Will Anderson Jr. held a press conference after the final practice of the Houston Texans’ rookie minicamp on Saturday. Most of his answers had “at Alabama” or something similar to that in them.

A two-time consensus All-American linebacker for the Crimson Tide, Anderson was asked about changing positions, absorbing coach DeMeco Ryans’ message to the rookies, handling the pressure of being the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft and even picking a number, and he had a connection to Alabama in his answer each time.

MORE NFL:

· JALEN HURTS RECEIVES MASTER’S DEGREE

· 4 FORMER ALABAMA PREP STARS ADDED TO ROSTERS

· BRYCE YOUNG ON HIS FIRST NFL PRACTICE, LEANING ON MAC JONES

Here’s an answer that didn’t:

“I haven’t arrived yet,” Anderson said. “I haven’t did anything yet. I’ve got to earn it. I got to go out there and get the trust from the guys, keep connecting with them and being intentional in everything I’m doing and working hard, so, yeah, I’m here, but I haven’t arrived to where I want to be yet.”

That answer has echoes of what Anderson said he picked up from Ryans’ instructions to the Texans’ new players.

“The message was super simple,” Anderson said. “Just coming from Bama, I kind of understood everything he was talking about — just being intentional, swarming to the ball, having that special relentless mindset and stuff like that. And just being a part of the team and being a family and being together, that’s the biggest message that he’s been trying to express to the team. It’s been kind of easy to grasp that, and that’s why I’m super excited to be a part of this team.”

RELATED: HOUSTON LOADED WITH LINEBACKERS FROM ALABAMA

In the Texans’ defense, Anderson will be playing defensive end, although Ryans said it wouldn’t be much of an adjustment for the pass-rusher.

“It’s not a huge position change for Will,” Ryans said on Friday. “Will will be an edge defender for us, and that’s what he did at Alabama. Mostly at Alabama he was standing up. We’ll have him down in a three-point stance. It’s not a big-time position change for him. We won’t have him playing over the guard like he did some there later in his career, so it’s not a huge position change for Will.”

Anderson said he did all kinds of things with the Alabama defense.

“Being at Alabama, they played me very versatile,” Anderson said, “so when we’d go to any type of flex defense, I was already playing a five-technique, which I’m kind of used to playing on the outside of the tackle, so the four was just an adjustment for me. But my regular position was always hand-in-the-dirt five-technique and stuff like that, keying the outside pad of the tackle, so I’m kind of already used to that. I’ve been playing that kind of my whole life since high school — regular defensive end. Alabama just used me in more different ways, differently, but I’ve had that experience.”

Houston held the second selection in the NFL Draft on April 27 and chose Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud after the Carolina Panthers took Anderson’s Tide teammate, quarterback Bryce Young, at No. 1.

Then the Texans obtained the third pick by trading the No. 12 and No. 33 choices in this year’s draft and first- and third-round selections in the 2024 draft to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for the No. 3 and No. 105 picks in this year’s draft.

RELATED: TEXANS RACE THE CLOCK TO SELECT WILL ANDERSON JR. AT NO. 3 IN NFL DRAFT

While the Texans paid what was considered a heavy price to obtain Anderson, the rookie said he didn’t expect that to weigh him down.

“Just going to Alabama, I experienced that at such an early age,” Anderson said of the pressure to perform. “But here, the coaches do a phenomenal job — the GM, the owner, everybody. They made it very clear: Just come in here and be you. There’s no pressure. Come in here, have fun, be you, bring energy and just be together. That’s the biggest thing that they harp on a lot that I’m really understanding is there’s no pressure. You been playng football your whole life; you’re just going out there doing what you love to do and there’s not pressure to doing that.”

At Alabama, Anderson wore No. 31, which on the Texans belongs to running back Dameon Pierce. He led Houston with 939 rushing yards last season. During rookie minicamp, Anderson had No. 51 on his jersey, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the number he will be in when the season starts.

“Really it’s just the number they gave me right now for rookie minicamp,” Anderson said. “Being at Alabama and them giving me the number 31, my coach told me: ‘Make a name out of it.’ If 51 decides to stay here, then I’m going to do my best to just make a name out of it and just be me. Numbers really don’t matter to me.”

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.