WR Malcolm Mitchell Wants To Show Patriots 'They Made A Good Decision' To Draft Him
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots selected Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell with the 112th pick in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The six-foot Mitchell caught 174 passes for 2,405 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Bulldogs, and could give New England a vertical attack they've missed in recent years. He's also an avid reader and published children's author, writing "The Magician's Hat" about a magician named David who promotes the power of reading.
Mitchell is grateful and excited for the opportunity to play alongside such big name players and coaches, saying: "For me to get that opportunity, I'm truly thankful. I thank the organization for believing in me and it's my job to come up there and work as hard as I can to show that they made a good decision."
SEE ALSO: Patriots Draft Live Blog
Here is a full transcript of Mitchell's Q&A with reporters that took place shortly after being drafted.
Q: The Patriots are known for how difficult of a time new receivers have adjusting to their system. With the reading difficulty you entered college with do you envision having any sort of problem adjusting to the system here?
MM: I appreciate the question. To be completely honest, I'm pretty confident in my ability to learn and, you know, I took a visit with the Patriots. We went over several different things just to see if I would be a good fit for the system so for them to pick me up lets me know that they have confidence in me to be able to make that adjustment and learn what I need to learn to be the most effective player I can be on the field.
Q: Do you remember which coach it was that went over plays with you during your visit?
MM: No I met with the receivers coach [Chad O'Shea] and we just got an understanding of how they put plays in, nothing too specific, but just how they lined up offensively. That's what I meant by that.
Q: Is your knee an issue at all anymore after the ACL injury you sustained?
MM: I'm feeling good. I'm excited to play. My body feels really good and I'm looking forward to coming up and playing.
Q: Did you get the feeling that the Patriots were going to ask you to try a little bit of kick and punt returning?
MM: I told the Patriots I'm willing to do anything I need to to help the team any way that I can. Regardless of if that's playing on offense, any special teams. I'll fill up the water if they want me to.
Q: How do you feel about the opportunity to play with such a successful team with some high-profile names still on the roster?
MM: It's exciting. [It's] an opportunity that you can only pray and hope for. For me to get that opportunity, I'm truly thankful. I thank the organization for believing in me and it's my job to come up there and work as hard as I can to show that they made a good decision.
Q: Were you utilized in college more on the inside or the outside of the formation?
MM: In college, I played everywhere. It went from spot to spot, from positon to positon, so in college I got an understanding of wherever I played.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your book club?
MM: The book club is awesome. The book club helped me grow into a better individual, a person who learns and grows throughout life in general. I joined the book club probably two or three years ago and from there it just grew into this story that people like to hear, but it was honestly an innocent interaction that I had with someone in the book club that grew into the story that it is today.
Q: What is it about your character that allows you to put yourself out there in something that's not usually associated with football?
MM: Well, I just think, you know, if people are more focused on becoming the best person they can be, reaching their full potential, all the outside noise really doesn't matter. That goes for on or off the field. You do whatever it takes to put yourself in the positon you want to be. It doesn't matter what other people say. It doesn't matter what other people think because honestly it's all about making sure that you are doing the best you can to reach your full potential, and that's why joining the book club had no social challenges as far as the way that I thought that people would think about me. So, it was really irrelevant how other people looked at the situation. It was all about how I could grow from being in that particular situation.
Q: In watching the Patriots and their offense from the past several years, what are some of the things you came away with as far as how they use their receivers and what their relationship is like with Tom Brady?
MM: [They're a] phenomenal team. The coaches are always putting their players in the position to thrive and make plays, to learn to grow throughout the system. That's something I've noticed since I was watching them years ago and man, what a coincidence that I'll be able to interact with those coaches, be a part of their team, and hopefully help the Patriots one day.
Q: How much did working with Coach Brian Schottenheimer help you at Georgia?
MM: I think it helped a lot because Coach Schottenheimer immediately came into UGA with a professional mentality. He had been doing it for so many years so the pace at which we would learn plays, the type of plays, the concepts, the adjustments, we got a big dose of that last year at UGA and honestly which I believe is going to prepare me for whatever comes next.
Q: Do you have any connections to the New England area?
MM: Well, I actually did an internship last May in Boston, which is not exactly where the team is located, but it's not too far out. So, I know a couple of people.
Q: Who was the internship with?
MM: I was with the Markley Group on One Summer Street in downtown Boston.
Q: What did you do in your time with them?
MM: Just an internship and that was it. It was a telecommunications company so I was learning a lot about that.
Q: How did you like it up here?
MM: I loved it. Which I could be biased, I came in May where the weather wasn't as cold as it normally is but when I came up there for a team visit I loved every bit of it.
Q: Does this feel like a dream coming true?
MM: It definitely is. Being drafted here in a special place on a team is a dream of mine but I have dreams that go beyond that so it's not about being drafted. It's about coming in, working hard, being productive and helping the team as much as I can. That's also a dream of mine so that's what I look forward to trying to accomplish next.
Q: How much experience did you have with option-routes while at Georgia?
MM: I had a lot of experience in that. To be honest, the majority of our plays were scripted out that way so that's something that I'm comfortable with and I've been doing for four or five years already.
Q: What were the circumstances that led to you playing some defensive back while at Georgia and how much experience did you have doing that?
MM: I had a full year's experience at defensive back and I enjoyed it. To be honest, any time I got a chance to play football I enjoyed it.
Q: Any thoughts about picking Martellus Bennett's brain about the children's book that he wrote?
MM: I'm pretty sure we'll talk about it eventually. I'd say the first thing I need to do is come in and work hard. Then I'm going to have to stick around for a little bit then I'll talk to him about it.
