Ochocinco 'On The Right Track' With Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) – Chad Ochocinco is getting used to a new offense, a new quarterback, and a whole new team.
While he admits he is not close to 100-percent with the Patriots, he is sure he will be there when it matters.
"(I'm) very, very confident," Ochocinco said after practice on Tuesday. "Again, the reason I'm able to have the confidence – the little bit that I do have right now – is because I've been able to consume a lot of information in such a short period of time and I'm able to go with the ones. That's it. I'm very comfortable. I'm nowhere near where I need to be to be a part of this offense in a good way, but I'm on the right track."
After spending 10 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, it is good to hear Ochocinco is comfortable after just a few weeks with his new team. While he will get his first game action in a Patriots uniform on Thursday, what is most important to the six-time Pro Bowler is the time he puts in with his new teammates in practice.
"The better I am out here, the easier it will be for me on Sundays," he said. "The preseason is important to a certain extent, but I think most of my quality work comes out here on the field with these guys."
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It helps that he has two-time MVP Tom Brady throwing the ball to him.
"Tom is a special individual, as we all know. I've been a fan of his for so many years – to be able to play with him, words can't really describe that," he said.
He also has help in Wes Welker and Deion Branch, who are used to catching passes from Brady and the Patriots system.
"They've probably made it the easiest with so much verbiage as far as signals and other things in the offense that it's hard for me to get, that Wes and Deion have been able to somewhat catch me up to speed on," he said. "I think with those two, including Tom, they have sped up the process to where I think that even with a game being played very soon, I could probably go out there and play at full speed without having to think."
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And as for all the dropped passes in camp, Ocho is not concerned about those.
"I'm human, right? All of us are human," said Ocho. "Balls are going to be dropped; it's part of the game"
Tune in to the Patriots-Jaguars preseason battle on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV at 7:30pm on Thursday. 98.5 The Sports Hub's pregame coverage kicks off at 4pm, and catch a special edition of Patriots All-Access live from Gillette Stadium at 7pm on WBZ-TV.
