The textual content that meant the world to Myron Flowers, made him burst with pleasure and satisfaction that his private mission had carried out it, had remodeled from huge receiver to tight finish in a single offseason and overcome the percentages and made the group, got here after the Jets had completed apply:
“Thanks for every thing, my man. We’re simply getting began,” Lawrence Cager wrote.
Flowers texted again: “I’m so blissful and happy with you. You’re proper, it’s only the start, and there’s a lot extra to perform, and I’m right here for it.” Adopted by a muscle emoji.
Lawrence Cager was a 6-foot-5, 213-pound undrafted free agent huge receiver from Georgia who had flashed in earlier summers. Tuesday, he was standing tall at his locker as a 244-pound tight finish.
“Shout-out to my coach, finest coach on the earth, Myron Flowers — skilled guys like Vernon Davis, Vontae Davis, Stefon Diggs — so with the proper coaching and the proper mindset, I used to be capable of do it,” Cager advised The Put up.
The Jets had requested him to do it, and Cager was so devoted and so disciplined and so decided to maintain a dream alive that he by no means relented, and a former fourth-round draft selection named Trevon Wesco paid the last word worth as a substitute on Cutdown Tuesday.
“I used to be joking with him the opposite day, he went from being a sluggish receiver to a quick tight finish,” coach Robert Saleh stated. “He’s a prepared blocker. He’ll play on the level of assault, you may nonetheless run the ball a lot with him. He’s not a legal responsibility within the run sport. He’s earned his manner as a result of he’s an issue with regards to receivers versus linebackers and safeties and all that. Huge credit score to creating a singular talent set that’s totally different than what you see with C.J. [Uzomah], totally different than [Tyler] Conklin, totally different than [Jeremy] Ruckert. “
Flowers labored with Cager 5 days per week at his 360 Match Efficiency.
“I didn’t need him to place all this weight on and to not be comfy with shifting with it on the identical time,” Flowers advised The Put up.
Cager reduce out fried meals. “
“Once I was a receiver,” he stated, “I might eat like a couple of times a day.” However three meals and two snacks for a rising tight finish.
“We upped his complicated carbohydrates throughout the day, a number of baked potatoes, baked candy potatoes, a number of jasmine rice, all of the greens, salmon, a number of fish,” Flowers stated. “We upped his calorie consumption on his protein, which helped him put lean muscle on and decrease his sugar, nevertheless it was excessive in complicated carbohydrates. We gave him a higher-calorie protein shake and we added a fancy carbohydrate system to that.”
To not point out a peanut butter sandwich at evening.
“I really feel nice,” Cager stated. “I don’t really feel sluggish in any respect. I don’t really feel chubby.”
Earlier than lengthy, Cager was squatting near 500 kilos for reps of six.
“You know the way onerous it’s to get a large receiver, a man who’s performed huge receiver, has been an athlete his entire life, after which inform him to play tight finish? A variety of guys, ‘Oh no, I’m not doing it.’ I felt like he bought to a degree the place he realized like, ‘I can actually do that, and be dominant at it,’ ” Flowers stated.
Cager isn’t happy.
“I nonetheless have that chip on my shoulder that I’m not an undrafted participant,” he stated. “And I nonetheless daily attempt to exit and show that I might play on this league and final on this league, and I can assist this group in any attainable manner.”
He appears to be like at Kyle Pitts and Darren Walker, tight ends in huge receiver’s our bodies, and says, “A variety of guys laid the blueprint.”
Flowers sees similarities between Cager and Vernon Davis.
“I feel he could be a top-five tight finish,” Flowers stated. “Regular huge receivers can’t make the transition to play tight finish as a result of they’ve a diva perspective,” Flowers stated. “He was already a bodily, robust huge receiver. So that you’re placing a large receiver robust man mentality into any individual who’s taking part in a place that’s far more athletic than the individual that’s gonna be guarding him. … He regarded quite a bit like Vernon to me understanding.”
Flowers reaches increased now.
“I bought huge plans for myself,” he stated. “I bought huge plans for this group. That is simply the first step.”
The following steps are his stairway to soccer heaven: “I assumed I could possibly be an amazing tight finish.”
