“I’m a fast person, but it’s a difference when you can save all your speed and just play with your mental abilities, and I feel like that’s what Sherm did,” Woolen said. “You know, Sherm wasn’t the fastest guy, but he knew football in and out. And I feel like that’s something that I want to do. Learn football in and out, that way when those plays do come that’s the only time I want to run.”
When it was jokingly pointed out that Woolen might not want to tell Sherman he wasn’t the fastest cornerback, Woolen said, “He knows himself he wasn’t really the fastest, but I mean his game speaks for itself. His instincts, his ability to know the plays and the routes and all that just shows for itself.”
And while waiting to get back on the field to build towards those 2023 goals, Woolen has been impressed with what he has seen from his position group, which has been one of the deepest in this year’s camp.
“As you saw today, them boys are balling, man,” he said. “I’m happy to see them out there balling. I feel like with this team, in this league, there shouldn’t be a drop-off. It showed today and it’s been showing all through camp that these guys have been doing a great job and have been balling all through camp.”
Finally, Woolen addressed his offseason decision to officially be known as Riq instead of Tariq. Woolen said friends and family have long used the shortened version of his first name, so he decided to just make it official.
“‘Cause all my friends call me Riq, and it’s kind of cool,” he said when asked about the change.
Woolen said even his mother is OK with the abbreviated version of the name rather than the one she chose for her son 24 years ago.
“She calls me Riq, that’s what my family calls me, that’s what my friends call me,” he said.
