LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Fresh off signing a four-year contract, Chicago Bears third-round pick Hroniss Grasu addressed the media regarding multiple topics, including his ankle injury at Oregon and his relationship with two-time Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long.
Here are some of the highlights.
On his ankle injury in college: “It was a high ankle sprain, had to go and get it fixed, but they did such a great job and now I don't even think about it. In the Rose Bowl game, the national championship game, I played every single down and never even thought about it. It wasn't even sore, it felt really good, but at the Combine I didn't participate just because I was still in the recovery process and did everything at pro day.
What do you expect the NFL learning curve to be like? “A whole new language, like learning French to Romanian. You just have to learn the vocabulary because it's all same stuff, what we did in college is -- the same guys are blocking the same people, we're getting to the same person but now it's just the tools in your tool box, how you get there, the verbiage that you use with your O-line. With more reps and more work on the field it'll all come back to me again.”
What do you remember about when Kyle Long came to Oregon? “When he came to Oregon on a visit, he was bragging to me about how he was almost 300 pounds, and look at Kyle now, so it's unbelievable how hard that guy worked to get to this point. He came in not knowing much about football, the scheme, the verbiage, all the tools that we use, but he was just a freak. All he cared about was moving the down guys to the linebacker, and that's why he's such a good football player because he just wants to beat that guy, move him from Point A to Point B against his will, and he does that every time and he does it very well. He always looks out for his teammates. He's the kind of guy, who if you get into a fight, you know he's going to be right there, and he's going to pull you back and take care of it for you. True story.”
How did Long help you in college? “Just the attitude that he plays with. He brought an attitude and a sense of pride in the offensive line room about being nasty and playing with a swagger. He did that at Oregon. Our attitude at Oregon changed because of Kyle. For him to be able to do that with being in the program for just one year says a lot about him. He changed the way we went about our business as an offensive line. I see he’s been doing great things here. I’m just so happy for him.”