When Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell were rookies, former Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow took them under his wings.
He basically taught Jones, his drafted replacement, and Campbell the ropes in the NFL. After leading the team in tackles for three seasons, he was demoted to a reserve role and played on special teams in 2016.
When the team elected not to re-sign him, Worrilow signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Detroit Lions in free agency.
Jones and Campbell are looking forward to seeing Worrilow.
“It’s going to be like old times; he’s just on the other team,” Jones said.
Worrilow didn’t hold back information from the rookies last season.
“Just how patient he was with me,” Jones said. “Even though they drafted me here to play (middle linebacker), he made sure I was prepared and there was good competition every day. He pushed me and I owe a lot to him for how patient he was with me and how much time he spent with me.”
Although Campbell played weakside linebacker last season, Worrilow helped him along, too.
“There (were) times when I first got here me, Paul and Deion would be in the linebacker room 6, 6:45, 7 o’clock just drawing up run fits and making sure we were comfortable with the game plan so that’s definitely accurate to say that he was a huge, huge help when we first got here,” Campbell said.
Campbell is looking forward to seeing Worrilow, who’s made it in the NFL after being undrafted, before the game.
“He comes from a blue-collar background, a Delaware guy,” Campbell said. “Anybody who’s ever been to Delaware knows what it’s like; it’s probably no bigger than this locker room so for him to be in the situation he was in, five years strong, it’s a great story. He’s somebody that I look up to.”
Matt Winkeljohn contributed to this report.
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