(On how much further he is along since the first mini-camp)
“I’m way further along, but personally and just as any player, you can be way further along, but you’re not where you want to be. You never are. And you have ups and downs just like your rookie year there’s just not quite as down and out. I have good practices and bad practices, but I continue to work on what coaches tell me to work on.”
(On if it affects him just having left side and right side tackles rather than nose and guard)
“Not really. It does affect some things, but not how I do my job or try to carry out my assignment.”
(On how clean the slate is this year and how that affects his mindset)
“It’s beautiful how clean the slate is. It’s great. It’s something that we’ve all wanted; just a fresh start. I don’t think anybody was wrong last year I just think it just didn’t work out. I think this year it is that a new year. And me personally having a year under my belt with that clean slate it feels great.”
(On if having a clean slate is liberating)
“Liberating, yeah. It’s nice. It allows you to focus on the things that you’re supposed to focus on as a football player, rather than being panicked or scrambling to learn things. You can relax and understand that we’re all working together with the same expectations.”
(On the repose between him and the rookies)
“It’s cool. I thought as a rookie, you know, we’re all part of the team and treat these guys the same way I want to be treated. I mean, I’m no better than them. Even just for being a second, third, fourth year guy we need them to help us and I think they’re capable of that. Two particular guys (LB) James (Laurinaitis) and (T) Jason (Smith), they’re great players and they can help us immediately.”
(On how comfortable he is a leader this year)
“I wouldn’t consider myself a leader. I think I’m just a piece of the puzzle and we’re all just trying to lead together. We feed off of each other. I think the real leaders will emerge when the bullets start really flying. Leaders kind of show themselves naturally. You can’t try to be one. We’ll see who it’s going to be. We’ve got some great vets and I’ll always listen to what they say.”