(on if he knew the Titans were interested in him)
No, not as much as my agent was saying. I really didn't know they had really any interest in me, man, I'm glad they did.
(on what he knows about the Titans and what was his phone call with the front office and coaching staff like)
To be honest, I really don't know too much about the NFL in general. I really just started watching players in the NFL as soon as I got to college, probably two, three years ago. So, it's kind of been a little while since—the NFL is kind of brand new to me. So, I'm kind of picking up knowledge about the NFL as I go. And then, as far as my phone call with the front office and everybody in the building, man, it was great. I really couldn't hear a whole lot because I was crying and everybody else was crying around me but I could tell that they were excited for me. So I'm excited to be there for sure.
(on his game and if the analysis that his production dipped below his ability last year at Auburn is fair)
I do. I do say that it's fair. My production did go down a little bit last year, but I feel like that was just really on me. I've got to finish my plays. And then like I said, I've got to finish on the quarterback a whole lot better than I have been. Going into the next level, that's the biggest thing that I'm working on right now.
(on what he could do to better close on the quarterback and finish the deal at the next level)
Really just training myself to drive through the quarterback's legs and stop tackling so high because I'm a taller guy. So I've got to make sure that I'm low and I'm driving through that quarterback to get them on the ground.
(on his experience in the Draft's green room)
Man, there was some doubt towards the mid part of it, but my momma always told me keep a positive mindset and positive things will happen. So I erased that mindset and I got back positive. As the picks kept going and going, I was waiting for my name to get called and then once it got called, I felt like I knew what it was going to, really because I just changed my mindset on how I thought about it. Yeah, I can say I got a little frustrated towards the mid part, but I kind of just let that go and let God take his course.
(on what the Titans told him about what position he'd be playing)
I really didn't have a whole lot of time to dive in depth with it. But whatever that team needs me to do, that's what I'm going to do for us to win.
(on if he has heard of Jeffery Simmons and what he thinks about getting play with him)
I've heard of him. I haven't watched a ton of him, but I've heard of him. From what I've heard, it sounds like he's a really good player in himself. So, I can't wait to just get into that building and get ready to learn from him and really just soak up all the knowledge from him. He is a veteran guy. So, my biggest thing coming into the next level is making sure that I get as much knowledge from him as I can.
(on his ability to set the edge and defend the run opposed to rushing the passer and how his pad level plays into both)
Really just because I come out of a—well I probably—coming out of three-point stance is probably one of the bigger reasons why I come out lower, especially in the run. And then we two-gapped a lot of stuff at Auburn, too. So you had to stay low as far as playing the run, if you was high you really couldn't two-gap anything because you were getting drove off the ball. So, it was stay low or get drove off the ball. So, we shoot out the hips, and we stayed low and we drove guys back.
(on his love for the game of football and the passion he plays with)
Man, the love for the game really came from whenever—I played since my first grade year. But it really came from whenever I found out my father played. He passed in '08 and whenever I found out he played, it just ignited the fire even more. And then from there, man, it was just like, 'Why not keep playing? Why not make his name great?' And that's been my life's goal is to make his last name great.
(on if he feels like there is still a lot of upside to his game fans haven't seen yet)
Definitely. I feel like I haven't even touched 40 percent of what I could actually do yet. And man, that's just me being honest. I feel I've only touched 40 percent of what I can actually do. I feel like here being able to develop with the veterans, I could tap into the other 60 percent.
