On graduating…
“If you want me to be honest, I believe honestly in what Coach Smart is building here and the coaching here. But at the same time, my mom wants me to graduate, so that’s the whole reason I came back. If I don’t give her a diploma, she couldn’t care less about the NFL Draft.”
On leaving his legacy…
“Hopefully, my name is up there on that pillar behind you as be team captain one day. I get to come back and show my kids that I graduated from here, I built a lot of things here in my little pond and I tried to make a ripple effect.”
On being the vocal guy on the team…
“No, I wouldn’t say I feel that responsibility to be that vocal guy. I just feel like, I am going to be the same guy that I was and still try to lead people in the right direction and do the right thing always. I feel like that’s something everyone, all of us, on the team should do. Thats why we did so well last year. A lot of guys saying that’s not right, that’s wrong and you shouldn’t do that.”
On the next man up mentality…
“It’s football, injuries happen, you got to be prepared for it. Look at last season, we had numerous injuries but the way we work here at Georgia, it’s always the next man up mentality. You got to be prepared to come here and play no matter. Just like Coach Smart says all the time, when we have travel games, if you travel and you dress with the team, you got a chance to play. So, if injuries happen, we are already prepared for it.”
On his knee surgery last summer…
“With me having surgery literally right before the season kind of held me back from getting the training with my teammates, especially summer workouts. Summer workouts here is what pretty much defines you and what is going to prepare you for the season this year. Me being able to not have the opportunity to attend those workouts and not be fully participating in those things kind of set me back a little bit from being as close as I know I can, like with speed and stuff. I was still able to be a leader on the sidelines, encouraging the guys. So, I still feel like I played a major role even with me being injured.”
On coaching changes…
“Spring is all about being in competition. It is proving yourself. And now with a new coach being an aspect, it is like that as well. It was definitely a little strange when Coach Luke left, because we loved playing for Coach Luke and respected him so much. But, he was our coach in the past. Now we can look forward to our new coach. So far, we’ve really loved having Coach Searels. He has brought in good energy, good demeanor. Just with the start today, I’m looking forward to seeing how he’s going to coach on the field at a full practice. And how we’re going to gel as a new line together because we’re losing Jamaree (Salyer). We’re losing (Justin) Shaffer. We also have experience as well with Sedrick (Van Pran). Me being out there with Warren (McClendon) as well. So, it will be good. I’m excited about today. I think it’s going to be a really good day.”
On Coach Searels…
“He set the tone right away, just physicality and aggressiveness. That was his first thing in the meeting room. He wants us to play disciplined and know exactly what to do. So, I’ve really respected that. He wants us to continue the tradition of being a dominant offensive line that Georgia has always had. So, he has come in, stepped in, and done that really well so far. He also has different lingos and terms to be used on different calls. We’re having to adjust with that. He is having to adjust with our plays and our lingo as well. So, it’s a little bit of a give and take as far as what he is having to learn and what we’re having to learn from him.”
On maturing…
“When I got here, I was all over the place. I had to really settle myself down and stick to who I was. I was trying to be somebody else, and I had to reel it back in a bit. I found myself and things started changing for me.”
On finding himself…
“Just seeing my teammates prosper. I just wanted to do it for myself as well. I have seen the changes they were making in their game, so I was taking bits and pieces and trying to put them into mine.”
On replicating last year’s leadership…
“It’s big shoes to fill this year. We don’t want to put that much pressure on ourselves, but at times we have to. We have to step in. We have a lot of snaps. We need to be up field, special teams, defense, offense. Guys have to step up in different places in different areas.”