Riq Woolen Admits He Can “sometimes Can Get Out Of Control A Little Bit”

One of the Eagles early moves in free agency was to sign CB Taris (Riq) Woolen just a month after he won the Super Bowl with the Seahawks. He spoke to reporters after signing his new contract and talked about how he and his new team know what it takes to be a Champion, and why he was excited for the opportunity to play in Philadelphia.

“Another opportunity. A great chance to play with a great team. A lot of similarities that I had with the Seahawks — great defensive line, great linebackers. Just all around great culture and organization.”

Woolen explained that he took free agency one day at a time and relied on his faith and his agent to do their part in the process. As for what stood out to him to make Philly a good opportunity for him, the CB mentioned his new teammates.

“Just the players on it. You got Q [Quinyon Mitchell], you got Coop [Cooper DeJean], and with me being able to join those guys, I know that we can be able to play different looks.”

He also named some of the guys up front and the strong group of linebackers in Philly, saying the whole defensive unit is going to have fun this season. Woolen had met Mitchell before Q was drafted, having both trained at the same facility in Florida, but he said they’ll get a lot closer this year.

“I watched that [Buccaneers-Eagles] game and I seen the way [Quinyon Mitchell] and Cooper [DeJean] were tackling, they were covering, they were strapping guys up. It was pretty cool to see. Now that I’m able to be a part of that, it’s awesome because it’s like, ‘Dang, where can you throw the ball to.’ It’s fun to be able to be paired with those guys. I feel like there’s going to be a lot of chances for us to make plays and a lot of chances to help out the defense as well.”

Later, Woolen said that he’s a sticky guy in coverage and the Eagles run a lot of man, and in those situations he’s confident he can take chances based on his athletic ability.

On his personality

“I like to go out there and have swagger. I got to have passion. God didn’t make me to be a quiet person. God made me to go show off my abilities and play with passion and enthusiasm. And to fit in a culture where a lot of players do play with passion and enthusiasm is going to be a lot of fun.”

Woolen was also asked about what part of his game he hopes to work on and develop, and he pointed to the mental aspect of things and acknowledged that he’s got a new process for trying to avoid taunting penalties — for which he’s drawn many through his career.

“For me, the mental game a little bit. Sometimes in my head a little bit, but at the same time, I like to show a lot of passion when I play. And sometimes can get out of control a little bit… But most of the time I just feel like I’m just being a great player, and whenever you make plays, you just got to lock in a little more and just focus and celebrate with your teammates a little bit.”

He cut back on taunting penalties throughout last season, and Woolen explained that his approach has been to turn to his sideline after making a big play. He noted that there’s nothing wrong with going and celebrating with your teammates, and of course the emotions are going to be high when going against an opponent, especially a rival, but just get to the sideline and celebrate with the guys that matter.

On his viral Carson Wentz interaction

Woolen was asked about the post-game interaction with Carson Wentz in which the CB gave the QB his flowers for being so talented. He explained that Wentz was a player he had watched when he was younger, and he was a little star struck seeing someone he followed as a kid.

“I just got love for great players, and I love when people go out and win games, and do the right thing. And he was a player that did that.”