Highlights from our latest coach and player interviews...
Tee Martin
--He says Adoree’ Jackson’s brain is what separates him most from other players.
“He’s an extremely intelligent human being. He can pick it up on offense, defense, kickoff return, punt return. And not only can he do it but he can do it probably better than anybody else. …
“Great football players are some of the smartest players. They’re just not physically better than everybody all the time. That’s a rare occasion. Most of the time the great ones are the smartest ones. And in his case he’s extremely, extremely intelligent. And physically, he has a lot of God-given talent as well. I don’t think he could play as fast and do the things he’s doing if he wasn’t as smart.”
--Jackson still manages to surprise him.
“All the time. He’s like a highlight film. … It’s fun having him. You don’t know when he’s going to go off, but you know if you keep giving him the ball, at some point he’s going to go off.”
--Martin says he coaches Jackson like he does everyone else.
“I’m hard on him about catching the ball the proper way, about his finish, about his ball security. He likes it. He likes being pushed, he likes being coached. And he responds. … There’s a standard in the receiving room and when he comes over he reaches that standard.”
--He said Jackson will be used as a decoy and will be involved in more plays that are not called for him. Martin sheepishly added that he “selfishly” wants Jackson on offense for every play.
--Martin said Isaac Whitney is working hard despite growing pains.
“The good thing I like about Isaac is that he’s mentally tough. I’ve been really hard on him. It hasn’t been some of his bets days. I’ve just been really tough on him. One day we had about a six-hour break and probably four of those hours he was in there studying, he and De’Quan (Hampton). It lets me know we have the right guy, in terms of mental toughness, somebody who loves the game and somebody who wants to be better and do better.”
Adoree’ Jackson
--Does he ever surprise himself?
“Not really. I feel like I’m expected to do the things I’m doing. When I go out there, it’s just an emphasis for me to go out there and do something. I guess for you guys it’s spectacular.”
--He has more fun on offense.
“A lot of fun. That’s pretty much were the fun comes from, when I’m on offense. You get to do spectacular things out there, get the momentum going, get your teammates excited. … When I got out there, I just felt like (I was) at home. It just felt good."
--He knows he has to practice well, especially with limited reps.
“I knew Sark was going to get (on) me if I did play bad. When I first got out here, I dropped those two passes in warmup and (he) said they’d send me back to defense. Don’t take it for granted. You’ve got Steven Mitchell, Jalen Greene and Deontay Burnett who play F as well who can just go out there and make the same plays.”
--He worked at inside receiver, outside receiver and briefly at running back.
--It was initially odd to be targeted for passes by Cody Kessler after exclusively working as a defender throughout fall camp.
“It’s usually me breaking up the ball and coming at an angle. But him throwing it right at me, on the move, is pretty different. I just had to get accustomed to it.”
Cody Kessler
--Jackson presents major challenges as a defensive back.
“I know how difficult it is to go against him while he’s on defense. I love knowing that other quarterbacks see that too. I know when they watch the film and they see how well he plays, where you have to throw the ball pretty much perfect every time when he’s playing coverage. It really does stress out a quarterback. …
“Everything he does surprises me. He’s a stud. He’s awesome. He’s that guy that you can’t really scout, because you don’t know. When you watch, this guy likes to do this, this guy likes to do that. He does everything. You can’t really figure out what he’s going to do. It’s kind of just, not that he makes it up as he goes but he just always seems to make things happen. You think you have him, you think he’s down or you think he’s out of a play and then there he is, showing up again.”
Marques Tuiasosopo
--Taylor McNamara is getting increased reps, and some with the first team, because of how much he’s improved since arriving two weeks ago.
“Taylor these last three days has shown what three years in a college system can do for you. I think he’s a little more comfortable with our terminology and what we’re asking him to do. You see Taylor with the ones now, he’s earned those reps. All my tight ends know they’re going to be evaluated on the quality of their play.”
--Tuiasosopo has not decided on a tight end rotation yet.
“There’s so much time. In two weeks, guys can really make a huge jump. If all three guys, all four or five of them (improve), that’s a good problem that we’ll have. That’s what I’m hoping for. That’s what the challenge is.”
Tee Martin
--He says Adoree’ Jackson’s brain is what separates him most from other players.
“He’s an extremely intelligent human being. He can pick it up on offense, defense, kickoff return, punt return. And not only can he do it but he can do it probably better than anybody else. …
“Great football players are some of the smartest players. They’re just not physically better than everybody all the time. That’s a rare occasion. Most of the time the great ones are the smartest ones. And in his case he’s extremely, extremely intelligent. And physically, he has a lot of God-given talent as well. I don’t think he could play as fast and do the things he’s doing if he wasn’t as smart.”
--Jackson still manages to surprise him.
“All the time. He’s like a highlight film. … It’s fun having him. You don’t know when he’s going to go off, but you know if you keep giving him the ball, at some point he’s going to go off.”
--Martin says he coaches Jackson like he does everyone else.
“I’m hard on him about catching the ball the proper way, about his finish, about his ball security. He likes it. He likes being pushed, he likes being coached. And he responds. … There’s a standard in the receiving room and when he comes over he reaches that standard.”
--He said Jackson will be used as a decoy and will be involved in more plays that are not called for him. Martin sheepishly added that he “selfishly” wants Jackson on offense for every play.
--Martin said Isaac Whitney is working hard despite growing pains.
“The good thing I like about Isaac is that he’s mentally tough. I’ve been really hard on him. It hasn’t been some of his bets days. I’ve just been really tough on him. One day we had about a six-hour break and probably four of those hours he was in there studying, he and De’Quan (Hampton). It lets me know we have the right guy, in terms of mental toughness, somebody who loves the game and somebody who wants to be better and do better.”
Adoree’ Jackson
--Does he ever surprise himself?
“Not really. I feel like I’m expected to do the things I’m doing. When I go out there, it’s just an emphasis for me to go out there and do something. I guess for you guys it’s spectacular.”
--He has more fun on offense.
“A lot of fun. That’s pretty much were the fun comes from, when I’m on offense. You get to do spectacular things out there, get the momentum going, get your teammates excited. … When I got out there, I just felt like (I was) at home. It just felt good."
--He knows he has to practice well, especially with limited reps.
“I knew Sark was going to get (on) me if I did play bad. When I first got out here, I dropped those two passes in warmup and (he) said they’d send me back to defense. Don’t take it for granted. You’ve got Steven Mitchell, Jalen Greene and Deontay Burnett who play F as well who can just go out there and make the same plays.”
--He worked at inside receiver, outside receiver and briefly at running back.
--It was initially odd to be targeted for passes by Cody Kessler after exclusively working as a defender throughout fall camp.
“It’s usually me breaking up the ball and coming at an angle. But him throwing it right at me, on the move, is pretty different. I just had to get accustomed to it.”
Cody Kessler
--Jackson presents major challenges as a defensive back.
“I know how difficult it is to go against him while he’s on defense. I love knowing that other quarterbacks see that too. I know when they watch the film and they see how well he plays, where you have to throw the ball pretty much perfect every time when he’s playing coverage. It really does stress out a quarterback. …
“Everything he does surprises me. He’s a stud. He’s awesome. He’s that guy that you can’t really scout, because you don’t know. When you watch, this guy likes to do this, this guy likes to do that. He does everything. You can’t really figure out what he’s going to do. It’s kind of just, not that he makes it up as he goes but he just always seems to make things happen. You think you have him, you think he’s down or you think he’s out of a play and then there he is, showing up again.”
Marques Tuiasosopo
--Taylor McNamara is getting increased reps, and some with the first team, because of how much he’s improved since arriving two weeks ago.
“Taylor these last three days has shown what three years in a college system can do for you. I think he’s a little more comfortable with our terminology and what we’re asking him to do. You see Taylor with the ones now, he’s earned those reps. All my tight ends know they’re going to be evaluated on the quality of their play.”
--Tuiasosopo has not decided on a tight end rotation yet.
“There’s so much time. In two weeks, guys can really make a huge jump. If all three guys, all four or five of them (improve), that’s a good problem that we’ll have. That’s what I’m hoping for. That’s what the challenge is.”
