DE T.J Franklin
(On having a lot of sacks, looking forward to the fall)
Yeah, for sure. I mean, this year I believe our emphasis is gonna be on disrupting the quarterback, moving the quarterback off his spot, making him uncomfortable in the pocket. And we got a lot of guys that can get at that. We got me, Gabe, we got the outside linebackers, we got plenty of blitzes written up for people to go in there and disrupt the quarterback. So, I feel like the defense as a whole should be able to disrupt the quarterback and make him uncomfortable.
(On transfers making an impact)
Yeah, definitely. The Barrington brothers for the O-line, I can see them become more and more comfortable and their leadership role. They’re older than most of the O-linemen we have now. So, I can definitely see them growing in their leadership with the offensive line. And then we have Mike Smith at linebacker, he’s had a tremendous spring. Beforehand, I didn’t know who he was and then he came in and he definitely showed up, showed everybody who he was. And I expect him to be one of those big-time players in the fall.
(On running backs)
I mean, we’ve been playing the same team for four weeks. So, a lot of the time, you’ll know what they’re running based off of their formations. So, for us, that’s what we pretty much emphasized on, knowing the formations, knowing what you’re gonna get, knowing what you’ll get out of the — I forgot what it was called. But yeah, knowing what you’re going to get basically.
(Bittersweet to be the last spring game?)
It’s definitely exciting. I wouldn’t say bittersweet because I don’t believe my journey ends here. So, I believe that I have the potential to become anything I want to become. And I’m excited to see the guys that still have more springs to come. Come back and watch them, just to see how I left them, left the mark on the them, see how they progressed throughout the next few years without me.
(accomplished defensively) For the most part, I feel like we accomplished most of our technique things. That’s always stuff we can work on technique-wise, but we got pretty much all that covered. We communicated a lot better. I feel like we had a lot of energy, we ran around a lot. Most of the things we wanted to cover we did cover.
(where did D grow the most) In my opinion, we grew everywhere. We only had a handful of returners, most of them, everybody was gone. So we had a lot of young guys step up this spring. DBs and D-line-wise, we had a lot of people fill really big roles, so I’m really proud of them.
(who stepped up on D-line) Cooper Lanz, for sure. He was playing end last year and this year they moved him to nose. He’s done nothing but excel at nose so far, so I’m excited to see him continue to grow and become a better player.
(Younger guys) Younger guys, I’d definitely say Tez, Devonte Tezino. He’s one of the guys who’s a freakish athlete. He’s young, so he doesn’t really understand how good he is at this point. But he’s definitely growing into that mindset of being that type of player.
(3-man line vs. 4-man line) Personally, I don’t discriminate. A lot of the 3-man stuff, we slide the front based off the offensive formation. So the three-down can turn into a four-down, just based on motion or something like that. Just as long as we’re all on the same page, that’s where we need to be.
TE Drake Dabney
(What’d you see from Sawyer and Blake) I saw a lot of energy, a lot of leadership and I think they both showed that they can make any throw on the field and move the ball with whatever group they were in. I think we saw a lot of good things from both of them today. So proud of both of those guys.
(Getting back in the endzone coming off the injury) You know, it meant a lot just being back out there with the guys, just putting that jersey on. We're playing against the same guys but it feels a little different when you get that jersey back on, that number and name on your back. It just felt good to be out there again and being able to make plays for my team, especially coming back from injury.
(How did the TE room step up) I think a lot of us stepped up in the spring game. Kelsey (Johnson), Jake (Roberts), Gavin (Yates), we all did our part. I think this whole spring we've shown that anything coach (Jeff) Grimes asks us to do we can go out and do it and perfect it. We all have different skill sets and we all have different strengths, so I think we just work well together when we're on the field at the same time. It just gives us an opportunity to have more tight ends and be able to make plays for this team, to block, and just do whatever we need to do for this team.
(Ben was a focal point last year, what can you take from him) Yeah, Ben (Sims) led the room last year. He was a great example, taught me a lot and we pushed each other back and forth just making each other better. I think that's helped me to step up into that role and be whatever I need to be if that's pass catcher, runner, or run blocker, just to step up and take that role. It's nice to have other guys in the room as well to take some of the load off and just be there for each other and do different things.
(On having a lot of sacks, looking forward to the fall)
Yeah, for sure. I mean, this year I believe our emphasis is gonna be on disrupting the quarterback, moving the quarterback off his spot, making him uncomfortable in the pocket. And we got a lot of guys that can get at that. We got me, Gabe, we got the outside linebackers, we got plenty of blitzes written up for people to go in there and disrupt the quarterback. So, I feel like the defense as a whole should be able to disrupt the quarterback and make him uncomfortable.
(On transfers making an impact)
Yeah, definitely. The Barrington brothers for the O-line, I can see them become more and more comfortable and their leadership role. They’re older than most of the O-linemen we have now. So, I can definitely see them growing in their leadership with the offensive line. And then we have Mike Smith at linebacker, he’s had a tremendous spring. Beforehand, I didn’t know who he was and then he came in and he definitely showed up, showed everybody who he was. And I expect him to be one of those big-time players in the fall.
(On running backs)
I mean, we’ve been playing the same team for four weeks. So, a lot of the time, you’ll know what they’re running based off of their formations. So, for us, that’s what we pretty much emphasized on, knowing the formations, knowing what you’re gonna get, knowing what you’ll get out of the — I forgot what it was called. But yeah, knowing what you’re going to get basically.
(Bittersweet to be the last spring game?)
It’s definitely exciting. I wouldn’t say bittersweet because I don’t believe my journey ends here. So, I believe that I have the potential to become anything I want to become. And I’m excited to see the guys that still have more springs to come. Come back and watch them, just to see how I left them, left the mark on the them, see how they progressed throughout the next few years without me.
(accomplished defensively) For the most part, I feel like we accomplished most of our technique things. That’s always stuff we can work on technique-wise, but we got pretty much all that covered. We communicated a lot better. I feel like we had a lot of energy, we ran around a lot. Most of the things we wanted to cover we did cover.
(where did D grow the most) In my opinion, we grew everywhere. We only had a handful of returners, most of them, everybody was gone. So we had a lot of young guys step up this spring. DBs and D-line-wise, we had a lot of people fill really big roles, so I’m really proud of them.
(who stepped up on D-line) Cooper Lanz, for sure. He was playing end last year and this year they moved him to nose. He’s done nothing but excel at nose so far, so I’m excited to see him continue to grow and become a better player.
(Younger guys) Younger guys, I’d definitely say Tez, Devonte Tezino. He’s one of the guys who’s a freakish athlete. He’s young, so he doesn’t really understand how good he is at this point. But he’s definitely growing into that mindset of being that type of player.
(3-man line vs. 4-man line) Personally, I don’t discriminate. A lot of the 3-man stuff, we slide the front based off the offensive formation. So the three-down can turn into a four-down, just based on motion or something like that. Just as long as we’re all on the same page, that’s where we need to be.
TE Drake Dabney
(What’d you see from Sawyer and Blake) I saw a lot of energy, a lot of leadership and I think they both showed that they can make any throw on the field and move the ball with whatever group they were in. I think we saw a lot of good things from both of them today. So proud of both of those guys.
(Getting back in the endzone coming off the injury) You know, it meant a lot just being back out there with the guys, just putting that jersey on. We're playing against the same guys but it feels a little different when you get that jersey back on, that number and name on your back. It just felt good to be out there again and being able to make plays for my team, especially coming back from injury.
(How did the TE room step up) I think a lot of us stepped up in the spring game. Kelsey (Johnson), Jake (Roberts), Gavin (Yates), we all did our part. I think this whole spring we've shown that anything coach (Jeff) Grimes asks us to do we can go out and do it and perfect it. We all have different skill sets and we all have different strengths, so I think we just work well together when we're on the field at the same time. It just gives us an opportunity to have more tight ends and be able to make plays for this team, to block, and just do whatever we need to do for this team.
(Ben was a focal point last year, what can you take from him) Yeah, Ben (Sims) led the room last year. He was a great example, taught me a lot and we pushed each other back and forth just making each other better. I think that's helped me to step up into that role and be whatever I need to be if that's pass catcher, runner, or run blocker, just to step up and take that role. It's nice to have other guys in the room as well to take some of the load off and just be there for each other and do different things.
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