With Kendrick Bourne missing from Tuesday's minicamp practice and Jakobi Meyers appearing to be limited, second-year receiver Tre Nixon jumped into the offensive mix and showed up with one of the best plays of the day, hauling in a perfect downfield pass from Mac Jones over the tight coverage of Jonathan Jones.
After the acquisitions of DeVante Parker and Tyquan Thornton this offseason, Nixon might've been somewhat of an afterthought coming into 2022, but as Tuesday's practice showed, you never know who will take advantage of their opportunities and emerge to make an impact for the team this year.
"If I can make an impact and help the team out you know I'm gonna do it so it's a great, great feeling," said Nixon after practice. "I would say everything's just starting to slow down a little bit. You know, I still got a lot to learn, and I'm still trying to find my role in this offense but just compared to last year, just a little bit, [things are] slowing down. I got my routine now, I know how to really take care of myself off the field, but like I said, I got a lot of learning, a long way to go"
Nixon smiled when asked about the big play during the session, but it was just one of a handful of other consistent catches that the receiver made throughout the session.
"It was just one of them plays where you know it's a shot play, where you know your numbers called so you get a little excited coming to the line of scrimmage. Like I said, wherever I can just, make a play for the team, bring some energy to the offense, you know, I'm willing to do it," said Nixon, adding of the throw from Mac, "Amazing, you can't complain, he put it right on the money... He's a great player, and I guess I'll let him speak for himself about what he's got going on, but as you can tell, just on the field watching him, he's making tremendous strides for sure."
One impressive minicamp performance doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of the football season, but it was a good start for Nixon, one that he's hoping to carry over into training camp next month.
"I feel like the biggest thing is this be where my feet are at. I know training camp's around the corner, and I like to just stay present in the moment, just try and make my own role what I can do," said Nixon. "It's easy to, especially in this league, compare yourself to other people or count numbers. One of the biggest things the older guys tell me is to be your own person. Try and make your own role and see what you can do beyond that."
