Two former coaches of Aqib Talib rave about him
Lake told the guys Talib is a good all-around football player who will work hard, possibly harder than any other player on the Patriots.
“Aqib’s got the size you want; he’s 6-1, 205-pounds, he’s fast, he’s quick like a 5’10″ guy. And then the unmeasurable things are his football instincts, this guy has great ball skills, great football awareness,” said Talib’s former coach.
Lake tries to put to rest any speculation that Talib won't be a hard worker, and says he has the football smarts to pick up the Patriots defense immediately. He also enforces multiple times that the Patriots are getting, "one heck of a player".
He also says if Talib held onto some interceptions, he might have been a two or three time pro bowler and that it's not even a question that Talib can guard the long ball.
In the Boston Herald, Talib's high school coach Jim Ledford was interviewed and he also had a 100% positive take on the corner.
“It’s those types of things I’ll remember about Aqib, the great competitor, the person that wanted to be a part and wanted to be in the middle of the action,” Ledford said. “That’s who he is and who he always was. I have really good memories of him. Was he a handful? Absolutely, he was a handful. A lot of good players are handfuls, but we were able to win a bunch of games because he was on our team.
“Aqib’s desire for us to be good was great. He wanted to do whatever he could do to help us be great.”
Ledford downplayed Talib's off field issues and like Lake stressed that Talib was a good person and a hard worker. Both said that they expect great things from him in New England.
Let's hope they're right.
