Love his attitude and his willingness to learn and get better, soak up everything the vets can help him with. Not necessarily trying to come in and take somebodies job or get them released. He just follows their lead and when his time comes, whether it's this year due to injury to a vet or next season if he moves up the depth chart, hopefully he's ready to take over. I have no doubt he will with his work ethic, talent & skill. Lorenzo Mauldin physically is much bigger than Ralph Macchio. But the 6-4, 259-pound New York Jets' linebacker feels a bit like Macchio's "The Karate Kid" character in his first training camp. The rookie knows his place in the pecking order on the Jets' defense. So instead of looking at his relationship with Calvin Pace as a competitive one, Mauldin sees the starter as a mentor like Mr. Miyagi. "It is not competitive because I am a pup still," Mauldin said. "I am still learning. It is like (Pace is the) sensei and (I am) Daniel-san. Just basically taking all that information from him and hopefully later on down the line when his career is over, I can just take his place." During the spring workouts, Mauldin might've felt like he was trying to beat the "Cobra Kai" all by himself. But now he feels like he's moving faster than he did in the spring and that could be trouble for opposing offensive lines in the future. The Jets' rookie could be seen on Tuesday in practice relentlessly rushing the quarterback from his outside linebacker position with a vigor that has caught head coach Todd Bowles' attention. Part of that has to do with the fact that the rookie is learning the defensive playbook. The third-round pick out of Louisville is also figuring out his role a bit more. Bowles has liked the energy he has seen from the second-team linebacker. But Mauldin has plenty of room for improvement. "He's got a high motor," Bowles said. "You like the kid's motor and he's got some good pass-rush moves. But he has to learn the overall game. He is pretty young that way." The linebacker had his share of learning moments in his preseason debut when he missed on a sure sack on one play before later drawing a roughing the passer penalty on another in the first half against Detroit. "Made a couple of mistakes but that was my first game so I had to get the jitters out," Mauldin said. "I look forward to the next game against the Falcons and doing better than I did that last game." Mauldin knows his role can grow the more he learns the playbook and the more he learns from Pace. "If I know what I am doing, I play a lot more," Mauldin added of his knowledge of the Jets' scheme. "But if I don't, I will be a situational pass-rusher, so I've heard. Just being able to understand what I am doing when I go out there, that will determine my playing time." http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/53180/lorenzo-mauldin-channels-his-inner-karate-kid
I said it when we drafted him. this guy is going to be an outstanding player for us, and the leader of this team within 2-3 years. Forget the slow 40 times, the guy can get in the backfield and competes his rear off. work ethic second to none and dude is a leader of men. i expect him to see a ton of snaps this year.
He looks like a BEAST...think this was the sleeper pick of our draft. He looks really, very good. I know many fans don't like Pace. I think Pace is a good mentor and if things go well, Pace most likely passes the baton to Mauldin at some point this season. Stronger, faster, Greeener ha ha
He was an absolute steal where we got him for how good it seems like he is gonna be. Hopefully all our drafts going forward are filled with guys like him who not only want success but put in the hard work to deserve it.
If he develops like I think he can, our defense can be the best in the league in a year or two (assuming we don't lose Snacks and our safeties develop).
LM is the reason I was not worried about IK being cut, some guys just have the it factor, and in my opinion LM has it, it's just a matter of proper development by the coaches.
Prime example of the old saying "Hard work always beats talent when talent refuses to work hard". I just hope he can continue the work ethic and growth that he has shown so far.
Reading this makes be sad we lost IK. We had two guys just like this who were young, hungry, getting better, and our future. Thanks a lot Geno you fn immature scum bag. But if we had to lose one, glad it wasn't Mauldin. Back to Mauldin.....love dudes hair. Just LOOKS like a bad ass coming off the edge. Wish Jets.com would post more vids of him on the field. If anyone goes to practice be sure to get some.
Glad to see we can all agree Mauldin is going to be something special. His story only makes me think his drive will be through the roof. Love this kids game too.. non-stop super high motor..always in the backfield..compliments our defense well.. i won't be surprised if he makes his presence felt from week 1 and on.
Enough with this blaming Geno bullsh*t. IK can't conduct himself like a professional, he needs to GTFO. Sucker punching a teammate is inexcusable, straight up. He's not a big loss, trust me. Watch him not do a damn thing in Buffalo.
He has everything in the world to succeed in this league. The question is whether or not he can develop pass rush moves to become a dominant edge rusher ala Demarcus Ware, Terrell Suggs, etc. and a double digit sack guy or if he ends up being just like Pace with 5 or 6 coverage sacks a year and a solid edge rusher. Realistically you hope for a bit of both. One things for sure; you can't teach motor and passion for the game. He seems like the type of guy who cherishes the opportunity to be able to play this game for money and it translates into his high intensity.
Sounds like he isn't very hungry to me......I'll wait until Pace retires and hopefully I can take his place? I was hoping he put Pace out of buisness this year
My god it's so refreshing to see someone come in and know they need to earn their place and work hard to improve rather than declare themselves the best linebacker in the NFL.
