Sauce Gardner is one of the best rookies in the NFL this season. Although he hasn’t played a game yet in the NFL, it’s expected that Gardner will be in the mix of the top cornerbacks in all of football early on in his career. He attended Cincinnati and had seasons that college players can only dream of.
Sauce Gardner Wants to Earn His Nickname
Gardner realizes that the New York Jets organization has to see what he can do before they start giving him his nickname, but he’s fine with that.
“I don’t mind. It happened in college,” Gardner said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “It’s something that comes naturally. A playmaker is a playmaker. It’s not something I go into practice or games thinking I gotta do this so they can call me ‘Sauce.’ It’s just going to come naturally like it did in college.”
“You know, me, sauce and Buffalo Wild Wings, we all just have a special connection,” Gardner said. “I think it’s just going to be natural.”
Fox reported the following on what Gardner had to say:
“I just got to keep taking it time by time, you know, staying focused, not getting too ahead of myself. If I’m doing my job, you know, that’s what is expected of me. That’s why they drafted me.”
“It’s great. You know, that’s how it was at Cincinnati with coach Luke Fickell,” Gardner explained. “Being able to just have a head coach come, and he knows everything that’s going on … [him] being a defensive coach is just a different feel. He knows exactly what he’s talking about. He knows what everybody’s supposed to do — like he’s the defensive coordinator. He used to be a defense coordinator, so it just makes sense.”
Robert Saleh Impressed With Gardner
Robert Saleh added that Gardner had an impressive training camp, beating out Bryce Hall:
“He’s been fantastic,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Bryce Hall has had a very good training camp as well, but at the same time, with the overall body of work since OTAs, it’s clear that the kid is going to be pretty good.”
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