On Derion Kendrick and Kelee Ringo…
“For one, they have been strapped on their men. You give them an assignment and tell them, ‘Hey, we’ve got this guy for you to lock down, or we’ve got this guy for you to put on clamps,’ and they do exactly that. They play assignment ball. They know what they’re supposed to do. They know where their help is. They’re just smart guys, and they do what they’re supposed to, which makes it easier for me because I have faith in their skills and their game.”
On tough workouts that help the team bond…
“We might talk about the fact that we worked out at 5:00 in the morning. I don’t think anyone brings up the fact that we had to run up the stadium stairs 15 times. 15 times for every number of games that we’re going to be playing, which says a lot. We have a goal, and we’re going to see it through.”
On how the defense has changed since last year…
“The playbook shrunk, so now, the coach has allowed us to just play ball and do less thinking. Teams nowadays are doing a whole lot of shifts, a whole lot of motions. The way our plays are set now, it cancels all of that. It stays the same. We don’t have to constantly keep running around for people. It causes fewer mental errors and prevents big plays. That helped in a major way. Other than that, everything has kind of been the same other than the playbook. Our mindset is different for this year than it was in past years. We are more connected. We decided to go deep in the roots of how we can be better from past years. It all came down to how close we were with one another and how well we knew each other. It started from that really.”
On Andrew Thomas’s touchdown…
“I did see it. He got up. That was pretty impressive. That was one of the most athletic big man touchdowns I think I’ve seen. That was super cool. I haven’t reached out to him, but, as soon as it happened, our O-line group message just completely blew up. We were so pumped to see that. In primetime, you got to love to see the big man touchdown.”
On the team’s stair workout at Sanford Stadium…
“One, I remember it, because it was number seven. I got down at the bottom of the steps, and my legs could not stop shaking. I couldn’t stop. I said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I don’t how I’m going to get eight more in.’ Then, I had James Cook, Jamaree (Salyer) and other guys in my steps just pushing me and saying, ‘Hey man, let’s go. We got this. We got your back.’ We were spread out across the whole side of the stadium, and you saw everyone doing that. Everyone was pushing each other. At one point, Coach Sinclair said, ‘Maybe this is too much.’ He even tried, for the big guys, to cut it down to only going halfway instead of going to the full top, but everyone said, ‘No, we got this together. We’re all in it together, and we’re going to push each other. We’re going to push ourselves.’ We went back up to the full top, and that’s when I kind of knew that this was a special thing that, when times are tough, I have my brothers to lift me up and push through.”
On offensive line depth…
“I think that the great thing about being an offensive lineman at Georgia is that we have so many talented guys. That just fuels the competitive drive every day in practice. I love (Xavier) Truss, and I love Broderick (Jones), and I love all of the offensive linemen. I also know that if I’m not bringing my best every single day, they could replace me. I think we all have that same competitive drive. We love each other, and we’re going to fight for each other, but we got to go out there and do our job to the best of our ability. It’s been great to see Broderick come out and play. He’s gotten a lot of really good-quality snaps. He’s gotten better each time, and you can really see that. Of course, you hate to see Jamaree (Salyer) out, and he’s a strong leader on our offensive line and the offense in general. He’s one person that, even though he’s not physically playing right now, when we get to the sideline, he’s always there keeping us up. He’s always there telling us something, maybe that we missed or telling us to pick things up. He’s still the same Jamaree, the same strong leader and person that we can always lean on the offensive line.”
On Brock Bowers…
“He’s phenomenal; to be that size, have those ball skills, and run as fast as he can is crazy. It really is crazy that he is able to do that. It’s really like having someone who can block like a tight end but also having another receiver on the field at the same time. When he’s out there, just watching some of the things he does, it really is special.”
On Kelee Ringo and Derion Kendrick…
“Going against guys like that every single day, I’ve said it, but if you can’t get better going against those guys, something is wrong. They’re going to give you their all every single day, and we’re going to give them our all. If one of us isn’t going hard then you’re going to be able to see and notice that. Going out there and getting those looks from those guys – knowing the caliber of player they are – if you can do some good things against them, you can do it against anybody. I’m getting confidence from going against those guys and getting reps against them every single day.”
On offensive lineman during stadium runs…
“Obviously, we knew it was going to benefit us and be good for us in the end, but there were times where we thought, ‘Is this worth it, and is this it?’ In the end we knew it was all going to pay off. The crazy thing is we actually ran from our facility to the stadium before them [the stadium runs], so for them [lineman] to be able to do that and run those 15 bleachers speaks on the kind of players they are, the heart they have, and their willingness to just keep on going no matter what. Even when they’re tired, there are other leaders who they can lean on and say, ‘I need some help.’ They’re going to be the first there to pick you up and carry you if you need to.”
On tweaks to the defensive system…
“Our schemes have been really complicated as you guys can see. Being able to use different players in different spots, and how we can help each other throughout the defense and not be on islands the entire time throughout the game. It’s definitely been able to help us execute our plays and be more successful.”
On summer workouts…
“I feel like everything we did throughout the summer definitely prepared us for the season. It made the games and practices much easier. Actually, the practices were not even much easier, but the workouts were definitely closer to what the practices were going to be like throughout the season. It made the games much simpler by thinking when you’re tired and fatigued to help execute plays.”
On preparations for future opponents…
“In all aspects of the game in every single day of practice – and also after the games – we speak on not necessarily the things we did well in the game but things we can work on. Definitely in the DB positions, specifically the deep ball, that’s something that you will get throughout the entire season. I’m consistently working on that; I feel like we have been able to enhance our skills in that and other specific areas.