In just two preseason showings, seventh-round draft pick quarterback John Navarre doesn’t look like a rookie. Instead, he appears like a well-poised veteran quarterback. On his first play ever in an NFL game, the Minnesota Vikings welcomed the rookie out of Michigan with a 4-yard sack. Navarre was sacked again on that drive, but Navarre remained unshaken, and was three of three on the drive and moved his unit across midfield into Vikings territory.
“You have to take it in stride,” said Navarre of the rocky start. “As a quarterback, you have to be able to handle adversity. Those things are going to happen and you have to bounce back from it. As a team, we were able to bounce back that series and move the ball and we have to learn from it.”
Navarre explains that the better grasp you have of the offense, the more able you are to stay relaxed and pressure-free, even when defensive linemen are swarming around you like a pack of buzzards.
“To be poised and calm you have to know what you are doing and if you are confident in what you are doing, things are going to slow down for you,” said Navarre. “You’ll be able to work the offense and move the football and so you just have to say, and I learned that throughout my career at Michigan and I’m taking that with me in my NFL career.”
Navarre was basically overlooked in the NFL Draft, but Head Coach Dennis Green was looking for players who came from strong programs and who wouldn’t require a lengthy time to develop. Green often notes other successful NFL quarterbacks out of Michigan: Tom Brady, Brian Griese, and Elvis Grbac, and firmly believes Navarre can join those ranks.
“I think it is a tradition and a history of the program,” commented the latest star quarterback to come out of Michigan. “There is an expectation from the quarterback position, no matter who you are or where you are from, you are expected to do a job and you learn that from day one and you have to be able to adjust and play Michigan football and if not, you are out. You learn to be mentally tough, learn how to run and offense, and learn how to play well.”
During his career at Michigan, Navarre set six all-time passing records and seven single-season marks, but for most of his career, he was also the quarterback who lost to Ohio State his sophomore and junior seasons, an atrocity to Michigan fans. Navarre persevered and won most of his critics over by throwing for 278 yards and two touchdowns to beat the Buckeyes in his final season.
Navarre is used to the naysayers, but he says he has nothing to prove to those who overlooked him in the draft.
“Even at Michigan, people always asked me that,” responded Navarre. “The only thing I have to prove anything to is myself. My main goal was to get my foot in the door and get an opportunity. Whether it came as a seventh-round draft pick or signing with a team as an undrafted free agent, I was just hoping to get an opportunity. My opportunity is here and I’m going to make the best of it and do what I can.”
Since his arrival to Arizona, he’s spent hours pouring over his playbook, picking the brains of quarterbacks Josh McCown and Shaun King, and evaluating his play in the film-room harsher than most critics.
“I evaluate myself each week to see if I’m doing the right thing,” stated Navarre. “I know if I’m making the right decisions and going the right place with the ball. I want to keep progressing, I’ve got a long way to go and I’ve got to get a lot better.”
Navarre may need to get a lot better to become an NFL starting quarterback one day, but for a rookie, he’s not making many mistakes. In two games he is 12/13 for 168 yards and connected with receiver Reggie Newhouse for the Cardinals only touchdown this preseason. Although the play came with 33 seconds left in a beating by the San Diego Chargers, Navarre showed the kind of heart Green expects in a competitor.
“It was a good feeling because we executed the play the way we were supposed to,” shared Navarre. “Reggie and I have been connecting throughout practice and that was a good feeling, but obviously we lost the game and we want to get better and we want to win.”
Chrissy Mauck, azcardinals.com
http://www.azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=2142
(4 horsemen)
