He puts an honest day's work in every day. He made a lot of mistakes mentally [last season] because he was young, just getting in the wrong coverage and things like that. Everything was so fast for him last year, going from two-a-days to start playing, that now he can prepare and not make as many mistakes. |
He said that I'm such a big guy, my injury could relapse if I put weight on it and try to be active, ... The doctor said I can't run for four to five weeks after I heal. It will take two weeks to recover (from the pins being removed), but I can walk after that. It'll be four to five weeks before I can run. |
He took it upon himself to be the best professional football player that he can be. And he's changed a few things about himself and how he approaches the game and it's made his game that much better. He's kept us out of a ton of bad situations – not only with his arm, but with his legs and with his mind. |
He was a freshman and he was feeling his way. As the season progressed, you could see him getting better and better. He's more mature now. He's more confident now. He's doing a great job now on his route running. You can see that he has a year under his belt. He is having an excellent spring. He really is. |
He was a huge boost for our offense. When he came over here, we said at the time of the trade that having that option was attractive because we knew we'd be able to keep him beyond this year. Jay's a professional. He fit in great with the clubhouse. He's another great veteran our young guys can learn from. |
He was an offensive force. He was a clubhouse leader. He was a bit of a cult figure who was enormously popular with the women of Red Sox nation and generally a good guy. We urged Johnny that Boston is a great place for him, that he was a beloved figure here. But in the end he was free to make his decision. |
He was talking about my hands and how I should receive the ball. The rap on me is my throwing. He said he is going to make me an accurate thrower to second base. I have the arm strength, but I haven't had the accuracy. We talked about the correct form. It was different information than I ever heard before. |
He'll be the heart of our lineup offensively, but I'm moving him around and will have him play some infield and do a little pitching. Jake is banged up from playing three sports for four years. We want to keep him fresh through the year. Last year, he caught every single game. We want to mix it up for him. |
He's a calming factor. You do kind of take it for granted. He's so used to doing it. He's had the ball in his hands ever since he was a kid. It's second nature for him. But you do kind of take it for granted being out there because he takes so much pressure off of everybody. But now we all have to step up. |
He's a good back, but he wasn't someone we were going to fear. No, no doubt about it. Just step up to the challenge and put ourselves in position to where, 'Hey, come on, you want something it's a four-quarter game, you get 60 minutes and I hope you get 40 carries. But we're going to do something about it. |
He's a guy who was making plays in a big-time way. I remember sitting there in practice saying, 'he hasn't taken a shot; he's just passing the ball.' I think, in a lot of ways, he's judged unfairly because he's such a great scorer. If he's in a situation where he has guys around him, he gets them the ball. |
He's a perfect example of what we've let slip away in the image of a coach - the job is a teaching job, ... Bill certainly has a great deal of self-confidence, but he's got the humility to know that he can always learn from somebody that's successful. To me, the smarter you are, the more you want to learn. |
He's a very good guy, he's a great teammate. He's good in the bullpen with the younger guys and he's free with his advice and he speaks his mind and sometimes it isn't always a kind remark. To be a true teammate, something needs to be said when it needs to be said. He's the type of person who will do that. |
He's a very unique guy, with the offensive ability he has behind the plate. Something that's very intriguing to me is that his coach played in the major leagues. That should mean he has more refined tools than most kids at that age. ... We expect him to come in with his tools and compete right away for us. |
He's going to help us. When, I don't know. It could be tonight. It could be whenever. With his size, he's going to have a value for us. You don't realize how big he is until he walks into your own locker room. He was a No. 1 pick and hasn't done what people thought he would, but I think there's still time. |