It's my job, first and foremost, to take care of the football. Guys work their tails off. That's Football 101. From the time you play youth ball to high school, college, pro, every level, that's the starting point for every quarterback. You have to take care of the ball.
Scott Tolzien
You've always got to have that inner confidence in you. That's where it all starts. You're gong to have good days, you're going to have bad days. You've got to have the same desire and try to get better each day.
With anything in life, I think that's when you start stressing yourself out - when you start worrying about the things that are out of your control. What I can control is being at my best every day and having no regrets at the end of each day. That's what I plan on doing.
The bottom line, in the professional level, no matter where you go, there's going to be competition. That's what it is. At the end of the day, you're trying to put team first and make each other better.
The bottom line is that it's the NFL, and there's going to be competition wherever you go. That's the way I look at it. I've had competition in high school. I've had competition in college, and that's part of the game. That's part of how you improve as a quarterback.
I feel that a lot of people say that your best passing attack is having a good run game. I couldn't agree more with that.
You try to make the most of each day. I'm not big into setting real specific goals. I think, really, if you just focus on every day - and I know that's the oldest cliche in the book, but it really is true. Day 1 of camp means just as much as Day 17 of camp. If you really try to focus on each and every one of those days, long-term.
I'm trying to be a sponge. People say, 'Well, that's what your rookie year is.' I still feel that way in my second year.
That's ultimately the thing that sticks out to you most, that's most important to me, is that I have the respect of my teammates.
I just try to be the same guy I've always been. Calm, collected, and being a good decision-maker and delivering the ball to the right guys.
You're competing against other guys because ultimately there's only one starter, and all of us want to be that guy at some point. That's the way I approach it. Control what I can control and just be the best I can be each day.
Ultimately, anything is just what you make of it.
Anytime you've got a good running back, it will help your passing game.
