FOXBORO, Mass. — There's nothing Jarrad Page loves more than a can of corn.
Regardless of Page's dietary choices, the Patriots safety found it easy to compare his current position to an older one. He also played center field for UCLA's baseball team from 2004-05. In both cases, Page is in the middle of the defense and is in charge of keeping an eye on everything coming his way.
"Playing center field in baseball, you've got to get great jumps on the ball," Page said Tuesday. "You can kind of tell that from where the ball is pitched, the type of swing a guy gets on, you can tell when a guy is getting ready to swing and he's going to pull the ball, or he's about to be late and he's going to hit the ball. And also from the sound, you can tell whether you need to come in or go out.
"Anticipation and being able to track the ball, being able to spin, take your eyes off the ball, but understand where it's going to come down, I think it helps you a lot because a lot of times, we get going one way, and then we've got to speed turn and we lose sight of the ball," he added. "Being able to judge where it's going, getting your eyes back around to be able to get to that point, it helps a lot."
Page was selected three times in Major League Baseball's amateur draft — the fifth round of 2002 by the Brewers, the 32nd round of 2005 by the Rockies and the seventh round of the 2006 draft by the Angels — and he started 57 games for UCLA, registering four home runs, 27 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and 37 runs scored.
But Page chose the NFL after the Chiefs took him in the seventh round of the 2006 draft. He's got 12 career interceptions, including two in his first season with the Patriots.
Whether it's a fly ball or an errant pass from a quarterback, Page said it's easy to get his mitts on the target.
"I think they're both pretty easy if you get in the right position," Page said. "If you get into position, it's not hard to catch it. It's the getting there that's the hardest part."
