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View the profile for Terrell Thomas | View all Blogs

My trip to Atlanta went real well. They had pretty much all their personnel there. The GM, Head Coach and Assistant Head Coach were all there. I went over some film with their General Manager, Thomas Dimitroff and I talked to coach Mike Smith for about 20 minutes. They pretty much told me they were high on me and if I was available in the early to mid second they would take me there. I think their scheme would be a great fit for me and the position is wide open with Deangelo's departure.

After Atlanta I went to Boston. It was a little bit different but overall I had a good trip. I met with their GM, Coach Capers and their defensive backs coach. I talked to Coach Belicheck for about 40 minutes in a one on one meeting. We talked about everything from football to personalities to the Super Bowl. We talked about various similarites between the Patriots and USC. It was a good trip but the long six hour flight back killed me. I wasn't used to that and I was going from east coast time back to the west coast. I came back for a day then headed out to San Diego. I met with their Assistant General Manager, Buddy Nix. I pretty much met all their assistant coaches and their offensive coordinator. I was with Coach Bill Bradley the whole day and he took me on a tour of downtown San Diego. We had lunch near the beach. It was a beautiful view. I had a great trip with him. We talked about everything, not just football.

I had trips scheduled with Tampa Bay and the Giants this week but they were canceled because the coaches were out of the office. I still have San Francisco coming up and I'm looking forward to that. But it's been good to get myself away from working out for a little bit. Also these trips are eating up alot of my time, which helps because I'm just ready for the draft to come. But other than that I'm just getting back into my regular routine of working out preparing myself for the upcoming season.

Pro Day was last Wednesday. It went pretty well. I fixed my vert. They had the numbers wrong at the combine so I jumped 36 inches at Pro Day. I believe I ran a 6.95 in the three-cone which was an improvement for me. My 5-7-5 was a 4.11 or 4.12. Position drills went really well other than the fact that I kept dropping the ball. I would literally catch it and it would just fall out of my hands right before securing it. I don't know if it was concentration or what. My footwork and hips were pretty good from the feedback I received. I ran my 40 again and ended up with a slower time than I expected. I ended up with a 4.5. I was putting together great starts and my transition phase was good during my workouts at USC but it just didn't come together for my on Pro Day. But I do have a 4.45 at the combine on paper and most teams were really just happy to see me get out there and compete.

Everything else is going well. I just left Atlanta where I met with the GM, Head Coach, and position coach. It was a really good trip. I'm in Boston today just hanging out in the hotel room watching the women's basketball game. I've got a visit with the Patriots tomorrow. After that I'll head back home where I've got the Chargers on Friday, and then I'm done for the weekend. I'll start back up with the visits next week. I've got the Giants, Tampa Bay, San Francisco, and then I believe I finish up with Tennessee. It's going to be a long process. I'm going to be doing alot of traveling across the states but at the same time, it's eating up alot of time. I'm just ready for the draft to get here and hopefully it ends up good for me.

I've got Pro Day coming up tomorrow. I'm going to run again. I feel real confident. Alot of corners ran again which just made me work even harder these past couple weeks to prepare myself because there's alot of competition at the position. I really want to blow up my time from the 4.45 that I ran at the combine. I'm also going to do my vertical and my pro agility. Today I've really just been resting for the most part.

My workout with the Bengals went real well. Coach Kevin Coyle is a real cool DB coach. He was on vacation and I was able to talk to him and meet his wife and daughter. I guess they were touring the campuses in California. He was very informative telling me what I did well and what I needed to work on. He really helped me out. I've got Tampa Bay and the Giants coming up. I've setup six trips total which is really good. I'm getting a good deal of positive feedback. I'm looking forward to the next couple weeks where I can just start preparing for the draft. Once Pro Day is over, I'll start getting back into football mode, working on my change of direction, getting my hips loose, and getting more bulk on. I got a bit lean while getting ready to run the 40. You really need to be ready when you name is called because you have to go to mini-camp that next week. At that point you want to turn some heads and not have people asking "why did we pick this guy?". I want to go in and prove myself as the top corner that I am and contribute to my team anyway I can.

So far I've setup visits with the Patriots, Falcons, Chargers, and 49ers. I've got a visit with the Bengals tomorrow. Pro Day is coming up a week from tomorrow. I've decided to sit on my 4.5 rather than running again. Since I left Arizona I haven't really had the training that I need and while I'd like to run a better time, at the same time I don't want to risk injury. I've been running good times in the pro agility. I'm looking forward to doing those as well as the position drills again. I'm excited about this process that is coming up. It's getting closer and closer. I'm just looking forward to next week. The hard part is over and now I'm just waiting for a team to fall in love with me and hopefully draft me.

I had a workout with the Patriots last week. It went very well. The Falcons GM was out there. I have a trip setup to Atlanta later in the month and I have a workout with the Bengals next Thursday. I'm still working hard trying to get ready for the pro day. I'm doing real well in my pro agility drills and my three-cone, preparing to make my numbers better. I'm preparing to run again. I'd like to get to a faster 4.4 or down into the 4.3 range. I've been clocked at 4.45-4.46 already. I would like to run faster and I know I can but I won't do it if I feel it may cause an injury. But I'm training to run and I'm going to test again next week. Hopefully if my time is good enough, I'll perform on pro day again. Pro day is my last chance to prove myself to the scouts so I really want to improve my stock.

I'm working out with my former teammate, Will Poole. He played for us in the 03-04 season when we won the Rose Bowl and the National Championship. We've really been pushing each other. When I first came to USC I was young and he was on his way out. Now he's coming back from injury trying to get back into the league. So we're pushing each other, helping each other out, and just trying to get ready for Pro Day. It's a big day for him also.

I finally got my 40 time down to 4.45-4.46 electronic. I'm training not to run at pro day. But if I'm feeling good and my rhythm is right then I probably will run again if I can get a better time. I’ve ran a 4.3 numerous times in the past. If I think I can do that and not have to worry about pulling a muscle, I could run again. For the most part I'm just getting ready to put on a show in my position drills. I want to show off how big I am, how fluid I am, and how quick I am coming out of my breaks. I'm also going to do my three-cone, pro agility and vertical again.

As far as individual workouts go I've already met with the Steelers and I've got the Patriots and Falcons coming up. This whole process is going well for me. I feel real confident in my performance this past season. With my overall skill ability, the program I come from, and my knowledge of football, I really believe once the GMs, head coaches and position coaches get in the room and break the tape down even more, I'm going to move into the top three best defensive backs in the nation.

The combine was a stressful experience. It was emotional, stressful and very fatiguing because the motto was "hurry up and wait". Sometimes you would get there early and just have to sit and wait but it was a process and I enjoyed every part of it. When we got there we changed and went straight to the hospital for our eye exams and all the basic tests. The next day was tougher. We had to go see the doctors and take care of all of our physical exams. At one point I was on the table and had six different doctors pulling on me at the same time. Then another team of doctors would come in. It was real efficient but it was a difficult process. Unfortunately I had to get some MRIs. So I had to go to the hospital for about 5 hours. About 3 1/2 hours were spent waiting then I had to go in and get two 45 minute MRIs.

Our time in Arizona really did a good job of preparing us for the combine. We knew everything we were going to do there. I did the wonderlic in training and got an 18. I don't know how I did at the combine yet though. They had a lot of psychological tests that we had to take. Some had as many as 200 questions and some had repetitive questions that were true or false. They really tried to get a feel for what you were thinking.

As far as the on the field work goes, I pretty much did everything there. I did all the positional drills. As far as my 40 time goes, I ran a little faster two weeks before I got to the combine. I might run again because the scouts weren't there to verify my time when I ran a sub-4.4 in training. I did well at the combine but I didn't do great. I killed on the position drills. Coach Carroll really put those into our heads. We never stopped doing position drills in practice. At USC everything was technique. If your backpedal is right, your game will be right. And at the combine it was really just playing football out there--doing position drills and catching the ball.

The teams I met with at the combine include: Pittsburgh, San Francisco, San Diego, New York (Giants), Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Miami. Most of the teams seemed to like me and said I was well-prepared but you just never know where you are going to end up getting drafted. Last year my cousin, Gerald Alexander, was drafted 61st overall by the Detroit Lions and he never met with them prior to the draft.

When it was all said and done I was emotionally drained after the combine. I went back to Arizona then I came straight back to L.A. I needed to relax for a couple days because I was exhausted. Now I'm back to the same training schedule I was on before the combine. I'm also working out at USC getting more into football mode. I'm trying to prepare myself for the upcoming season because I've got 4 pre-season games and 16 regular season games to play. Hopefully the team that drafts me will have a good season and we'll have playoff games to play was well. So I'm just training and getting ready for the whole process. This is going to be a life-changing experience for me.

On a typical day I get up, feed and play with the little puppy I bought. I tire him out then I head to the facility. I get there around 7:30 to eat breakfast. Then I get a little stretch in and write down my weight. We do about 30 minutes of speed work outside then we head inside and either work the upper or lower body depending on the day. The intensity is pretty high but the volume isn't too bad. After that they bring us our protein shakes which help us either gain, lose, or sustain our weight depending on what we want. Next we "re-gen" which is basically stretching after you workout so your muscles don't get sore. Then we get our lunch which is pre-made for us. Much like the shakes they have different types of meals depending on what you want to do. I wanted to maintain the same body weight but at the same time put on mass and get stronger without getting too big. After lunch we get to head home for an hour or two depending on if you need to come back for rehab or if you have soreness that needs to be stretched out or massaged. Then we repeat the same sequence in the afternoon.

The Senior Bowl was a great experience and it really prepared me for the combine. We got to meet with the NFL teams and compete against the top talent in our class. We also had the opportunity to work with NFL coaches and see what the next level was going to be like. I met with a lot of teams in Mobile. In some cases I'd meet with the head coach and in other cases it would be assistant coaches or scouts. They were in the lobby and you're pretty much just talking the whole time. Some of the more interested teams would schedule formal meetings with the Head Coach and General Manger. Teams I met with at the Senior Bowl include the Rams, Lions, Panthers and Seahawks. Overall the Senior Bowl was a great experience for me. It was my last game as a college player and my first step towards becoming a professional.