On getting ready for his first start
It's the same approach, same feeling that I've had going into every week. I'm going to be in there snap one, knowing that is a comfort-building kind of feeling. Confidence is at an all-time high.
On whether his approach this week changes
Not at all. Since I've walked in the door here it's always been preparing and approaching each game like I'm playing snap one. Now, I'm just getting confirmation a little bit earlier.
On how many friends and family he has coming to the game
I don't know the exact number but I know my dad told me to expect around 60 people coming. A lot of the LGP folks, a lot of my old hockey teammates, old personal trainers from back in the day. Just coming to see me go out there for the first time.
On whether there's more pressure playing in front of family and friends or in front of 110,000 people
Same pressure. I try to not think of pressure at all and it's going to stay that way no matter who is watching.
On how he's approached the quarterback competition
Honestly, it's been how I approach every single camp, every single day. Just trying to be the best version of myself. Try to make the competition an illusion. If you ever try to compare yourself, it doesn't matter if its Tom Brady, Cade, or anybody, you're always setting a limit on what your potential is and what you can achieve. I've just been trying to get better every single day, 1%, 2%, 5% and the rest will take care of itself.
On what he wanted to work on in fall camp
A lot of it just had to do with relaxing in the pocket. Subtle pocket movements. Just being able to understand defensive scheme a little bit better, just with that experience, it was huge coming naturally. As always, just getting better chemistry with my receivers, offensive line and running backs, all that stuff that just comes with building experience.
On how difficult it was to not be a full participant during spring
It's extremely difficult just because it was so brand new. This injury that I had, it was one of those injuries where I could do everything. I could lift, I can play basketball but I could do everything but play football. It's frustrating but, also, it opened up a whole new lens of how I look at the game. It gave me time to understand, OK, who is the running back looking at here? What are the offensive line pointing to? What's the backside tackle doing when they point to that frontside safety or something like that. Opened up a whole new opportunity to learn about a whole new, different, or multiple different dimensions of the game.
On the understanding of the defense
It's just a whole new process that I learned. One-high, two-high, zone eyes, man eyes. Linebackers skew and after that it's pre-snap and then it's post-snap confirmation. What's that boundary safety doing? We call him our spoke guy. Is he cracking his hips going to the sideline right away? Is he cracking his hips going to the deep half? It's all those little things that kind of simplified my processing in my mind that I didn't have last year. That opportunity to gain that knowledge is huge.
On what it means to have the game slow down for him
Just kind of what I said earlier, simplicity. Knowing what you're looking at, knowing what you're looking for and then having a split-second answer to what you just saw.
On his kickoff time preferences
I really don't mind whatever it is. There's good and bad to every time. 12 o'clock is just amazing. Wake up and go play ball. 3:30, you get to sleep in a little bit more and go play ball. 8 o'clock, you get to sleep in, maybe get to watch a couple of games and then go play ball. They all have their benefits and their cons. I wanna say the night games, under the lights, brings you back to high school and there's nothing better.
On how he relaxes
Being with my girlfriend going on four years now, she's been a great way to take my mind off football. Just throughout the week, especially game week, you're putting so much mental overload on your short-term memory and you can't overdo it because once you get to game time, just like studying for a test. If you're studying, nonstop, nonstop, nonstop the night before, you'll forget some things. Having her to be able to take my mind off that, go on a date, do something that's completely outside of football, been great to kind of keep that balance mentally.
On Hawaii
A lot of it just has to do with personnel right now because they play a lot of man coverage. They man up in the backend and it's just seeing what guys we can attack. They don't bring too much pressure so I know I'll have time and, of course, my offensive line, I know they'll have time no matter what they bring. That's the god honest truth right there. It's just personnel-wise, definitely seeing who is gonna guard number 14 (Roman Wilson). That man is going to have one fun night. One fun night.
On the challenges of going in mid-quarter for a handful of snaps
It's a huge challenge and it's something you have to learn on the fly. I want to say maybe the Wisconsin game, I was thrown in there midway through the first or second quarter and my legs felt like concrete. Man, I really gotta get on the bike when the defense is out there to get my legs loose because you never know when I'm going to be out there, I need to use my legs when I'm out there because that's what my role was at the time.
On the difficulty of not being the guy coming into Michigan
It was definitely tough at first. The way I look at it, and still look at it, there's always a new mountain to climb. Whether it's every year, whether it's your high school career, whether it's your college career, I just think of it as, OK, this is another mountain I am climbing. Starting at the bottom. It's always rough and brutal at the bottom of the mountain but if you keep going, and keep pushing, keep being persistent, keep being patient, everything is going to pay out for the greater good. I just looked at it as another mountain to climb and I'm having fun climbing it.
On what he's working on this week in practice
Trying to do whatever I can leading up to the game to get up to that flow-state. Really out there in practice just trying to be present with every snap I take, every handoff I make, every throw I make. Just be present in each moment so by the time the game comes, I'm already in that flow and in that zone.
On what he wants to help the defense get better with in week two
Definitely look at these games in the front end of the season as an illusion. These nameless, faceless opponents. Yeah, they're running different schemes and all that and we gotta understand that. But it's just all about how are we getting better. We're expected to win these games but what strides are we making? What steps are we making to get better as a unit so when it comes down the line, we aren't just doing this all the way down the line. We always want to be here. We're always looking to get better.
On how much time he spends looking at his keys
It is a whole week's worth of film study of who is that man, what is his tendencies. Now we've got to look at the second level. What is the linebacker's alignment, what technique is he in? Then, when you get out there, it literally happens at the snap of a finger. You have to make that split-second decision and it could mean a five-yard gain, it could mean the running back is getting tackles in the backfield or it could mean what happened this past Saturday where it's one-on-one with safety. All of that gets taken into the preparation that happens all week to make it instinctual.
On the communication with the offensive coordinators
I was actually really intrigued to see how that was going to go, too. It was super smooth, There were no mishaps with communication getting the play in. No delay of games, nothing like that. Coach Moore and Coach Weiss do a great job of working together. You put two very powerful positions in that position and say, alright, figure it out. They figured it out to a T. I can't wait to see them at the end of the year. They did a great job game one. I can't imagine how well-oiled this play calling is going to be by week 12, week 15.
On having Olu Oluwatimi
Absolute blessing. Every single one of guys upfront is an absolute blessing to have in front of me. Olu is a huge addition to this team. He was voted alternate captain, I guarantee he would've been a real captain if he was here longer than the four months, five months he was here. He just stepped in like he's been a Michigan Man forever. He just earns it and shows it every single day. He works hard, he's a great leader and he's extremely intelligent as well. He's just been a perfect addition for us.
