Aug. 17, 2012
WR Mike Davis
On having a different outlook this season: The way I see it is last year I had a lot of distractions with stuff going on. Overall now, I am a better person and better player. I have my head on straight, and I am ready to win.
On his role with the team: I feel loose, focused, energized, and just happy to be out there. I love playing the game that I love playing and enjoy doing every day at practice. With my role, I am really not a vocal guy and I just lead by example. I just do what I am told and do it the best I can.
On anything else that has changed besides focus from last year: Going into the summer, I have had a different mindset. My mind was clear, and I was ready to work and grind. I have just been grinding all summer. Actually, I had some great times with some of the former receivers who came back. I worked with them, the other receivers as well, and the young ones that just came in. I have just been getting better at my craft, at my game, and just doing what I need to do to help the team win.
On using last year as motivation: Actually I like hearing it now. I feel like my mind slipped away from me [last year]. I am just trying to play my game and am not trying to prove any points. I just want to play with passion. I just really want to show everyone that I am back, and I am ready to do this.
WR John Harris
On what stands out about the offense right now: The enthusiasm. The way we’re working. We’re trying to be the best that we can be right now. Take that next step to becoming one of the top-five offenses in the country.
On the goals of the offense: Our goal is that we want to win all 13 games. To do that you have to be one of the best offenses in the country. You have to be consistent. No turnovers. Passing game, running game. We’re trying to do what it takes to be the best. And that’s our goal daily.
On what he brings to the wide receivers group: I’m physical. I’m a big guy. I’m not [sophomore WR Jaxon] “Ship” [Shipley] and I’m not [junior WR] Mike [Davis]. I’m not really just a speed guy. But my size – I’ve got big hands and long arms. I use my big body to block and get in people’s way. Take those big hits that maybe they can’t take.
On how much red zone production has been emphasized at practice: It’s been emphasized a lot. We want to throw the ball as much as possible. We relied on the run a lot last year. So we’ve gone over red zone a lot these past couple of days. We’ve really been emphasizing the red zone.
WR Jaxon Shipley
On the mentality of the wide receivers: The mentality in the wide receiver room has been all about being tough. Being physically tough. Being mentally tough. We’ve been working a lot on our blocking game. Obviously, we’re working on our routes and stuff. But one of the things we’ve been focusing on is just being mentally tough. We’ve got a lot of good young guys coming in here. And these older guys, everybody is just coming together. The attitude has been more to attack. Not to ever give in. It’s all mental for us.
On who the best blocker is: I have no idea. But I think we’re all coming together. We’re all being a lot more physical. I’m not saying that we weren’t last year, but I think that’s an emphasis for us. We’re all coming together, and we’ve been working on that.
On reaching their potential this year: Obviously we had injuries here and there [last year]. That held us back. And with last year being our first year of the offense, putting stuff in, I don’t think we reached our potential. But this year we have all our plays in. We haven’t had any injuries yet. Hopefully if we can refrain from having injuries and all that, should be a really fun year. We have everything in the books, and I feel like we can reach our potential this year.
On sophomore WR John Harris: John’s one of those guys that obviously is a big-bodied guy. He’s really physical. He goes up and gets the ball. I think that’s his main strength – going up over people and catching balls.
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