Jalen Mills got a little startstruck during his first Gillette Stadium visit as a New England Patriot.
The Pats defensive back got the chance to meet his new head coach Bill Belichick last week, and it was an amazing first interaction.
“I’m about to walk out of the cafeteria and I just heard, ‘Hey Jalen.’ So I turn around and it’s coach. And in my mind I’m saying, ‘OK, this is coach,’ but it really didn’t click that it’s Coach Belichick,” Mills told reporters on Monday.
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“I literally turned my back to him and I screamed out loud, like, ‘This is coach Belichick.’ Excuse my language, but like, ‘This is f—ing Coach Belichick.’ Like, I screamed it loud. And then I turned back around and he was still just like monotone, like regular, just still having a casual conversation with me, when I’m freaking out, and I was like, ‘My fault, Coach. One more thing, I gotta cut you off. I don’t want to disrespect you, but Coach, you’re a legend to me. I’m happy to be here.’ He was like, ‘Same, man. Happy for you to be here. Can’t wait to get going and coach you up.’ That was definitely a highlight of my moment outside of, of course, making it official and signing my contract, meeting him and also meeting Mr. Kraft.”
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Mills' excitement is understandable. After all, Belichick has been winning Super Bowls in New England since Mills was only seven years old.
“This is a guy who I’ve been watching since before I even started taking football serious,” Mills said. “I just know they’ve always been dominant. Before I could really know about scheme … you just know that they were always dominant. Always had linebackers who could scrape and hit and run. Always had guys in the secondary who could pick the ball off. It was just always amazing to me.”
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While Belichick's demeanor might not have shown it, he's likely equally excited to have Mills on board as a versatile option in the secondary. The former Philadelphia Eagles DB has plenty of experience at corner, slot corner, and safety.
“He loved the fact that I can play multiple positions,” Mills said. “I think that was definitely a big thing for them wanting me in the free agency process.”
The "Green Goblin" also got the OK from Belichick to keep his green hair, so he won't have anything to worry about there. Altogether, it seems Mills is enjoying the Foxboro experience to this point.