AFC Notes: Reggie Gilliam, Cade Klubnik, Caleb Lomu, Jets, Patriots

Jets

Jets QB Cade Klubnik says he is unfazed by his fall in the draft and that his confidence is unaffected. He cites his injury and battling through adversity during his final season at Clemson as a big reason for the success he sees for himself in the future.

“In my mind, I’m a winner,” Klubnik said Saturday, via ESPN. “I don’t mean that in a boastful way. I think that’s the mentality you have to have as a quarterback, and I think that my résumé has kind of showed that as well. [Clemson] is a tough place to be. It’s a really tough place to be. My senior year, with 19 starters coming back and huge aspirations and dreams that we had as a team, we didn’t really fulfill those. [I] battled two major injuries throughout the year. Sitting there at 3-5, with all of our dreams and goals out the window, we kind of had to look in the mirror and look to my teammates and say, ‘This is bigger than us. This is going to be special, though.’ For me, I think that I really learned how to truly face adversity and just attack it.”

Patriots

Patriots first-round pick Caleb Lomu has lined up at left tackle so far in rookie minicamp, but he is expected to be the primary backup on both the left and right sides of the line.

“I [view] myself as a tackle in general — left or right side. I just happened to play left in college and that’s what I got comfortable to, playing those three years at left tackle at Utah,” Lomu said, via ESPN. “My first year there I was kind of a swing tackle. I feel comfortable at left but also working at right these last couple months and feel just as good on the right side as well. So either tackle position I’m happy to play and feel comfortable playing.”

Patriots

Patriots FB Reggie Gilliam said he is excited to work with OC Josh McDaniels in New England, given his utilization of fullbacks in the past.

“I was actually watching film yesterday, and I see James Develin split out running a go route, and I was just like, ‘Hey, if he can do it, I can definitely do it,’” Gilliam said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive.com. “No disrespect to James, but I’m a little more agile than him. But it’s just nice to see that Josh values the position in a way more than just running your head into a wall. I feel like I’ve been underutilized before, and I feel like a lot of people don’t know what I can do with the ball in my hand because it hasn’t been displayed. I haven’t really had the opportunity to do so. But I definitely feel like there’s some untapped potential there.”

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