Coming into the NFL as a first-round draft pick in 2015, former Mizzou DE Shane Ray knew he still had a lot to learn about being a professional football player.

Fortunately, he landed in the perfect situation to succeed with the Denver Broncos, playing behind elite pass rushers like Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware.

After helping the Broncos win a Super Bowl title as a rookie in 2015, Ray is poised to have a breakout season in 2017, thanks in large part to what he learned from Ware.

Ray told Jim Rome on The Jim Rome Show on Friday that he’s grateful Ware took him under his wing the past two years:

“He shared a lot of knowledge with me, on how to handle certain situations how to look at things,” Ray said. “His knowledge of the game, teaching me pass rush every day, teaching me keys to look at, things to understand, it was very helpful for me, to come into the league to have a guy of his caliber share that kind of knowledge with me, I really appreciate it.”

But Ware’s advice to Ray went beyond on-the-field tips. Ray said he learned even more from Ware about how to take care of his body:

“Taking care of my body, to my eating habits, my training [regimen], how I might go get acupuncture and my diet,” Ray said. “The outside of football things were more impactful to me than I feel like on the field stuff. DeMarcus was teaching me about management of this and that, and kind of going in-depth as a 12-year veteran who has done pretty much everything that I’m setting out to do.”

Ware amassed 138.5 sacks over the course of his spectacular 12-year career. Ray recorded eight sacks as a second-year player in 2016.

As Ware heads into retirement, though, it seems he’s left the Broncos in a good place with their young pass rusher. However, Ray still has a lot of work to do to live up to his mentor’s example.