Highlights from our latest interviews.
WR STEVEN MITCHELL JR.
--on what he’s focusing on this spring
“I’m really working on my fundamentals. Going against receivers 1-on-1. The first game is ‘Bama, they’re going to be playing a lot of man.”
--on ball distribution and how he felt about last year
“The offense has changed a little bit, everyone is getting the ball. It's definitely good to see that. Everyone is doing their job and playing their role, so the timing is there with the quarterbacks and the receivers. Every receiver wants the ball, that’s a no-brainer, every receiver wants the ball. It didn’t come my way as much as I wanted it to but that just helped me fix my craft. But like I’ve said before, that was last year, that’s in the past. We’re looking forward to this year.”
--on the individual strengths of Max Browne and Sam Darnold
"They’re different quarterbacks, from the way they throw to the way they read, how fast the ball comes. (Chemistry) just comes with time. I was with Max throughout high school, in tournaments. One of his strengths is his timing on the ball. Right when you get out of the route the ball is right there. Darnold’s arm is just amazing. He has great zip on the ball and he can throw a great deep ball. Whenever either one of them are in, we’re connecting, we’re striking downfield. It’s a win-win with either one of them."
OL JORDAN SIMMONS
--on finally being healthy
“It’s been several years since I’ve been able to be out here for a long duration of time, so it feels good to be out here with everyone.
--on whether there was doubt he would get to this point
“In the past, yeah, but I overcame that and now I’m feeling better. I just didn’t know, when I was on defense, I just didn’t know what the process would be like. Then I came back healthy, moved back to offense and things were good from there.”
--on how he’s able to practice now
“My body is just finally used to it, just being out here and I just haven’t had any problems with it. I had a bone spur in my knee that every time I would run or apply pressure, I had like a pinch, a burning pinch in my knee. We took that out right before I came back to offense during last year.”
--He said he weighs 333 pounds. His target weight is 325 for the season. He was actually down to 323 last spring. At his heaviest, he was about 365.
--on his experience as a defensive tackle last year
“Mostly during that time I was doing my rehab. Right when someone went down on the offensive line, that’s when they moved me back to offense and that’s when I got back in the swing of things. The week before Stanford, a couple of weeks before that game, I was back in motion.”
--He said he feels most comfortable at offensive guard.
--on the biggest challenge in playing tackle, which he last played in high school
“The sets are different. Tackles are more in a two-point stance. At guard you’re down on the line, tackles are more out there, vertical.”
--on O-line coach Neil Callaway
“He’s very demanding. He expects a lot out of you, every time you come onto the field, just bring your hard hat and be ready to work. So he’s a good coach, you just got to be ready to work with him and be on the move 24/7. I don’t know how old he is but that dude has a lot of energy for his age. He gets after it with his energy. He brings it everyday. He’s been consistent with it everyday as far as coaching us and getting the most out of us.”
OL COACH NEIL CALLAWAY
--on Toa Lobendahn
“He’s very attentive in meetings. I can tell he’s into it, I can tell he’s a ball guy. I’m looking forward to getting him in the fall”
--on Jordan Simmons practicing at tackle
“I think he’s very functional there, so I think it’s good for him and good for us that if we get in a bind, we know he can do that.”
--on Damien Mama’s progress
“I think Damien is a talented guy but Damien has got to be more consistent. He does some things where you just think, Boy that’s outstanding, and he does some things where you scratch your head like, Whoa, what’s that all about? And we can’t make mistakes, we’re only as good as our worst play, so we have to eliminate the bad plays and that way we’ll be more functional as a unit.”
--on Viane Talamaivao’s progress
“I think he’s a very hard worker, very conscientious and a very detail-oriented guy.”
--on Chris Brown’s progress
“He’s a lot like Damien, he does some things were you say, Whoa, that’s really good, and then at times you scratch you’re head, like what are we doing that for?”
--on the tackles
“I would like to have five guys, these are our five starters, so when it comes down to crunch time, we know what we got. We gotta go win a ball game, we’re going with these five guys. I hope we have more than five guys that can play. I’d love to play two deep. Realistically, I don’t think you can play more than two deep. So I hope we have eight, nine, even ten guys that we feel good about playing with and if that’s the case, then they’ll all play. But if we get into crunch time, those five starters are going to be in there.”
--on if he knows who he likes at each spot
“I don’t want to say that right now, I think it’s a wide open deal on who’s going to get the best five out there, however it shakes out.”
--He said Nathan Smith has the ability to alternate between right and left tackle, though he is lower in the rotation.
Coming up in Pt. II: Browne, Darnold, Tyson Helton
WR STEVEN MITCHELL JR.
--on what he’s focusing on this spring
“I’m really working on my fundamentals. Going against receivers 1-on-1. The first game is ‘Bama, they’re going to be playing a lot of man.”
--on ball distribution and how he felt about last year
“The offense has changed a little bit, everyone is getting the ball. It's definitely good to see that. Everyone is doing their job and playing their role, so the timing is there with the quarterbacks and the receivers. Every receiver wants the ball, that’s a no-brainer, every receiver wants the ball. It didn’t come my way as much as I wanted it to but that just helped me fix my craft. But like I’ve said before, that was last year, that’s in the past. We’re looking forward to this year.”
--on the individual strengths of Max Browne and Sam Darnold
"They’re different quarterbacks, from the way they throw to the way they read, how fast the ball comes. (Chemistry) just comes with time. I was with Max throughout high school, in tournaments. One of his strengths is his timing on the ball. Right when you get out of the route the ball is right there. Darnold’s arm is just amazing. He has great zip on the ball and he can throw a great deep ball. Whenever either one of them are in, we’re connecting, we’re striking downfield. It’s a win-win with either one of them."
OL JORDAN SIMMONS
--on finally being healthy
“It’s been several years since I’ve been able to be out here for a long duration of time, so it feels good to be out here with everyone.
--on whether there was doubt he would get to this point
“In the past, yeah, but I overcame that and now I’m feeling better. I just didn’t know, when I was on defense, I just didn’t know what the process would be like. Then I came back healthy, moved back to offense and things were good from there.”
--on how he’s able to practice now
“My body is just finally used to it, just being out here and I just haven’t had any problems with it. I had a bone spur in my knee that every time I would run or apply pressure, I had like a pinch, a burning pinch in my knee. We took that out right before I came back to offense during last year.”
--He said he weighs 333 pounds. His target weight is 325 for the season. He was actually down to 323 last spring. At his heaviest, he was about 365.
--on his experience as a defensive tackle last year
“Mostly during that time I was doing my rehab. Right when someone went down on the offensive line, that’s when they moved me back to offense and that’s when I got back in the swing of things. The week before Stanford, a couple of weeks before that game, I was back in motion.”
--He said he feels most comfortable at offensive guard.
--on the biggest challenge in playing tackle, which he last played in high school
“The sets are different. Tackles are more in a two-point stance. At guard you’re down on the line, tackles are more out there, vertical.”
--on O-line coach Neil Callaway
“He’s very demanding. He expects a lot out of you, every time you come onto the field, just bring your hard hat and be ready to work. So he’s a good coach, you just got to be ready to work with him and be on the move 24/7. I don’t know how old he is but that dude has a lot of energy for his age. He gets after it with his energy. He brings it everyday. He’s been consistent with it everyday as far as coaching us and getting the most out of us.”
OL COACH NEIL CALLAWAY
--on Toa Lobendahn
“He’s very attentive in meetings. I can tell he’s into it, I can tell he’s a ball guy. I’m looking forward to getting him in the fall”
--on Jordan Simmons practicing at tackle
“I think he’s very functional there, so I think it’s good for him and good for us that if we get in a bind, we know he can do that.”
--on Damien Mama’s progress
“I think Damien is a talented guy but Damien has got to be more consistent. He does some things where you just think, Boy that’s outstanding, and he does some things where you scratch your head like, Whoa, what’s that all about? And we can’t make mistakes, we’re only as good as our worst play, so we have to eliminate the bad plays and that way we’ll be more functional as a unit.”
--on Viane Talamaivao’s progress
“I think he’s a very hard worker, very conscientious and a very detail-oriented guy.”
--on Chris Brown’s progress
“He’s a lot like Damien, he does some things were you say, Whoa, that’s really good, and then at times you scratch you’re head, like what are we doing that for?”
--on the tackles
“I would like to have five guys, these are our five starters, so when it comes down to crunch time, we know what we got. We gotta go win a ball game, we’re going with these five guys. I hope we have more than five guys that can play. I’d love to play two deep. Realistically, I don’t think you can play more than two deep. So I hope we have eight, nine, even ten guys that we feel good about playing with and if that’s the case, then they’ll all play. But if we get into crunch time, those five starters are going to be in there.”
--on if he knows who he likes at each spot
“I don’t want to say that right now, I think it’s a wide open deal on who’s going to get the best five out there, however it shakes out.”
--He said Nathan Smith has the ability to alternate between right and left tackle, though he is lower in the rotation.
Coming up in Pt. II: Browne, Darnold, Tyson Helton
