Life in the NFL has been very different for former Alabama teammates Landon Collins and Reuben Foster. A strong start to Collins’ career earned him a six-year, $84 million contract this offseason. Foster, while no one doubts his talent, has been in the headlines more often for off-the-field legal troubles. Though Foster has seen charges for marijuana possession and felony domestic violence dismissed, he was put on probation for unlawful possession of an assault weapon and dismissed by the San Francisco 49ers for a domestic battery incident. The Washington Redskins claimed Foster on waivers last season and signed Collins this offseason. Now that they’re reunited as teammates, Collins says he’s going to do his best to keep Foster on the right track.

“Reuben is my brother,” Collins said on a recent episode of the “Rap Sheet and Friends” podcast. “When all that stuff was going down, I’m on the phone talking to him, making sure his head is on right. Even at the Giants while he’s in San Fran, I’m on the phone talking to him, making sure he’s good, seeing what’s really going on because, you know, people throw all kinds of stories. I’m trying to figure out — that’s not Reuben, because the Reuben I played with from Bama for two years, and then now I get the opportunity to play with him again with the Redskins, and just being around him and seeing he’s all about having fun. Living life, loving life and playing ball, that’s all he wants to do.

“So when I heard all those things going on, I said, ‘That’s not Reuben. Not at all.’ And then he’s always going to have hatred from his background. Nobody really knows his background, and that’s his story to tell. But from that standpoint, I’m glad to be a part of that and be a part of him, be a part of his life yet again because that leadership that I bring for him and just being around him — putting my arm around him and taking him underneath my wing, that’s major, and he loves it.”

The two played together at Alabama from 2013-14, when Collins’ collegiate career was ending and Foster’s was beginning.