Robby Anderson on Fresh Start in Carolina: "I Feel Like I can Be Myself"
Robby Anderson came from a New York Jets team that hasn't experienced success in quite some time. The same can be said about his new team, who hasn't reached the playoffs since the 2017-18 season. However, Anderson has no worries; he sees this opportunity as a step in the right direction for his career.
When he signed with Carolina on a two-year, $20 million deal, he reunited with his former coach at Temple, Matt Rhule. This connection may have been one of the key factors with the deal since Anderson and Rhule have a solid relationship. Anderson discussed how Rhule operates now in comparison to how he ran things at Temple in his latest press conference. When Anderson was asked if Rhule was different to work with in the NFL, he responded:
“No, I don’t think so, because he treated us like professionals when we were in college - that was our standard and that was one of the very first things he told us when he came from the Giants and became our head coach, ‘I’m going to run things the same way the NFL does and treat you guys like professionals' so it’s really no different.”
Anderson was impressed with his fellow teammates, including his new quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater. Like many others who have been around Bridgewater, Anderson was highly impressed with the quarterback's leadership ability. For further context, here is what Anderson had to say to the media about him:
“Yeah, you know, he’s a natural born leader and (with) some people, they walk into the room and you can just see people move to their beat in a sense. He’s a great football player; he’s a great person. So, it’s easy to play with a quarterback like that. And it’s open communication; he knows what he’s talking about. He knows how they screen things for you to make it that much simpler for you.
When he was asked about Carolina taking his career to the next level, Anderson (unsurprisingly) had nothing but positive thoughts about the situation as a whole:
“I feel like I can be myself and I don’t have to worry. I feel like here if my coaches tell me something, that’s what it is. I just need to do my part and I’m going to get a fair share of opportunity and I just feel like it’s a green light for everything for me. Only me can stop me and I think they see that and give me the opportunity. I know they have my best interest at heart."
The young receiver sees the hunger in his teammates and is looking forward to having one of the best seasons of his career. He mentioned how the team as a whole has "something to prove" because of the amount of people who have been writing them off as a competitive football team.
"The thing I love about the situation is that if you look across the board, everybody is somewhat of an underdog. Everybody has something to prove, so it’s good to be around that type of energy. That was kind of like what it was like at Temple, and we got to that point where we all kind of parted our ways, so I feel like that’s what it is across the board.”
This fresh new start in this motivating environment could be exactly what Anderson needs to take the next step in becoming a top tier wide receiver in this league.
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