When Dirk Koetter served as the Atlanta Falcons' Offensive Coordinator, he was able to work with one of the best tight ends in NFL history – Tony Gonzalez. On Sunday, Koetter said that a current Buccaneer reminds him of the future hall-of-famer.
"I'll tell you, if Austin (Seferian-Jenkins) is healthy he reminds me of… I coached Tony Gonzalez at the end of his career (and) our Tight Ends Coach Jon Embree had Tony in Kansas City," Koetter said. "Austin is talented. He can't have little nicks."
Koetter continued, "But if Austin can stay healthy, we have very high expectations. So does he."
Seferian-Jenkins struggled with those "little nicks" during his rookie season and was limited to just nine games. He said he feels healthy now, but wasn't ready to compare himself to one of the NFL's all-time greats.
"I'm Austin Seferian-Jenkins, he's Tony Gonzalez," Seferian-Jenkins said. "He's the best tight end to play the game so that's a real strong comparison. I'm going to do my job and I'm going to leave the comparisons up to the coaches and the media."
WATCH: TRAINING CAMP HIGHLIGHTS
Seferian-Jenkins had a strong spring, playing his best as OTAs and mini-camp wore on. He has been working mostly with the first-team offense during the first two days of training camp, which boasts three pass-catchers 6-foot-5 or taller when he, Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson are all on the field.
