WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - Paul Worrilow didn’t have much of a choice. To keep himself in shape while he awaited a call from an NFL team, he turned his garage into a fitness center.
The Concord High School and University of Delaware star is no different from any of the other NFL players who typically would be going through spring practices with their teams this time of year.
But the coronavirus pandemic has limited players to virtual team meetings and virtual workout sessions with their strength and conditioning coaches.
Worrilow, who currently is not on a team, doesn’t even have that. His contract expired after he spent the second half of last season with the Jets.
Typically, a free agent like Worrilow would have been signed before the NFL draft in late April. But with team facilities shut down to players since March, there’s no hurry - or reason - to sign players until training camp starts in late July, assuming that happens.
Worrilow is among dozens of veteran free agents still looking for jobs.
Some of them are much more prominent, such as defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, cornerback Logan Ryan, quarterback Cam Newton, running back Devonta Freeman, and even two former Eagles in linebacker Nigel Bradham and left tackle Jason Peters.
That adds another level of uncertainty for Worrilow, who is 30 years old and preparing for his eighth NFL season.
“It muddies the picture, but I fully expect to be somewhere, just based on what I’ve been told from my agent and the interest that has been there,” Worrilow said. “This has kind of pushed everything back, but it hasn’t changed anything on my end.
“I’m working out just like I always have, so when a team calls, I’ll be ready.”
Recently, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said the lack of spring practices have robbed the rookie draft picks and undrafted free agents of valuable time to learn the NFL, their new teammates and so on.
“Football teams are going to have to rely on their veteran players,” Pederson said.
That might give Worrilow an edge over a rookie, especially if he knows a particular system. Worrilow played for the Atlanta Falcons from 2013-16, the Detroit Lions in 2017, the Eagles in 2018 through training camp last summer, and the Jets.
“There’s a value for veteran players like Paul,” said his agent, Jim Ulrich. “Rookies go in there, and it’s like they’re drinking from a firehose trying to learn everything. And now they just lost two months of (on-field) work.
“You can plug Paul in there with the Eagles, Jets, Lions and Falcons, and he’ll know the system. Or you can put him on another team, and he’ll learn the system in a week.”
HEAVY LIFTING
So, Worrilow works.
In his garage, he’ll squat a little more than 500 pounds, do a few sets of lunges holding 70-pound weights in each hand, and other workouts. All of it is logged in a notebook.
On one wall, there’s a large-screen TV. On the other are all of the jerseys he ever wore in an NFL game. There is nothing from the Eagles because Worrilow never played in a game for them.
There’s also a playpen for the youngest of three daughters, Noelle, who’s 8 months old.
“This home gym kind of substitutes for (not being with an NFL team) right now,” Worrilow said. “So a lot of time being a dad, and a lot of time training in here.”
It was a long way from last spring, when Worrilow was with the Eagles.
He had missed most of the organized team activities last spring rehabbing his ACL, which Worrilow tore on May 22, 2018, his very first spring practice with the Eagles. It came six weeks after the Eagles signed him as a free agent.
Worrilow was still spending upwards of 12 hours each day at the Eagles’ practice facility last spring rehabbing his knee, watching practice and participating when he could.
“The way Paul works out, he might actually be going crazier if he was on a team right now,” Ulrich said with a laugh.
Worrilow’s knee was still acting up in training camp last summer. And after a few days of practices, he had what he called “another little procedure” to take care of it.
“Camp is a time-sensitive thing,” Worrilow said. “You’re not afforded the luxury of getting something done and sitting out for three weeks, which might be what you need. So it’s kind of like, get that done and try to push through it.”
Worrilow ran out of time.
The Eagles released Worrilow on Aug. 18, and he signed shortly thereafter with the Baltimore Ravens. At the time, Worrilow’s wife, Gina, was eight months pregnant and on bed rest.
So the next day, Worrilow asked for his release, which was granted. He returned to Wilmington and was with his wife for Noelle’s birth, then waited for another chance at an NFL roster.
“There was a lot going on, and then the third daughter coming, it was not something that I was taking lightly, especially with my wife,” he said. “We would have needed a lot of help. To me, I wanted to be the one doing it.”
The Jets signed Worrilow on Nov. 5. He played in four games, exclusively on special teams.
Worrilow said the time off for his daughter’s birth enabled his knee to fully recover. He said it didn’t bother him at all during the season. And it hasn’t been an issue during this offseason, either.
“It’s now a total thing in the past, fully healthy,” Worrilow said. “I’m like, ‘Which knee was it that I had surgery on?’”
APPRECIATING TIME AT HOME
Worrilow said he has enjoyed spending so much time at home with his wife and kids, which is something he rarely gets to do from April through mid-June.
“When it’s football season, I’m all in,” he said. “That’s what I do. That’s what occupies my entire day.”
Worrilow was with the Lions in the spring of 2017, when his middle child, Rowan, was born.
At that time, Gina and their oldest daughter, Juliet, were living in Atlanta. Worrilow was able to fly back to Atlanta for the birth and spend a few days. Then it was back to Detroit, where he lived by himself.
“It felt like I missed a lot,” Worrilow said. “You’re so invested in football, especially the way I treat it. Football is at the front of my mind all the time. I don’t eat a meal without thinking about training or nutrition. It’s so ingrained in everything I do.
“So it is nice to appreciate this time. It’s something me and my wife had talked about, that I’m getting all this time to spend with Noelle the first eight months of her life.”
Often, the girls will watch their father work out in the garage, and he’ll design a workout just for them. Or he’ll take them to one of the area schools for his field work while they play nearby.
That’s why Worrilow doesn’t work out with others.
“Those are the dynamics of being a dad with three kids, under 5,” he said. “It doesn’t really work with scheduling too much. It’s kind of get it in while you can. Getting to the field is a big priority during the day, but it can’t be at the expense of shunning my kids for a whole morning to go train with people.
“It’s gotta be on my own time.”
And Worrilow makes sure there’s enough time to stay in shape, so when that call does come, he’ll be ready.
“The last thing I would want is to look back at this coming year as a missed opportunity due to not being prepared.”
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