Which Jet Would Run Through a Wall for DL Steve McLendon?

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“If Steve were to tell me, ‘Run through that wall because that’s how you’re going to get better,' I’m going to run 100 miles per hour through that wall.”

That perfectly describes the relationship between second-year DL Folorunso Fatukasi and 10th-year DL Steve McLendon.

Fatukasi was selected in the sixth round in the 2018 draft, and while he only played in one game (Week 12) as a rookie, he put in extra work with McLendon every day after practice from bungee cords to pushing sleds to recovery. Wherever McLendon was or whatever McLendon did, Fatukasi would mirror the 33-year-old.

“Really, we’re just two guys that want to get better,” Fatukasi said. “He has a lot of knowledge, same with a lot of the older guys in the room, too. Obviously, he’s the OG in the room, so whatever questions I have, thoughts I have, he’s always attentive to me.

“He’s been in this game for a long time. He has a lot of knowledge of this game, so we take advantage of the things he tell us.”

For the better part of a year, Fatukasi kept his head down and worked without seeing the results. His opportunity hadn’t come yet, but that didn’t discourage the UConn product, who made it his goal to take advantage of his scout-team reps last year. He’d often receive pointers from McLendon, who would watch Fatukasi in practice — “Do this a little better, do that. All right, that’s good. Work on this move a little more.”