It would be difficult to find a more modest recent Arizona football star than tailback J.J. Taylor.
Taylor rushed for more than 3,000 yards and scored 21 touchdowns as a Wildcat from 2016-19 — yet always deferred credit to his teammates.
Then Taylor played for Bill Belichick.
“It humbled me,” Taylor said this week between practices with Belichick’s New England Patriots on the UA campus. “I was already humble before. But it got me to a new level of humbleness.”
Undrafted out of Arizona, Taylor has been with the Patriots for most of the past three seasons. He’s currently on their practice squad.
Taylor thought he knew football when he arrived in Foxborough. Belichick’s encyclopedic knowledge of the sport is next level.
“It’s been amazing,” Taylor said. “Rookie year was a lot of learning, a lot of growing, just listening to him and the things he had to say. Just taking (his) advice (has) really helped me grow from where I was to where I am.”
Asked to provide an example, Taylor cited Belichick’s emphasis on specific techniques.
“The way you run routes, the way you run the ball,” Taylor said. “Details. To the nitty-gritty.”
Taylor has been let go and brought back by the Patriots multiple times, a sign that they like what he brings to the organization. He has appeared in 12 games, rushing for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s a great kid,” Belichick said. “Comes to work every day. He’s been awesome to have as part of the program.”
Even with injuries ravaging New England’s running-back room, it’s been hard for Taylor to find playing time; he has played in only one game this season. But his approach hasn’t wavered.
“It’s nothing different for me,” Taylor, 24, said. “Still got the same work ethic, still doing everything that I’m asked.”
Some things have changed for Taylor. He’s engaged. He and his fiancée, Jasmine, are expecting their first child, a girl, in February.
Taylor is a content creator for Oxygen Esports and would like to turn his passion for video games into a career someday. He’s hopeful that’s still several years away.
“I haven’t put too much thought in my future after football because my main focus right now is football,” Taylor said. “The moment I put some thought into something else, that’s when ... I start backing away from it.
“Right now, I’m all in. And I’m gonna stay all in until I’m all out.”
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