On when he found out his deal was agreed upon:
"About 4:30 this morning. I got a phone call from my agent. I hadn't been to sleep yet."

On why he didn't wait until other draft picks had signed:
"I just went with what my agent thought was best. Obviously, I wanted to be here in camp, so they did what they had to do."

On if other players gave him a hard time for missing a day of camp:
"A little bit. The offensive line kind of gave me a little trouble because they had to take the extra rep, but it wasn't too bad.I understand I'll probably spend a lot of money buying food this season and taking them out to eat, so I'm trying to prepare myself for that and get my financial advisors together."

On the rookie tradition of carrying the veterans' pads:
"I understand everybody's a rookie one day. You've got to pay your rookie dues. It could be a lot worse than just carrying shoulder pads, so I'm happy with that."

On if he was anxious while his teammates were practicing without him on Thursday:
"I was nibbling at the bit just to drive by and see what was going on, but I tried my best to stay occupied."

On if he got any sleep the night before while waiting for his agent's phone call:
"No, I didn't get any sleep. My agent told me to kind of stay by the phone, so I was waiting on it, then he called about 4:30. They wanted me up here at 6:00, so I just figured there wasn't any point in teasing myself with an hour of sleep."

On if his agent gave him the impression negotiations would be a quick process:
"We were kind of prepared to miss one day. But I kind of urged them that I didn't want to miss any more."

On if he paid attention to the negotiations of the top three draft picks:"I didn't pay any attention at all. I feel like my agent and the Redskins would make a contract that's good for me and good for my position, so I didn't really pay too much attention to what the other guys had going on."

On if he felt a step slow on the first day of camp like he did during his first OTA:
"It felt good [today]. I didn't get off to a slow start like I did last time. I realize, hey, they're paying me a nice bit of change. There can't be no little rookie time to get things together. I've got to come out here and play now."

On how involved he was in negotiations:
"I just explained to [my agents] what I wanted. I left it up to them. That's what I pay them the big bucks for, to do their job. I let them do their job and I'm here."

On his relationship with linebacker Brian Orakpo:
"When he left Texas, I knew he was going to be a force to be reckoned with at the next level. I didn't envision going against him everyday. I knew we'd have to go against each other somewhere along the road. We became real good friends. He's a down-to-earth person. He's really helping me with this transition. He leads by example and he kind of prepared me for the loopholes all rookies face like hitting that rookie wall at Week 15. He's been a really big help to me, and I always lean on the older guys for support."

On his reaction to the amount of money guaranteed in his contract:
"Obviously I was happy, but I try not to put too much emphasis on what I'm getting paid because I know I'm here to do a certain job and that's to protect the blindside. And I know if I go out there thinking about the bucks and not doing my job, I won't be here long. So I just put it behind me. I'm going to try to save [money] and try to play my butt off."