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Light leftovers
A few leftovers from offensive tackle Matt Light, who spoke earlier this week to the Boston Globe on his recovery from a 2005 leg injury:
On how his perspective changed from watching on the sideline in 2005:
“Everybody goes through that at some point. I had a great run, injury-free, didn’t miss any games. You’re just fighting through the little things you have to fight through and all of a sudden it comes to a stop. It’s a pretty big transition. Number one, you’re dealing with doctors and hospitals, and all that stuff. That’s never fun. Number two, you’re on the outside looking in, which is tough. You have everybody doing their thing, and you can’t take time away from them and say ‘Hey man, how’s it going? How are you feeling?’ You can’t sit there and [chit-chat] with those guys because they have a job to do. It’s not like they’re going to have time to hang out with Matt Light, who is nursing an injury. That’s tough to recognize, but it’s just a fact of life. They’re out there preparing hard and you get a different view of how things work.”
On managing his weight and strength at this time:
“Weight, for me, even when I was down and casted up and all that other stuff when I first broke my leg, I didn’t gain any, I didn’t lose any. Right now I’m the exact weight that I left last season, which is a little odd. I’m not sure it’s the best weight [laughs], but it’s getting back there. I think from a strength standpoint, I’ve been working in there with Mike [Woicik] and been able to maintain a majority of that. Getting back to playing strength, and everything else, will be a little bit [tougher]. I’m not putting pads on right now. Once that happens and we get to see how the bullets fly for real, we’ll see where I’m at.”
On the performance of last year’s rookie linemen -- Logan Mankins and Nick Kaczur:
“I watched Logan [Mankins] on film, and watched what he did as a rookie, and it’s not an easy thing to do, especially when you have that much going on. It would be one thing if you had a rookie go through a season with guys on either side of him who have been there and done that. But he had another guy who came in [Nick Kaczur] that was in the same boat he was, and I thought they both played great.”
On the camaraderie of the offensive line group:
“We have guys who are all on the same page, they all respect each other, and there’s no ego, no ‘who has the better house?’ or that little stuff. We all fit together and there’s a lot to be said for that. I don’t think it’s that way everywhere. I think it does a lot toward building a team and the atmosphere we want to have here.”
On entering his sixth NFL season and what he’s learned over that time:
“I’ve learned a lot of things, on and off the field. We’ve come a long way. I came into the league unmarried, no kids, just a single guy out there having a good time. Now I’m married and have two crazy, wild kids and all the responsibilities that a lot of other guys in the world have. It’s different, but the bottom line is that you have to push yourself and hold yourself accountable for everything that happens. You see a lot of guys who come through, not here necessarily, who have a great opportunity to do something and let things slip away. Nobody is going to push you. Coaches can only yell and scream so much. You learn a lot from everything. You learn a lot from the rookies that are coming in new. I’ve been impressed with our new guys and their work ethic, Logan and Nick, these guys are really hard workers, and they push themselves and everyone around them. It’s not like all of us who have been here a while have it all figured out. It’s good to see that.”
