Kenbrell Thompkins calm and cool as Week 1 approaches

Rookie WR Kebrell Thompkins probably should be feeling butterflies in his stomach. By all means, the 25-year-old barely found his way to the league. After an extensive amount of legal troubles, he struggled to even land a spot on a D1 college football team. Even still, he went undrafted this past year, before the Patriots decided to give him a call. As one of the more pleasant surprises during training camp, KT found himself as a top receiver, surpassing other rookie hopefuls Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce, who were actually drafted.

However, when asked about his feelings with his first NFL game coming up in a matter of days, Thompkins was caught off guard at first, because the answer was so simple:

"I try not to have jitters," Thompkins said. "I think it starts with preparation, make sure I’m on top of things I need to be on top of, and there shouldn’t be no jitters."

Sounds like the mindset of a veteran. Most professional athletes credit their calm demeanor to their work ethic and preparation before even entering a game or competition; they know that they're ready.  Even still, this is an undrafted free agent trying to cement his spot on a Super Bowl contending team, wouldn't it make sense for him to be even a little bit nervous? I guess not:

"I’m going out there playing football, and it starts with preparation," Thompkins said. "I do a lot of studying and making sure I’m on top of things I need to be on top of and I go out there and try to do the best I can do each and every day."

Kenbrell Thompkins has essentially been hanging on to one last chance since his high school days. At this point, he seems to understand that the future is under his control. I'm sure he is very confident with the amount of work that he's done to get to this point, but regardless, I wouldn't be shocked if he is a bit wide-eyed when he runs out of the tunnel with the team on Sunday.

Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18