Maren Morris added to her resume this week as she stepped in as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jimmy Kimmel took the summer off to spend time with his family, he shared, “There’s nothing wrong, I’m healthy, my family’s healthy, I just need a couple of months off.”
So, while he’s off on summer vacation, the show must go on – and on it goes with guest hosts like Modern Family’s Julie Bowen, Will and Grace‘s Sean Hayes, and many more to be announced.
But this week kicked off with Maren in the host chair, and she did a great job…which started with a laugh filled monologue, that mixed her comedic talents along with her singing abilities…
During her guest hosting duties on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maren got to interview one of her idols – Willie Nelson.
Maren also got to chat with Real HousewifeSutton Strackle…
and Megan Stalter from Hacks – one of Maren’s current favorite shows appeared on JKL! with Maren as host.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Heavy rain from remnants of Tropical Storm Fred greeted Tennessee football at its second and final preseason scrimmage on Tuesday morning, allowing the Volunteers to focus on ball security and building toughness.
Tennessee scrimmaged for less than two hours in conditions that could be common on a Saturday in the fall. The Vols also dressed at Neyland Stadium and went through warmups, simulating a normal game day.
“We got a chance to get out there in the rain and some adverse weather there,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “I thought special teams (and) offensively (we) handled it pretty well for the most part of the day.
“Game day, you wake up (and) no matter what the weather report has said throughout the course of the week, you’ve got to play in the elements that you’ve got. We will play in a rain game, so your mindset – offense, defense, special teams – has to be that this is the right weather for us to go out and execute. It has no bearing on who we are and what we do and how we do it.”
“There really weren’t a ton of turnovers last week. The weather really had very little effect, for the most part. I thought the quarterbacks handled the weather (and) were able the throw the ball efficiently and effectively. I thought our wide receivers did a pretty good job. (We) didn’t have any center-quarterback issues. It was really pretty good.”
Tennessee will take Wednesday off, which is also the first day of classes of the fall semester. The Vols begin a three-day stretch of practices on Thursday morning.
Tennessee opens its 125th season of football and the Heupel era on Sept. 2 against Bowling Green. Kickoff for the special Thursday primetime event is 8 p.m. ET live on SEC Network.
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Post Scrimmage No. 2 | 8.17.21
Opening Statement
“Awesome day. It was great for our program (and) our players. We got a chance to get out there in the rain and some adverse weather there. I thought special teams (and) offensively (we) handled it pretty well for the most part of the day. I think it’s awesome and needed for your entire program, all the little things that go one during the course of a game like, so it was good work. (It was) back and forth – all phases of the game – offense and defense throughout the course of the day. A lot of really good things that we saw out there.”
On the offense and quarterbacks’ performance while dealing with the bad weather…
“There really weren’t a ton of turnovers last week. The weather really had very little effect, for the most part. I thought the quarterbacks handled the weather (and) were able the throw the ball efficiently and effectively. I thought our wide receivers did a pretty good job. (We) didn’t have any center-quarterback issues. It was really pretty good.
“I thought special teams early in the day weren’t handling it as well as they could of. We put them in some tough situations throughout the course of the day, in particular our field goal unit. Those guys handled it really well at the end of the day.”
On scrimmaging in the rain and deciding on a starting quarterback…
“Game day, you wake up (and) no matter what the weather report has said throughout the course of the week, you’ve got to play in the elements that you’ve got. We will play in a rain game, so your mindset – offense, defense, special teams – has to be that this is the right weather for us to go out and execute. It has no bearing on who we are and what we do and how we do it. I thought we really functioned at a pretty high level on that side of the football. Now, I got to continue to see those guys compete, obviously, we’ll go back later today and have an opportunity to watch the scrimmage. I think those guys have all continued to grow during the course of this three-day block before we got into our scrimmage today.”
On the defense playing physical and what he say from that side today…
“Yeah, at times I thought they created negative plays and played up the field. I thought for the most part with gap integrity on the first, second and third level was really strong. At the same time, I felt like offensively they were able to bust them and create some space at times and move the football on the ground, as well. I thought the running backs as a whole ran with great pad level today and moved and finished plus two.”
“You get a chance to see more of it when you go back and watch the video. I think there is great competition in that room, the accountability factor, and who they are going to be every day. We’ve continued to evolve from where we finished spring ball, throughout the course of the summer, and certainly here during training camp. There’s a lot of guys who can play and can play at a really high level in that second level, that linebacker group. I think the strength of any position can never be one guy, you guys have heard me say that before. We’ve got the ability to play a lot of bodies on that second level throughout training camp, but especially during the scrimmage, and you’ve seen most guys play with great effort, great strain, speed that has shown up on the video. We’ve shown our guys a lot of that during the course of our team meetings.”
On the performance of the offensive line…
“I thought they were more efficient from the whistle to getting lined up and getting ready for the next snap. I thought they created good vertical movement at times over the course of the scrimmage and did a good job of protecting the quarterback.”
On the separation of quarterbacks thus far…
“When we see separation (and) we are ready to say something, I’ll come back here and do that. That group has continued to compete and handle things the right way, and I like the growth of that group from day-to-day. You just look from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage who they are and over the course of the practices leading up to today, that group is continuing to trend in the right direction.”
“Athleticism, he’s got a tremendous upside. He’s only going to continue to get better, and I think his purpose and the way he has practiced throughout training camp has been more focused and intentional in the way he takes every single rep. He has become a much better student of the game, understanding defensive alignments, what we are doing offensively. He is a better communicator than he was during the course of spring ball.”
On how he evaluates the scrimmage…
“It’s about guys that you trust at this point that are going to go out and compete the way that you want them too and I’m just talking about effort. Then the ability to reset play to play, guys who understand their alignments, assignments and can communicate out there on the football field. It’s never just about 11 guys. It’s about as many guys that are going to prove they can play at a high enough level to go win and finding roles for those guys – and that’s offense, defense and special teams. Today is probably our last major scrimmage, but it’s not the last piece of their development before we go out and play. We’ve got to continue to push as we lead up to kickoff.”
On how much better he feels about how many people he can trust now compared to months ago…
“I think there’s been tremendous growth of the football team. You look at where we finished spring ball, and then the guys who got back from injury, the guys that were brought in through the transfer portal, the development of some of our young guys—we’re a much deeper football team then we were. That shows up on offense and defense and it shows up in your ability to play on special teams, too. Our young guys are continuing to take strides that make you feel like they have an opportunity to go out there and play at a high level.”
On how he’s able to judge who’s winning between offensive and defensive line in practice…
“It’s certainly different when you get to game day against somebody that hasn’t seen you and hasn’t gone against you for close to 26 or 27 practices at this point if you look back to spring ball. The way that we rotate though, you see different matchups. So, the rotation on the offensive line with guys swinging from left to right, whatever it might be, that versatility, you see guys in different positions against a different individual over the course of a practice. As a football coach though, you understand the fundamentals and the techniques of what you’re trying to do, and we’ve seen really good growth on both sides of the line of scrimmage.”
On if he saw an improvement in cutting down penalties in the team’s second scrimmage…
“There are certain things we have to get corrected. There are a couple things that happened pre-snap that we can certainly correct. Throughout training camp though, we’ve been relatively clean there. We have officials out there every single day that are calling it like a game, and we point that out to our players every single day. They’re taking ownership in it. No, we’re never where we want to be, but we have a lot of positives there.”
On the defense being aggressive…
“There were times during the scrimmage where they got people behind the chains and created some zero or negative yard plays, they got after the quarterback. It’s always tough in a scrimmage when your quarterbacks aren’t live. Does he have him? Does he not have him? What’s the elusiveness of that player? But I thought they did a good job, particularly early in the first couple drives, they got off the field in some third-down situations in ones and twos. Offensively, there was some give and take, and it got going as the scrimmage went on. If you walk out of a scrimmage and it’s completely one-sided, that’s where you feel like as a coach that there’s some major concern. If there’s some give and take, you feel like you’re going on both sides of it and there was some of that today.”
On if he was pleased with the tackling during Tuesday’s scrimmage…
“Yes, for the most part. I thought there were a couple of plays in space where our skill guys were able to make some plays. Our guys on the defensive side of the football have been really solid throughout the course of training camp. Getting to a football game on Sept. 2, that’s when we really find out. There has been a ton of growth in that way. There have been some things we’ve done in our practices to try and emphasize that early in the course of practice. I feel like from day-to-day, drill-to-drill, scrimmage-to-scrimmage, we’re continuing to make some improvements.”
On if he believes the defense finished Tuesday’s scrimmage better than last week…
“You’ll find out individually and collectively if they finished better. There were some long drives out there during the course of play today. I thought, for the most part though, our guys competed on both sides of the line of scrimmage.”
On if he calls the offensive plays and how the rest of the voices of the coaching staff help put the offense together…
“The voices inside the room, it’s a growth. You find out who your personnel are. You have a way that you want to play, then you find out your personnel and then you try to put those guys in situations to be successful. We’ve got a lot of guys that have a ton of experience—guys that have been with me for a long time. Coach (Alex) Golesh came with me from the previous stop. Kodi Burns has a ton of experience in this league, having played in his league and he coached in it for a long time. You try to find out your personnel and put them in positions for success. Yes, there’s a base of who we are and our core fundamentals, how we play and certainly inside of our playbook. Then, you constantly evolve. Some of that happens during the course of training camp, but some of that happens as you go through the season and continue to find out more about your players and how you want to attack defenses. It’s a constant evolution of who and what we’re going to be.”
KNOXVILLE, TN – August 12, 2021 – Quarterback Joe Milton III #7 of the Tennessee Volunteers during 2021 Fall Camp practice in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics
It’s easy to miss an interview or UT football practice highlight with the huge volume of both we’ve been able to bring you this preseason practice.
So below, we’ve compiled every single Tennessee Volunteers football interview and five minutes per day of practice highlights every time there’s been media access.
Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel spoke to the media after Tennessee’s second, and last, scrimmage of the preseason. That was practice #12 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Video courtesy of UT Athletics.
Mitchell Tenpenny has just announced that he’s hitting the road with Drew Green this fall on the To Us It Did Tour!
The tour will be making stops in 12 cities, kicking off in Wantagh, NY on September 23 and wrapping up on December 18 in Royal Oak, MI.
These shows will kick off a full fall of touring for Mitchell as a special guest on Chris Young’sFamous Friends 2021 Tourand two dates on Dierks Bentley’sBeers On Me Tour.
The To Us It Did tour includes a bucket-list item for Mitchell – playing the Ryman Auditorium in his hometown of Nashville, TN. A portion of the proceeds from his Ryman debut on October 10 will go towards the 10Penny Fund, which provides “inspiration and support to cancer patients beyond traditional medical treatment.” He created the fund in 2018, following his own father’s cancer diagnosis, to encourage the healing process for Middle Tennessee families facing similar diagnoses.
Mitchell’s upcoming EP Midtown Diaries is out September 10, which features his latest single “Truth About You.” Listen here:
Reba McEntire joined Sarah Trahern, the Chief Executive Officer of the CMA, this morning to share the Country Music Hall of Fame’s 2021 inductees – Eddie Bayers, Pete Drake, Ray Charles, and The Judds.
This year’s inductees represent three categories – Modern Era Artist, Veterans Era Artist, and Recording or Touring Musician.
Drummer Eddie Bayers and late steel pedal player Pete Drake represent the Recording or Touring Musician category, both of whom represent the first of their instrument to be inducted in the CMHOF.
Photo Credit: Rick Malkin
Bayers’ talent can be heard on over 300 gold and platinum records, where he played for artists including George Strait, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, The Judds, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Tammy Wynette, Trisha Yearwood. and more. He has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry house band since 2003, was named the ACM’s top drummer 14 times, and has been nominated for CMA’s Musician of the Year 10 times.
Photo Courtesy of Rose Drake
Drake has had an undeniable influence on the heart of Country music, as he played steel guitar on Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man,” Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl” and George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Throughout his career, his pedal steel can be heard on albums by Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson, Ronnie Milsap, the Oak Ridge Boys, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, The Statler Brothers, Hank Williams Jr. and Ray Charles. His influence made its way into the world of Rock and Roll, as well, where he played on projects for Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Ringo Starr.
Photo Credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images
Willie Nelson has often stated that “Ray Charles did more for Country Music than any single artist has ever done” throughout his career, especially with his 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. That record spent 14 weeks at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s pop albums chart, a record that would not be matched by another Country album for 30 years. The record truly showed the Country music industry the power of a crossover artist, and opened a new world of possibilities to producers and industry professionals alike. Throughout his career, Charles won 17 GRAMMYs, was inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was nominated for two CMA awards.
Photo Credit: Kristin Barlowe
Naomi & Wynonna Judd complete the list of 2021 honorees. The Judds have long been recognized as one of the most successful duos in Country music, garnering 20 top 10 hits between 1984 and 1991, 14 of which made it to the No. 1 spot. The mother-daughter duo went on to win 8 GRAMMY awards, 9 CMA awards, and 7 ACM awards throughout their career, and together created some of the most instantly recognizable songs of the genre, like their chart-topping hits “Mama He’s Crazy,” “Grandpa (Tell Me ’bout The Good Old Days),” and “Love Is Alive.”
About this year’s inductees, Trahern shared:
“The works of this year’s inductees span crucial timestamps of Country Music history…this impressive career landmark is the pinnacle of accomplishment in Country Music and I’m so proud to see Eddie, Ray, Pete, Naomi and Wynonna getting their much-deserved plaques on the wall of the Rotunda. Today’s fans and generations to come will forever be reminded of the distinct impact each made on this genre.”
Headline Photo Courtesy of the CMA Country Music Hall of Fame
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee wrapped up practice No. 11 on Monday morning at Haslam Field as the Volunteers continue to power through preseason camp and move closer to the season opener against Bowling Green.
First-year running backs coach Jerry Mack met with the media following Monday’s practice to talk about the progression of UT’s backfield as it prepares for Tuesday’s closed scrimmage at Neyland Stadium.
What the Vols’ running back room may lack in experience, it makes up for in talent and depth, as a handful of players seem poised to make an impact on offense and special teams this season.
While Tennessee fans will see plenty of faces in the offensive backfield this fall, sophomore Jabari Small and junior college transfer Tiyon Evans have emerged as the two leaders of the group.
“As we’re toward the end of fall camp, we’re still combing through the depth chart. I do think those two guys have separated themselves as far as being a little bit more at the top of the depth chart than more at the bottom,” Mack said. “Both of those guys, they can go in the game right now as 1A and 1B and participate. They both have very similar skill sets. Jabari is obviously a little bit smaller, a little bit shiftier, has got some experience playing the receiver position, so he can do a lot of different things as far as his repertoire.
“At the same time, you have Tiyon, who has just so much power like I said before, running between the tackles. Those guys have really been a good 1-2 punch throughout fall camp.”
Tennessee opens the 100th year of Neyland Stadium, Shield-Watkins Field on Sept. 2 against Bowling Green at 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network. Tickets are on sale now at AllVols.com.
On how having coached wide receivers and quarterbacks in the past is helping him direct the running backs…
“I think it gives us a great perspective overall of what we’re trying to accomplish. One thing we talk about a ton in the running back room is really seeing the overall perspective of what we’re trying to do. I want them to understand the big picture about how everything is put together and how everything works. I think coaching the quarterbacks and coaching the receivers is giving them a perspective about the why’s, as far as the detail of how certain things work. I think it gives them a better feel of how things are going to transition and how things are going to work. That’s been the biggest thing that I can tell you from coaching all those different positions on offense, as opposed to just dealing with the backs. I give them an overall view of how everything is going to happen.”
On what he’s seen from junior Tiyon Evans during preseason camp…
“He’s been a really pleasant surprise for us to be honest with you. We always knew that Tiyon had some strength levels that some of those younger backs had in the room. One thing is that he’s really grown up off the field. You can see the process that his work off the field is coming to fruition on the field—the power that he runs the football with between the tackles. He has a great skillset. He’s a guy that has great ball skills as well because he was a kick returner as well in junior college. All of those different things that you want to do with a back—flex him out but at the same time run him between the tackles—we’ve been pleasantly surprised with that. I think the biggest thing that I’ve been really shocked at is the way he runs outside zone. He has a real knack and a great feel for it. I can compare it to the old school guys like Terrell Davis. He was really good and he had a great feel for those type of plays. That’s what I feel like Tiyon has done especially well.”
On if he feels like the offense needs a short-yardage running back, if Evans serves in that role and how much blocking he has among the running backs…
“I think Tiyon can do it all to be honest with you, not only short yardage, but an every down back—whether it’s first or second down. I feel like he’s a guy who has the body type and the skill set where you really don’t ever have to bring him out of the game. As we recruit, we’re really looking for more guys that are really more all-purpose backs that we never have to take out of the game. From a protection standpoint, we ask them to really be in tune and be savvy about protections. We kind of take pride in making sure the quarterback is upright. As that last line of defense, after the offensive line has identified who they’re going to protect with, we’ve got to make sure that we are all on board as far as whether it’s a safety or a linebacker and even sometimes we get those different match-ups, so those guys really have to be in tune protection-wise. We don’t have a ton of protections, but we do have enough to make sure that you have to be on your toes and have to be in tune to all of the different things that are going to happen with the defense.”
On how much he likes to use the back side of the backfield in the passing game…
“We’ve been very blessed. We’ve been very fortunate. We have a few backs in that room that played wide receiver in high school, like Jabari (Small). We’ve got some guys that have elite ball skills, like I was talking about earlier with Tiyon being able to catch the ball. I think that has to really be a big part of what we do. When you talk about creating those mismatches on the defense with those linebacker-type bodies, that’s really big for us to make sure that we can find those different matchups. We’ve got three, maybe even four guys in the room right now that can all do those different array of things coming out of the backfield, whether we already flexed them out or whether we bring them out of the backfield to try and create those matchups. (It’s important to) get those indicators—like we always talk about—from the defense, for what coverage they’re going to be in. When you add that to your offense, I think you’ve got a chance to be really special because you can really keep the defense off balance.”
On what he’s seen from RS freshman Dee Beckwith and what he can do to climb the depth chart…
“I think the attention to detail. I think Dee Beckwith and some of those other guys as well are still young at the position. I think we forget that a ton, that those guys are still trying to learn exactly how being a college football player works, as far as playing that position. There’s a lot more on them than in high school. Dee Beckwith is a former quarterback as well, so he has a really good idea, a good vision of the big picture and how it all fits together. Learning the smaller details of playing the running back position is really critical. The physicality of playing the running back position is a little different at this level. Obviously, depending on where they came from, sometimes even with a guy like Tiyon, being physical at this level compared to the junior college level, you’re playing against guys that are potential NFL players. Getting used to, as we say on special teams a lot, ‘running through the smoke’ a lot of times when things look cloudy. We’ve got to get used to that with some of those younger guys and playing with great pad level. Some of those guys are used to being the biggest, fastest and strongest where they came from. Now, they need to play with better pad level because they’re going to be playing against guys that are probably a little bit stronger and maybe a little bit faster in some instances than they are.”
On the challenges and benefits of being a 6’5″, 230-pound running back like Dee Beckwith is…
“I think one of the benefits is, from a protection standpoint, when he goes to protect with those long arms it’s like being a boxer with that wingspan to protect. He does a really good job from a protection standpoint. He does a really good job of being a big target, when we talk about flexing those guys out and throwing balls to those guys. Probably one of the disadvantages for guys who are that tall is pad level and being able to get their pad level low because they are a big target for linebackers and safeties running through the middle. Those are probably the pros and cons of being that size.”
On Jaylen Wright’s improvement from the spring and top priorities for the running backs at Tuesday’s scrimmage…
“First of all, Jaylen Wright has done an excellent job, I would say these last six practices or so. He has really grown leaps and bounds to be honest with you. What we’ve seen from him from the spring, is really just from a protection standpoint. He’s really made some good grounds in protection. He understands what we’re trying to do. His eyes are in the right place a lot faster than they were in the springtime. I think that’s a compliment to what he’s been doing in the offseason, and how he’s been working and putting time in the film room. He’s a young man who wants to play as a true freshman. I think that’s one of his goals. Not we talk to him about that, but his family as well. I do also think just from a maturity standpoint, one of the things that he has done a good job with, when things don’t go quite the way that he would like them to in practice, in the spring we saw an emotional Jaylen Wright. I think this fall camp, he has not been as emotional at all. He’s taken heed to what Coach Heupel talks about, putting that play behind you and moving on to the next play. I think that’s where Jaylen Wright has been most impressive right now. He’s putting one good practice on top of another. He had another good one today as well.
“Tomorrow, from the fall scrimmage (standpoint), I think the biggest thing we’re looking for is our tempo. Right now, our backs, we’re not doing a great job of getting lined up and understanding what’s going on, processing information as fast as we should. I think tomorrow will be a great opportunity for us to showcase exactly the growth that we’ve made over this last four-day block, as far as getting lined up, getting our cleats set in the ground and going out there and playing with the tempo that Coach Golesh, Coach Heupel want us to play with. I think that’s going to be the biggest thing for us tomorrow. As far as the obvious, you know, tough runs, playing through some adversity, all those different things.”
On Len’Neth Whitehead’s role in the backfield and his status from a health perspective…
“He has (been able to go). He’s been really good this fall camp, been doing some really good things for us. The thing that I knew that Len’Neth was going to add for us was physicality in the run game. Being a former linebacker, playing on the defensive side of the ball, you can tell. When he touches the ball, he brings a different aspect of the game as far as finishing the runs. He’s just like Dee Beckwith from a standpoint of learning how to play with great pad level. He still has to get used to that at this level, but the physicality when he does run, when he understands what he’s supposed to do, it’s been really exactly what I thought he was going to add to the table. One thing from a Len’Neth standpoint too, is special teams. Some of those special teams responsibilities are not as tough, he doesn’t have as many of them as playing on the offensive side of the ball. When he gets a chance to get on special teams, that’s when you really see a lot of his skill set and a lot of his athletic ability take over. Because he can be a physical guy, he’s a big guy that can run as well. I’m just excited about giving him some more opportunities, getting him hopefully involved more in the game plan from a reps standpoint.”
On Jabari Small, Tiyon Evans and the fluidity of the depth chart at the running back position…
“As we’re toward the end of fall camp, we’re still combing through the depth chart. I do think those two guys have separated themselves as far as being a little bit more at the top of the depth chart than more at the bottom. Both of those guys, they can go in the game right now as 1A and 1B and participate. They both have very similar skill sets. Jabari is obviously a little bit smaller, a little bit shiftier, has got some experience playing the receiver position, so he can do a lot of different things as far as his repertoire. At the same time, you have Tiyon, who has just so much power like I said before, running between the tackles. Those guys have really been a good 1-2 punch throughout fall camp.”
On Jabari Small’s maturity and leadership in the running back room…
“Leadership ability is what we continue to stress to him. He’s a young guy, but we feel like he has the skill set and he has some of the attributes that we look for in leadership. One thing about Jabari is, he’s really taken heed to studying more in the offseason. When you look at where he was when we came here in the spring—we evaluated him in the spring, had those conversations with him and what he needs to build on, what he needs to grow with. One of those things was hey, we need you to be more of a leader. We also need for you to make sure that you study different running backs in the league and at the college level, to make sure that you’re on point for what you’re trying to do. That’s what I’ve seen. I’ve seen that in the summertime, seen that turn over into his game, as far as when we get on the field, you can see that he really has a better understanding of what we’re trying to do. That just comes from film study. That comes from understanding what we’re trying to teach him, comes from him studying the game. He has a great background, great lineage as far as a lot of his family members played at a really high level. I’m sure they’re talking to him as well. I’ve been really pleased with his maturity and what he’s been able to bring to that room overall. He’s more of a leader by example. He’s not a H’rah, rah,’ guy, he doesn’t talk a whole lot, but if you just watch the way goes about carrying on his business, you can tell that other guys are picking up some of those traits.”
“I would love to. Like I said before, we’ve got not only Jabari and Tiyon. Jaylen Wright has continued to come along. Even Marcus Pierce is a guy that had some good clips in the spring as well. I do think there will be an opportunity for Tiyon and Jabari to contribute at a high level. Being that 1-2 combination on the field at the same time, I think that would be really cool.”
“Definitely fast, that’s how we play, very fast. You’ve got to be in shape to play in this offense and we worked on that this summer. So far, everything is positive, I feel this offense suits me with how fast we play. It really messes up the defense, getting that perfect alignment and we have a lot of playmakers.”
On getting the contested balls…
“You always work on that, I want to work on that. Every ball that touches my hands I want to catch, no excuses. Stuff like that I’ve been working on the whole summer, I’m ready to play.”
On how good the receivers can be…
“We have playmakers all over the board. We’re fast, and at the same time we are a lot more physical when catching the ball too. This is probably the best receiving corps I’ve seen since being here. I’m excited, I’m excited to go out there with my brothers.”
“I wasn’t always this tall, my brother was the tall receiver. When I got my height, I started (playing bigger). I’m not the fastest and may not have the quickest routes but high pointing the ball is a big part of my game.
On battling with the defensive backs in practice…
“All the DBs are getting better. Alontae (Taylor), Warren Burrell for sure have taken those next steps. A lot of young DBs, and the secondary in general is getting better and its always competitive. This year we’ve been doing one-on-ones, so I can definitely see them, Kenneth George Jr., all these guys, getting a lot better.”
On what he likes about the offensive tempo…
“What I like is that we catch people off guard. It just works, honestly. As cliché as it sounds it’s been working for us and I’m excited for it. It’s something new, something I’ve never done before, but I’m excited to see where it takes us.”
On losing about 25 pounds for this season and how he did it…
“Yeah, with this tempo offense I’m going to have to. There’s no way I’d be able to keep up, so I had to lose weight. There’s really no secret recipe, you just eat less, eat better and keep working.”
On what the offensive line is looking to improve on as a unit in tomorrow’s scrimmage…
“I feel like last scrimmage, it was always like one little key piece was missing or one little person was out of place. It’s like a combination lock, you’ve got to get all the little, tiny pieces working for everybody to do well.”
On if the coaches asking him move to the left side of the line was them showing trust in him…
“Yeah, of course. I feel like I’ve always been ready for whatever I need to do for the team. Now they called on me, so I’m just ready play.”
“It’s easy to play to play for a coach when you know he’s really there for you. It’s easy to know that you can trust him and that he’s going to do right.”
