MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez has wanted to play in the NFL since he was 3 years old. Now that he is here, he said he is focused on doing his job, having fun and helping the team win.
"I'm excited. Yeah, this is a lifelong journey, you know, and the NFL is really hard to get into and hard to stay into. Just having a lot of fun and excited for how it's going to go," Rodriguez said.
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Rodriguez said his love of football started early, sparked by watching the game on TV with his dad.
"When I was three years old, I fell in love with football. Like as soon as I saw it on TV and my dad was kind of talking me through what it was, like I fell in love with it. I told him then I'm going to play in the NFL," Rodriguez said.
He credited his family as a key part of his support system throughout the journey, saying they help push him and hold him accountable.
"Both my parents and then my siblings too. I think we have a really close family. You know, everybody kind of grew up together and so we love being around each other and love to spend time with each other," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez played quarterback throughout high school and into college at the University of Virginia. He switched positions when he transferred to Texas Tech, finding his footing as a linebacker. He said the position change turned out to be the right move.
"It was a great decision, obviously. I was lucky enough to have people trust in me and trust in my abilities to play the game," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said his background at quarterback has helped him read defenses and understand the game from a new perspective.
"A lot of that kind of transition from quarterback to linebacker. You have a good sense of the game and how it wants to be played from off inside of the ball. Once you kind of learn what you're doing on defense, it kind of starts matching up and makes sense where they want to attack, what their goal is in certain sets and stuff scheme wise," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez has been described by others as a turnover machine, a ball magnet and instinctive, but he said he sees his role differently.
"As a player, you kind of look at it a different way. You kind of just look at what you have to do and try to do it to the best of your ability for the people around you. If I can set everybody else up for success, and they can do their job, then I can do my job," Rodriguez said.
The transition from college football to the NFL has also come with a shift in culture and responsibility. Rodriguez said the professional game is a different world.
"You have a lot more time and you have a lot more responsibility. In college we had to go to class and you had to be in certain places at certain times and do things. Here it's more of a professional. It's truly a job. Like you truly have to come in here, come to work every day, here for long hours. You're studying all the time," Rodriguez said.
This season, Rodriguez is taking on a communication role on the Dolphins defense, serving as the player responsible for relaying calls on the field — known as the "green dot." Head Coach Jeff Hafley said this week that the two have been going over the call sheet.
"Especially with him being a defensive guy, it makes it easy to kind of go to him and understand what he's looking at and what he's looking for. I'll have to try to be that guy on the field. The coach can't play so you kind of have to understand what wants to get done and what we're looking for and what pictures we want to attack," Rodriguez said.
As for his personal goals in his first NFL season, Rodriguez said his mother's advice has stayed with him.
"The biggest thing is just to have fun. You know, my mom has told me, you know, my whole life, you know, just go out there and have fun. I think that's how we get to play this game. We get to play a kids game for work so just go out there and have so much fun," Rodriguez said.
