End of conversation.
"He never said another word," Saturday said in a phone interview late last week. "He didn't act like there was any difference between me [and McKinney]. I remember I was scared to death. Here I am, a rookie, about to start my first game.
"But Howard never expressed any doubt that I could get the job done. When he trusts you and has seen what you can do in practice and you show up and do it for him, he'll put more trust in you than you put in yourself. That's a big confidence booster for a young player trying to make his way in this game."
On Sunday, another pair of Mudd-tutored rookies - Eagles center Jason Kelce and right guard Danny Watkins - will make their first NFL starts against the Rams in the noisy Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. They can only hope their debuts go half as well as Saturday's. The Colts ended up pummeling the Eagles and first-year coach Reid that day, 44-17.
"When Howard believes in you, he's going to give you the opportunity to go out and justify his faith in you," Saturday said. "I don't know much about [Kelce and Watkins]. But if he believes in them, he's going to give them every opportunity to go out and show him, and prove to him, that they can do it.
"That said, the other thing about Howard is, if a guy's not getting it done, he's not scared to make a change, either. You know going in he's going to give you the benefit of the doubt. But you'd better prove him right and go out and play as hard as you can and prove to him that the confidence he has in you is justified."
