Terrion Arnold Asked to Work on JUGS Machine with Amon-Ra St. Brown

New Detroit Lions cornerback is ready to earn his gold jacket in the NFL.

Detroit Lions first-round NFL draft pick Terrion Arnold / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

New Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold is ready to put the glitz and glamor behind him, and is focused on reaching his potential as a player in the National Football League.

“They traded up to select me, and I’ll always be grateful for that and I won’t take it for granted," Arnold told reporters at his introductory media session at the team's practice facility. "I’m already coming here with a chip on my shoulder, but it’s just gonna be that much more of a chip on my shoulder. I saw St. Brown today, and I just asked him, ‘When can we get on the JUGS (machine)?’ Because I feel like I’m a workaholic. I know that nothing’s gonna be given to me. Even with them trading up to get me, it’s much more, it means more to me with that.”

For the past three years, Detroit has selected a player from Alabama in the first round of the draft.

“It’s damn near 'Alabama U,' huh? We get them every year," said wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. "I haven’t seen too much tape of him. I mostly watch some of the receivers coming out, just because I like watching receivers and seeing what they do. But, I’m sure he’s a great player. I know Brad does a great job of doing his homework on guys. Obviously, I know they can play ball, but even besides that, the type of person he is. So, I can’t wait to meet him and get to work with him."

General manager Brad Holmes indicated that former Alabama head coach Nick Saban ran the program in a manner that allowed evaluators to be comfortable selecting his players, knowing they practiced hard on a regular basis.

“I have so much respect for (former Alabama head coach) Nick (Saban) and everything that he’s done with that program," Holmes said. "That’s one of those places where, when I was a young southeast scout, you just go to Alabama and you just want to camp out there for a week, because not only do they have really good players, but you knew the level of player you were getting and you saw the type of practices you were having and the information access. But ultimately, the coaching that they were already receiving, those guys practice hard. They practice intense."

Several general managers across the league have made mention of the added comfort level they have from knowing that Saban and his coaching staff worked hard to prepare their players for life in the NFL.

"You kind of know what they’ve already been through, and you definitely know what kind of coaching they’ve had and you’ve seen them versus the highest level, and there’s really not a whole lot more to see," Holmes said. "Again, I never thought it would have worked out like that with the continuous Bama to Bama to Bama, but I’m not surprised either, because we knew how we wanted to build our football team. And, those guys have been a stalwart powerhouse in the top college football conference for a very long time. Again, Saban, you see him in practice. He spends a lot of time with his DBs every time I’ve been to practice, an Alabama practice. Again, it gives you a little higher-level comfort.”

Teammates who reached out

Several of Arnold's collegiate teammates have already reached out to send their congratulations.

"Wednesday for draft night, Brian Branch was at my dinner," Arnold explained. "We just got a chance to catch up. I've been talking to him consistently throughout the season, just talking about how proud I was. Also, having a funny story -- when he caught his first pick, because he didn't really have any opportunities like that at Alabama. He had a pick-six, so I congratulated him on that. And, just to see him grow, not only into a better player, but a better man. It's been amazing to see.

"And then just right after I got drafted, 'Jamo' (Jameson Williams) called me, and he was like, 'We're going out tonight.' Just looking forward to being around him. He's a fun, energetic guy, and we feed off of stuff like that. I'm really stoked about going against him. One-on-one or something -- just molding him into a better player and him molding me into a better player, and that's it. Most people don't know Jahmyr, man. He's a great dude on the inside and an even better player on the outside."