Macdonald and company know that when Woolen is playing at his best, he is a force on the defense and creates problems for opposing offenses. In his best season, his rookie year, he earned his first Pro Bowl after a season that saw him post 17 starts, tied for a league high six interceptions, had 16 passes defensed and was named to the Pro Football Writers of America's All-Rookie Team.
Woolen has proven that he has what it takes to be great at what he does, and earlier this offseason, coach Mike Macdonald said, "If he sat right here, he'd just tell you play-to-play focus on the checklist of what you need to do, play-in, play-out. Riq had a heck of an offseason last year. I'm really excited about him. We all know what his strengths are, but when he's at his best, he really unlocks our defense, because he takes away the side of the field. We can push coverage away from him, so we're really excited about it, but we have to work together. Him and us as a coaching staff, make it come to life every day and then that's when the best version comes alive."
This training camp, Woolen's showed off his ability to be that best version.
Being familiar with the kind of defense Macdonald is running will "most definitely," help Woolen see more consistency in the way he plays but he knows it takes more than just knowing the defense.
"I just got to be more locked in myself," he said. "Football is more mental than physical if anything, and I'm physically gifted with everything that God gave me. It's just more mental than anything.
"I've been just trying to get better every day, trying to find something better to get better at each day and then just being a great teammate.