Big Red
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- Mar 16, 2019
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"He works really hard at it and wants to be great," coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "It's tough when you're playing behind one of the best if not the best receivers of all time. That's just a tough spot to be in. I thought he handled it with grace and with poise.
"(Coaches) were hard on him last year and put him through it, trying to prepare him mentally and physically for kind of the rigors of what he'd face and to his credit he responded. Couldn't be more pleased with how he's come back."
Kingsbury admitted he has to do a better job finding ways to expand Isabella's role and getting him on the field. Playing behind Fitzgerald in the slot makes things less clear (and an interesting scene when the 6-3 Fitzgerald taps out to the 5-9 Isabella between reps.)
That a wideout from UMass might have a more steeper learning curve wasn't unexpected. Receivers coach David Raih expected such hurdles – "He's gone through the pain of learning to get off the press," Raih used as an example – and now Isabella is showing some of the reasons Kingsbury was so excited to draft him.
"Andy is much more mature," Raih said. "He wasn't a very instinctual guy last year, he was much more mechanical. So he's much more fluid and because of it, you're seeing the ball go to him more often."
Isabella grew out his hair from the buzzcut he sported as a rookie. He changed numbers early in camp, from 89 to 17 (He said he just "got tired" of his old number). But he also seems to have practiced with more of an edge.
"I want to win a job, I want to get on the field more, so definitely have a little bigger of a chip on my shoulder this year," Isabella said.
Murray said he was excited to see what Isabella might be able to bring to the offense. Kingsbury has always looked for a guy like Isabella, who not only has flashed his speed in camp but also his quickness inside, making him for a hellacious cover if locked up with a safety or linebacker.
His teammates saw that potential, which is why they love to root for him. Isabella, who said he didn't really do anything in the offseason except work to make sure he was better than what he showed as a rookie, had a simple reason to be motivated.
"It was, 'Well, I've got to compete,' " Isabella said. "This could be it, you never know."
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