What are your personal goals for this season?
“I really want to be a tone setter. I want to set the tone for the team, whether it’s a sleeper game that we might get stuck and let the team know what we have to do.”
How did the summer go with you and the guys during Turley time?
“It really is. In the summer I feel like a track star. You go out there in the mornings, you’re hardly awake, out there running a ton. You’re trying to build that base in order for that to last for the season. You start fine tuning. I have like the extra time you have in the summer. We have classes and running, but there is a little bit of extra time with only a couple classes, which allows you to fine tune your craft and connection with everyone else.”
Irwin said there were player-led practices Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Do you try to make those similar to a normal practice or do the players try to do their own thing?
“They’re similar to our own practice in nature. But we’ll go out there and I think the defense takes more chances. They can take a chance because if they break on something that they think they see and get beat over the top, they don’t get yelled at. They can take those chances and the same works for us. I can line up at different spots and see how that affects how they read. I think that’s something you get to experiment with and that’s the cool thing about summer.”
Did KJ work with you guys during those practices?
“KJ threw in there. As he got better through the summer he threw more and more. We had Davis, he threw a little bit, too. They were all sort of getting involved. Some of them didn’t do 11-on-11 because we don’t want to get caught up in anything. They got some reps in there to get in touch with the offense and feel more comfortable.
Irwin couldn’t pick someone who made a huge leap during the summer. But he said: “I knew what we had at a lot of positions on offense and I think we have a lot of talent there. It’s interesting to look at the amount of weapons we have. We have JJ (Arcega-Whiteside), me, Kaden (Smith), Bryce (Love), we put Cam (Scarlett) back there and he’s looking good. KJ is back there. Our O-line is the best since we’ve been here. I think it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together and us being us.”
Connor Wedington put in a lot of work last year to be a receiver. What has year two looked liked for him?
“He is a very explosive athlete. He’s good with the ball in the hands and he has picked up the game. He is eager to learn and I love that in a person. Connor has that almost more than anyone. He loves to learn. That’s a great quality, especially for someone moving from running back to receiver. He has made that transition well.”
You’ve spent so many years fine tuning playing receiver, what are the small details of playing the position that you try to explain to him that he still has to learn?
“There are so many things and there are things he can teach me, too. We try to explore some new releases. He has a go-to and you have to have a counter to that. He works on each one and as a receiver he’s a quicker guy, but he has to explore all realms of how he can plays receiver. You have guys who are a deep threat but if they (the defense) walls them off and stays on top, then there not as much as a threat. You have to be able to have multiple aspects of the game, to have your dominant trait and then a counter. That is something we’re working on with him.”
What are those for you and what are you working on?
“I’m depicted a lot of times as a position receiver who can run routes and has good hands, dependable. A lot of times for my shorter routes, or routes in general to work, I have to have more of a deep threat. That is something I have been working on to have a deep threat. That has to be your No. 1 threat on almost every route. If they don’t feel you’re going deep then they can squat on everything.”
What does that work right to make that happen?
“A lot of it is connection with the quarterback. There are different types of balls for different people. You have guys who are 6-4 who want a different ball than someone who is 6-2. I try to get into a position that is relatable to my skill set. KJ and I have been working on that and a lot of other stuff this summer. I think it’s really coming together.”
About the guys you compete against on defense, one young guy we hear a lot about is Paulson Adebo. Do you go up against him at all?
“I go up against Paulson all the time. He’s a good athlete. I love what he does. He loves to friggin work. He’s a funny dude; he’s a character. You see him out there working after practice visualizing and getting his steps in. I don’t know if it’s the visualizing that is making him better, but you know that his mind set is there. That is taking him further and I love to see that in him.”
“I really want to be a tone setter. I want to set the tone for the team, whether it’s a sleeper game that we might get stuck and let the team know what we have to do.”
How did the summer go with you and the guys during Turley time?
“It really is. In the summer I feel like a track star. You go out there in the mornings, you’re hardly awake, out there running a ton. You’re trying to build that base in order for that to last for the season. You start fine tuning. I have like the extra time you have in the summer. We have classes and running, but there is a little bit of extra time with only a couple classes, which allows you to fine tune your craft and connection with everyone else.”
Irwin said there were player-led practices Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Do you try to make those similar to a normal practice or do the players try to do their own thing?
“They’re similar to our own practice in nature. But we’ll go out there and I think the defense takes more chances. They can take a chance because if they break on something that they think they see and get beat over the top, they don’t get yelled at. They can take those chances and the same works for us. I can line up at different spots and see how that affects how they read. I think that’s something you get to experiment with and that’s the cool thing about summer.”
Did KJ work with you guys during those practices?
“KJ threw in there. As he got better through the summer he threw more and more. We had Davis, he threw a little bit, too. They were all sort of getting involved. Some of them didn’t do 11-on-11 because we don’t want to get caught up in anything. They got some reps in there to get in touch with the offense and feel more comfortable.
Irwin couldn’t pick someone who made a huge leap during the summer. But he said: “I knew what we had at a lot of positions on offense and I think we have a lot of talent there. It’s interesting to look at the amount of weapons we have. We have JJ (Arcega-Whiteside), me, Kaden (Smith), Bryce (Love), we put Cam (Scarlett) back there and he’s looking good. KJ is back there. Our O-line is the best since we’ve been here. I think it’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together and us being us.”
Connor Wedington put in a lot of work last year to be a receiver. What has year two looked liked for him?
“He is a very explosive athlete. He’s good with the ball in the hands and he has picked up the game. He is eager to learn and I love that in a person. Connor has that almost more than anyone. He loves to learn. That’s a great quality, especially for someone moving from running back to receiver. He has made that transition well.”
You’ve spent so many years fine tuning playing receiver, what are the small details of playing the position that you try to explain to him that he still has to learn?
“There are so many things and there are things he can teach me, too. We try to explore some new releases. He has a go-to and you have to have a counter to that. He works on each one and as a receiver he’s a quicker guy, but he has to explore all realms of how he can plays receiver. You have guys who are a deep threat but if they (the defense) walls them off and stays on top, then there not as much as a threat. You have to be able to have multiple aspects of the game, to have your dominant trait and then a counter. That is something we’re working on with him.”
What are those for you and what are you working on?
“I’m depicted a lot of times as a position receiver who can run routes and has good hands, dependable. A lot of times for my shorter routes, or routes in general to work, I have to have more of a deep threat. That is something I have been working on to have a deep threat. That has to be your No. 1 threat on almost every route. If they don’t feel you’re going deep then they can squat on everything.”
What does that work right to make that happen?
“A lot of it is connection with the quarterback. There are different types of balls for different people. You have guys who are 6-4 who want a different ball than someone who is 6-2. I try to get into a position that is relatable to my skill set. KJ and I have been working on that and a lot of other stuff this summer. I think it’s really coming together.”
About the guys you compete against on defense, one young guy we hear a lot about is Paulson Adebo. Do you go up against him at all?
“I go up against Paulson all the time. He’s a good athlete. I love what he does. He loves to friggin work. He’s a funny dude; he’s a character. You see him out there working after practice visualizing and getting his steps in. I don’t know if it’s the visualizing that is making him better, but you know that his mind set is there. That is taking him further and I love to see that in him.”
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