GARRET WALLOW: To start off with, we have a lot of vets in the room. So coming in as a rookie has been a great experience for me, to see those guys catch on to their game, see how they play, feed their mind, see what they are thinking while they are out there and it's really helped me grow exponentially since I've been here so it's been nothing but a blessing to have Christian Kirksey, he's one of the guys I look up to, it's a blessings to have him in front of me each and every day, and pick his mind and try to make myself better with him, as well.
Q. What do you think of Roy Lopez?
GARRET WALLOW: That's my boy. I think he's a really about player. He's kind of one of those guys that I latched on to coming in because we both have a good mindset.
Definitely a defensive player, definitely a physical guy, so yeah, I'm excited, I think he's going to have a great future, especially in the league. He's a smart player, he's a tough player and you can definitely see it out there while he's out there on the practice field.
Q. Coming from college to the pros, what is the biggest thing you've learned?
GARRET WALLOW: Like I said earlier, trying to pick at their mind day-by-day, just trying to learn how they see the game mentally, and kind of what goes into my biggest adjustment, the speed of the game. You come from high school to college, you have to get used to the speed of the game. And you come from college to th NFL, you have to get used to the speed of the game.
That's one thing that all of us as young players have been trying to take day-by-day, trying to make the game slow down mentally and play to the best of our ability.
Q. Do you ever find yourself in with matchups Brevin Jordan?
GARRET WALLOW: We're out there competing day-by-day, that's what makes us good as a team. We have all that mindset that we are going to push each other every day, come out here and compete to the best of our ability and we find ourselves growing as a team as we do that. So it's definitely a beautiful thing going against each other day-by-day.
Q. How much did you talk to them before the draft and did you know before you were getting picked there was a chance they were going to select you?
GARRET WALLOW: I had a good conversation with Coach Smith and he's definitely a reason I've grown, and definitely just keep going up from there. It's definitely been him and the older guys, so I had a good conversation with him during the Draft process.
Of course you never know where you're going. I'm blessed to be here and blessed to be a part of this team and pleased to come out here every day and work hard for the team.
Q. Your first NFL game, what do you expect emotions to be like?
GARRET WALLOW: My first NFL game, it's an exciting moment, definitely a dream come true. Just like practice, just come out here every day, just put my best foot forward with the team, work as hard as I can and let the rest take care of itself.
Q. In the transition from college to here, what do you notice about what Lovie Smith likes to do with linebackers?
GARRET WALLOW: Coach Lovie, he has a plan for us linebackers, definitely a real defensive guy. He has a lot of experience and there's a reason why I've grown exponentially too, as well. I've got high praise for Coach Lovie.
Q. What's the biggest challenge so far?
GARRET WALLOW: I think it would mostly be the mental aspect of the game. It's a challenge but you like that challenge. You start to really feed into that challenge and you see yourself growing day-to-day. Like I say, a bunch of the old guys have led me along the way and made that quite a bit easier for me.
Q. What do you have to show against Green Bay on Saturday?
GARRET WALLOW: I'm ready to come out here and put my best foot forward with the team and work as hard as I can with the team.
Q. You talked about being of service --
GARRET WALLOW: Yeah, for sure. So definitely want to lock in with a couple Houston food drives, working with the homeless, things like that, whenever I get the free opportunity. I know we have a lot of things going on within Houston that we give back, so I definitely look forward to being part of those things as well.
Q. When you talk about making the transition, how much of that is mental, from college --
GARRET WALLOW: Yeah, me and Ross we have a good relationship, definitely a guy I always lean on and get advice from. He's kind of been in my shoes where I'm at right now. It's always good to have a person like an older brother that you can lean on and kind of get information from whenever you're walking into something that you're not sure of. He's been nothing but a blessing and a big help to me.
Q. Are there any specific things you find yourself working on?
GARRET WALLOW: Really just day-by-day getting better at anything I can. You know, anything linebacker-wise, special teams wise, just bring my best foot forward and best mentality forward every day with the game. Just all in all, coming out and grinding with the team.
Q. Where do you see yourself making the biggest impact?
GARRET WALLOW: Whatever Coach has planned for me, special teams-wise, defensive-wise, whatever they have planned for me, I'll put my best foot forward, and whatever I can do to help the team win, that's what I'm looking forward to doing.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports ...
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports