Proving it to himself: Receiver Adam Thielen hasn't had much time with his new team yet, but he is taking advantage of every minute, including spending time on the field long after practice ends.
"The more that I can actually hear a call, line up, talk about what I he, talk about the entire concept helps," said Thielen. "So not just what the Z has, or just what the F has, but what everybody has. The more that I can do that, the more I'm going to be ready for a game. Because at the end of the day, you can look at a play call, you can look at a picture of the play, but until you actually hear it, he to line up and then execute it. And then on top of that, all the different checks and things that you can get to in different situations. I need to be dialed in on all that.
"So, just thankful that I've got a lot of great teammates that are staying after and walking through those plays with me and talking, both the backup quarterbacks just going through a bunch of stuff with me has been fantastic and really starting to feel more comfortable. Every time I get those walkthrough reps makes me feel more comfortable."
Thielen, who was claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings this week, brings plenty of experience with him as he is in his 12th NFL season.
He is also hoping he can make an impact on the team, but he knows it's going to take work.
"At this point, just really focused on what I can control," said Theilen. "And that's learning this playbook as fast as possible. I want to make an impact today. I'm not even worried about Sunday right now. I want to make an impact today by being prepared, being mentally prepared and physically prepared. And then at the end of the day, I'm a big believer that you've got to go prove it every day.
"You can't show up somewhere and just be given an opportunity. You he to go prove what you can do, how you can make an impact, so then they believe in you and trust in you and can give you those opportunities.
"So, for me, it's just going out there every day like I'm a rookie minicamp tryout guy and trying to prove what I can do and whatever they see that fit is, I'm ready for it.
"I've got to prove it to myself first. In the classroom just being really confident and knowing my stuff, knowing the different checks, knowing the different alerts. I think just making sure that they're comfortable with what I know and how well I know it and then see what happens."