Jarryd Hayne’s captivating NFL debut last week against the Houston Texans impressed Thomas McGaughey Jr. This much is sure.
The San Francisco 49ers special teams coordinator made that clear on Thursday when speaking to the media, which included several Australian reporters who made the cross-continental trek. McGaughey described Hayne as “fearless” and said that the former rugby league star possesses “great lateral quickness.”
But with those compliments, McGaughey also wanted to maintain a level perspective.
“He has a lot of natural ability, but you’ve to be realistic too here,” McGaughey said. “I mean, that was the first preseason game, so it’s not like we’re playing in Week 8 – going down the stretch.