LOS ANGELES — It’s been about three months now, from the day he was drafted by the Rams to a month of offseason workouts to now, over a week into training camp, but receiver Jordan Whittington still can’t quite shake this feeling.
“It’s still surreal. I feel like every day I come out here, I say to myself, ‘This is the NFL,’ at least once,” Whittington said. “I think it’s going to happen my whole career.”
Once upon a time, not too long ago, Whittington wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to continue playing football. His third season at Texas had been cut short by injury, just as his second year had been. This time around it was a broken collarbone suffered while diving for a pass.
Whittington required surgery, his third operation while at Texas and sixth dating to his senior year of high school, four of which were on his groin. The cumulative effect of those injuries was beginning to weigh heavily on Whittington.
“I was just like, ‘I don’t know if I want to keep doing that to myself,’” Whittington recalled. “Physically, it wasn’t that hard to come back from but mentally, I was like, ‘Ok.’ Then my stepfather passed away, my grandma, everything was going bad.”
Full of doubt about his future, Whittington turned to his mother and asked for advice. She focused on the opportunity he still had to get his degree at Texas, but she had to keep her actual wish for her son to herself.
“His dream ever since he was like 7 was to play for the NFL,” his mother, Mary Hill, said. “I didn’t tell him, but I wanted him to give up ball. It’s too damn much. It’s a violent sport. But Jordan’s been loving it forever so there’s nothing that I can say to him.”
Whittington gave it a go for a fourth year to get his degree. That could have been it. But he wanted a chance at Big 12 title before his college career was over. So he came back for a fifth season, won his first conference championship and earned his spot in the NFL when the Rams took him in the sixth round.
So with so much physical pain and mental frustration weighing him down, why did Whittington keep coming back to football?
“When I answer this it sounds like really contradictory, but what kept me coming back was how much it was hurting me,” Whittington explained. “Just when you’re climbing up a mountain and somebody just keeps kicking you down, there’s just something about continuing to go up. I don’t know, that just drove me. So when I just kept getting kicked down, I was like, ‘I’m not going to stay down here. I’m going to make my way up there and then whatever’s kicking me down, he’s going to get tired at some point. So it’s all about who lasts the longest. I lasted longer than that adversity.”
SETTING THE TONE
When Chris Jackson was hired as Texas’ receivers coach ahead of the 2023 season, he was given the low down on his new room. The word on Whittington was his high IQ and that, despite the talent in the room with Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell, it was the fifth-year senior who was the leader of the group. First one on the field, last to leave, helping younger players get in alignment.
But Jackson was also warned that he would have to manage Whittington’s workload in practice because, in addition to being a starting receiver, he participated heavily in Texas’ special teams. Many seniors balk at those types of jobs, but Whittington was a member of the punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return units.
“I’ve always been a guy who just pays attention to the game and special teams has a really big factor in winning and losing,” Whittington said. “Field position matters, and special teams, that’s what it is. So I’ve always seen it as something that’s just as important as offense and defense and whenever I get the opportunity I treat it as such.”
Jackson did his best to keep Whittington’s workload down, but sometimes the senior took matters into his own hands.
One practice, after Whittington had come off the field with the first-team offense, the second team was short a receiver at the line of scrimmage. Jackson spun around to find the missing man, but when he turned back to the field, Whittington had taken his place.
“I go, ‘Get your ass out of there.’ He was like, ‘What man? I’m just trying to make it right.’ A total straight face to me,” Jackson recalled. “‘We needed a wide receiver, coach.’ ‘Yeah, but not you.’ He just kind of laughed and went, ‘Well, they needed one, coach.’ Just so no nonchalant about it. He wasn’t mad, not yelling at anybody, telling a sub to get in there. He just went in and fixed it. He just made it right.”
FOLLOWING THE PATH
When Whittington was drafted, he spoke about his excitement about learning from Cooper Kupp, the receiver’s equivalent of a “professor” of the position. But there’s a more recent model for him to follow as he tries to find ways to contribute as a rookie.
No one, not even the Rams, knew that Puka Nacua was going to break the rookie receiving records for receiving yards (1,486) and catches (105) last season. If they knew that, McVay likes to joke, they wouldn’t have waited until Day 3 to draft him. What the Rams did know, however, was that Nacua’s work ethic and effort had earned him playing time as a rookie.
And that’s a model that Whittington can emulate as he tries to crack the Rams’ deep rotation.
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“Consistency, knowing what to do, staying healthy,” Whittington said. “And just making a play when it comes to you. Being behind him and Kupp and all the guys and just seeing how they work, and how they’re pros, I think I can just take something from them.”
One area of Nacua’s game that got lost in his gaudy stats last season was run blocking, an aspect of a receiver’s workload that Whittington takes particular pride in.
“He’s one of the best blockers that we have,” receivers coach Eric Yarber said. “He just has to know the rules of the run game and once he gets that down, he can play even faster.”
Whittington has gotten some reps with the first-team offense through the first week of camp, as well as some moments across various special teams units. What that means for his role once the regular season approaches remains to be seen.
But for now, he’s still occasionally pinching himself.
“This is where I want to be, this is what I dreamed of, so I can’t take it for granted,” Whittington said. “I try to go as hard as I can every day. But there are definitely points where I’m like, this is where I want to be.”
“This is where I want to be, this is what I dreamed of, so I can’t take it for granted,” Rams rookie wide receiver Jordan Whittington said. “I try to go as hard as I can every day. But there are definitely points where I’m like, this is where I want to be.” (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
