Bourne and he came in there and gave us some advice on just how to work hard and continue just to build on your craft and get better each and every day. So I can’t wait to go out there with him, Juju, and those other guys to pick at their game and see the success that they’ve been able to have. We can go out there and have success all together. I’m super excited and ready to go out there and make plays with those guys.”
On who was with him as he was drafted and what the moment was like when he got the call from the Patriots:
“Yeah. I’m out here in Houston, Texas, with my family, had a little draft party and invited friends and family over. It’s awesome just having a great energy going around. This is one of these moments you dream about and just for me to have the opportunity to live this dream is truly a blessing. Seeing all the smiles and my mom, seeing the tears and knowing all her hard work and my pops as well that they put in. So it’s an honor for me to be able to represent the name that’s on my back. I’m excited to go put even more smiles on their face for the things that I’m about to go do for this team.”
On his experience playing different receiving positions:
“Yeah, I think being an elite player, you got to be able to know how to move around and do different things and be able to go out there and contribute to your offense. So being versatile, being able to move inside, outside, know what everybody’s doing on the field is very important. So I think it’s my job to know as much as I can to go out there and make plays for those guys that are putting in work each and every play. I want to put my quarterback in the best situation possible. So I know I’m going to be able to go out there and make plays for him, and just being able to help other guys around me make their job easier as well. So when that guy is lined up next to me, he can trust me, put in a trust in me that I’m going to be able to know what I’m going to do, and we can feed off each other and be able to communicate to help each other as well.
On how much contact he had with the Patriots before the draft:
“Yeah, I had an opportunity to have a couple of interviews and stuff. It was awesome and I’m super excited to be a part of this organization.”
On how he would describe his strengths and his ability to have success downfield:
“My mindset is just be different. A lot of guys are putting in a lot of work. In order to separate yourself, you got to find a way that you can be different within yourself. So, challenging myself, finding my weaknesses, the things that I need to work on to be able to excel in my game and separate myself from the best. So, just continuously have that high standard mindset of wanting be better each and every day and pushing the guys around me as well, being a leader. I think what I bring to the table and feeding off the other guys as well is what’s going to make us true to our game and capable of the things that we’re going to be able to do outside on the field.”
On if there’s an aspect of his game he’s actively trying to work on:
“I’m always trying to find a way to get better. Just having more energy in my routes, being more efficient coming out of my breaks. That’s something that I had the opportunity to work on with my trainer, Delfonte [Diamond], these past couple of weeks leading up to this process and being more slow, being able to break off those tackles, make that extra guy miss, utilizing my body and my strengths, knowing that I’m a physical receiver, a stiff arm on that guy and making that guy miss. So I’m excited to be able to show the world what I can do again, and help this team win games.”
On who he would compare his game to and who he looks up to:
“Yeah, man. I watch guys like Andre Johnson, Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen is one of those guys who made a major factor of who I watch on film. So his ability just to make guys miss and go up and keep his balance and go get those extra yards and having that certain dog mentality of going to lead his team. And his releases are pretty good so watching his releases, the things that he does in order for him to be able to create separation is elite. I always try to find an opportunity to watch guys that are elite at what they do. It’s because it’s the reason why they’re doing what they’re doing.”
Here’s the video from the team:
(Editor’s Note: This transcript is done via the available footage and is subject to typos. If you spot something, please take a moment to let me know in the comments below.)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
