Teammates noticing Hurts' drive to excel
The Alabama transfer QB is often the last to leave the practice field for the Sooners
NORMAN — Sometime on the later side of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, the crowd had dissipated from the rugby fields on the south end of the Oklahoma campus.
The fields the Sooners use for preseason camp practice held around 100 players just 20 minutes earlier.
Now they just held two — OU quarterback Jalen Hurts and one receiver.
Hurts, the Alabama graduate transfer who is the presumed starter at quarterback even if Lincoln Riley insists there's a quarterback battle still brewing, has made it a regular occurrence to be the last man standing on the practice field.
Many times it isn't particularly close, either, with Hurts hanging around for 15 to 20 minutes longer than any other Sooners.
His new teammates might not be out there with him for these extra drills — often assisted by a football staffer though teammate Mykel Jones stuck around Tuesday — but they notice.
Now having been around the team for about seven months, Hurts continues to make a big impression on his teammates.
“He's more of a learner,” receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “He comes in and he never knows enough. For him, it's always, `What do I have to do on this? What are you doing?' A guy like that, you can't do nothing but help. Me, I'm gonna help him out. Him being so open to me is great on my part.”
Hurts isn't just making an impression on his offensive teammates.
Defensive lineman Neville Gallimore said the two have become good friends off the field, thanks in part to their shared appreciation for '80s and '90s R&B music.
Hurts has the reputation as being a no- nonsense type of leader, whether that was developed during his time playing for his dad at Channelview High in the Houston area or in three years at Alabama under Nick Saban. But Gallimore said there's plenty more to Hurts than that.
“A lot of times he's probably misunderstood,” Gallimore said. “But he's his own man, very quiet guy. He knows what he wants and he's not going to stop at nothing to get it. He's got his own mentality, his work ethic. You definitely see that. He's his own man. He's not going anything for show. He's not trying to impress nobody.
“Me as a player, I feed off that as well, a guy who wants to be at his best.”
Having just one year remaining in his college career, Hurts' urgency isn't surprising.
“Coming in and having six months under your belt before the first game, it's gotta be pretty tough to get everything together,” tight end Grant Calcaterra said. “But it's been intense. We've been moving fast, working hard.
“So I think he'll be ready if he's the guy.”