SI worries about Josh Rosen’s mood

When the Josh Rosen talk was happening leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft, the conversation was literally never about his work on the field.

Instead, it was always about the person of Rosen, ignoring the glowing reviews of the work on the field.

In May, Albert Breer wrote quite the article wondering if Rosen was meant for the NFL:

But the point was made, and it’s been made over and over again by coaches and scouts in the lead-up to last Thursday: He’s spoiled, and entitled, and not made for pro football life.

On Monday, Breer’s colleague, Robert Klemko, was at the Arizona Cardinals training camp and came away with some not so great things to say about Rosen as well:

Here’s the strange thing about watching Rosen and Kanoff side by side: When Kanoff faltered, he was reserved, attentive, and quickly moved on to the next play. When Rosen tossed up a bad ball or failed in a third-down scenario, he was visibly upset, taking big swings at nothing with a cleated foot and generally looking pretty miserable. A bunch of anonymous scouts were talking about the UCLA product’s bad body language during the pre-draft process, and while you should take most of that anonymous stuff with a grain of salt, one can see here in training camp why there were concerns.

The amazing thing is, that up until Saturday’s woeful performance by the second team offense, the buzz about camp was Josh Rosen, his personality, how he is handling the rigors of the NFL and clicking with teammates:

“Obviously, watching him through offseason, training camp, practice yesterday, he’s got a wealth of talent,” 14-year NFL veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “The guy’s got just an unbelievable skillset. He can make all the throws. He really picks up on things well, communicates real well with his teammates.”

That’s what is always the interesting part about these reports from camp. Writers come in for a day, make a sweeping conclusion, then blow out of town.

Was Rosen just having an off day, was he frustrated with himself or with his teammates, or was it just the realization of wasting time not getting in sync and in rhythm before a chance to work in a live game with the first team offense? Was there even anything to the story itself or was this just a single man’s interpretation of the events?

I guess this is what happens when you get a big time quarterback prospect finally.