Jalen Rivers Reflects On His Time With The Miami Hurricanes
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The Cincinnati Bengals selected former Miami Hurricanes offensive lineman Jalen Rivers in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was picked 153rd overall. After joining the Bengals, Rivers spoke to their official website, and there was a lot of Hurricane talk. He spoke about meeting former Hurricanes-turned-Bengals assistant coaches Mike Lee and DJ Ivey in Cincinnati, how Miami head coach Mario Cristobal contributed to his versatility, and what it was like blocking for Cam Ward.
Rivers On Meeting The Cincinnati Bengals Coaching Staff:
"Just the family atmosphere of everybody. I got immediately comfortable with everybody in that program and I know a couple of guys on the team like Matt Lee, DJ Ivey that went to the University of Miami as well. The coaches — just great guys. I could tell they are great human beings. Talking to them, I felt like I was right at home, talking regular like with family and friends. That was most memorable and that stuck out the most."
Jalen Rivers On Playing Multiple Positions At Miami:
"Coach Cristobal, when he got there, we cross-trained at every position. You shouldn't be comfortable at just one spot. During games I (was) going from left guard to left tackle. I credit that to the coaching staff and my willingness to get out of my comfort zone. I could have wanted to be just a tackle or just a guard, whatever the case may be, but to show I could play all five positions if I want to is extremely important."
Jalen Rivers On Blocking For Cam Ward:
"You've got to hold onto your blocks. With him, he's holding the ball for eight (seconds), so you've got to let him do his thing to get guys open and make plays. You've got to give him that time, so it was important to all of us to keep him clean. We tried our best blocking for him. He was a great leader for us at Miami, and now he's going to be a great leader for the Titans. It feels great to block for a quarterback like that, and now Joe Burrow."
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Mark Morales-Smith is a father of five, a former college football scout and semi-pro football player. Morales-Smith is a long-time competitive fantasy football player with well over a decade of professional writing experience at multiple high-level sites.
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