Rams Rookie OT A.J. Arcuri On Making His First NFL Start Against The Chiefs

what's up AJ how are you good how are you Jordan good thanks um so this week probably has been a little bit nuts for you right um what's been making how was your preparation leading up to yesterday's start yeah I mean uh you kind of got to be ready at all times um I talked with Coach Carberry and he's like you know this this uh your opportunity might be coming soon so you know just prepare yourself and I think uh he did a great job you know getting me ready getting me to have the right mindset going into this game like knowing that I had a possibility of starting and um and then really just the older guys too like Rob havenstein um Ty you know even working going back to the earlier weeks uh working with Joe so um I'd say all those guys have kind of helped prepare me for this opportunity this has obviously been an unprecedented season um you're like meeting new people every week it seems like who are coming in the room and you're also trying to learn and and you know become an NFL player in your first season how's that balance been for you and can you shed some insight on like just kind of what a mental load that has been yeah I mean it's you know you don't really know what to expect coming into your rookie year but um I think it's been awesome just to have those um have all these guys coming in because everybody has a different perspective or has um you know diverse um techniques and uh different tools to give you so I just try to um pick everyone's brain and see you know what works for me and learn from all those guys is there any um one thing one detail especially heading into not just your first start but at left tackle in Arrowhead you know on the road uh is there one detail that maybe sticks out to you that really impacted you or really was something that you kept sort of replaying in your mind yeah I mean really um coach McVeigh earlier in the week you know he's talking to the team he's like you know he's going around the room asking everybody you know like what was your childhood dream and you know for all of us pretty much it's to play in the NFL so really just going back to that and thinking you know this is something that I've dreamed about as a child you know I want to get out there on that field so it's really you know a dream come true obviously the outcome is not not what we wanted but the opportunity was great thanks AJ Gilbert hey uh AJ I'm sure there's a lot of emotions for you out there on the field but having to deal with that crazy crowd Arrowhead Stadium how is that for you yeah I mean I think um you know I was obviously an adjustment for me just not having played in an atmosphere like that especially um at this level so um it was an adjustment at first but I think we did um you know we prepared all week for that um crowd noise and everything so you know I just try to trust my technique and everything as much as I could and just go out there and play and not ages it's only your first game but how would you assess how you play it you know a lot of good passwords over there with you know Frank Clark and guys like that um I think there's a lot that I need to clean up and um get into the film and correct so is there anything you like that you did out there um yeah I mean there's some stuff there's some stuff there's some good some bad um like I said I think there's just a lot to learn from after that first game so I'm gonna take this week to try to assess um all my weaknesses and what I need to improve on thank you appreciate AJ student hey AJ so when you found out that you were that going to be starting and then obviously as you're you know going out of the field and preparing for that what was kind of going through your mind and how are you kind of processing that in real time yeah I mean it was kind of uh I knew like all week that there would be that possibility that I'd have that opportunity so um you know I just kind of planned all week as if I was starting so I think that helped um going into the game like having that mindset all week and just envisioning myself out there on Sunday thank you Jerry it's muted sorry hey um a lot of guys when they're getting their first opportunity or when they haven't played in a you know coming off an injury or something they often talk about you know once they get that first hit or once they're hit for the first time the nerves kind of go away and they're just able to play I'm just curious what you if that was your experience or if you weren't nervous at all or kind of what your uh you know how that kind of progressed uh yesterday during the game yeah I mean I would say I was definitely you know there's always some nerves going in there especially the first one or um starting your first NFL game so I definitely had some some nerves um going in there but kind of like you said you get those first couple hits in and you know it's kind of like riding a bike um you just kind of go back to your Basics and it's like you know I've played this game before the same game I've been playing all my life so just gotta trust my technique and um trust my fundamentals and just do everything the best that I can being able being able to uh move on from a play you know whether it goes well or or it doesn't go well I know you guys are trained to do that but again being your first NFL game did you find you were able to do that if on the plays maybe where you didn't perform as you wanted to were you able to quickly put those behind or was that also kind of a process um yeah I mean like you said I think that's kind of something um you get better at as you go on but I think I tried to the best of my ability to move on from those bad plays and just go to the next play and um give my best effort on the next one not looking back and letting that get in my head and snowball so and I'm I'm guessing the other it worked the other way as well when you did make a you can't really you know uh favor a really good play very long either right yeah yeah because you got the next one coming up so thanks very much thank you Jordan um they a lot of people around the league especially with uh when they come up across uh spags in Kansas City the DC um they say it's kind of like especially for young players it's a little bit of a baptism by fire because he'll throw a lot of different looks at you they'll send a lot of different kinds of pressures that like make you communicate a little bit extra especially you know Bryce making his first start behind you and then knowing that there are guys on the line you guys probably have to go silent a couple of times if not quite a bit and then new guys on the line all of those things so managing all of that and staying steady at a key position on that line um what was that mental process for you in terms of managing the information that you were saying and then as a follow-up how was Bryce in terms of we you hear he's really calm all the time yeah so um I think really all that comes down to is the communication and um Bryce and Coleman really did a great job you know just trying to listen in and tune into what they're communicating on that line and you know staying patient um to get that play off so I think they they helped a lot and really all the older guys playing on the o-line they did a great job communicating and getting everyone on the same page thanks a rapper still AJ I know you mentioned a lot of the older guys being helpful but I know that Rob has been pretty consistent about you know taking you guys under his wing basically after practice and giving you pointers and things like that so is there anything that you know any advice or pointers or anything like that that he gave you during the week that you found to be really impactful or helpful yeah I mean really I mean there's so much just from a technique standpoint um that he's continuously helped me um kind of go through and just seeing his perspective and how he um handles different moves and all that stuff but I would say just him just you know giving me that confidence to go out there and just tell me you know just go play do your best you know that's really all you can do so