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PENN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE


September 2, 2014


Jesse James


Q.  How was your trip overall and what was the experience like?  How would you sum that up?
JESSE JAMES:  It was a good experience.  Good time.  The people there were great.  The hotel people treated us great and the coaches had a great itinerary for us.  We had a good time.  It was great to come out of there with a win.  It was a good week in all.

Q.  How did you feel when you got back, getting that day off to get your body back on the right clock and right schedule?
JESSE JAMES:  Yeah, having Monday off was great.  Obviously no class and everything really helped out for I think the whole team to get back on schedule.

Q.  The turf has been high for a long time, over a year; how do you avoid a letdown going into this week?  What's the message to the team?
JESSE JAMES:  We are on to the next one.  We got back.  Sunday, we got through some film and went through practice a little bit.  We were ready.  We're starting to work on Akron and that's all we're focused on right now is Akron.

Q.  Watching film and evaluating play, what are some things you want to work on and improve for this upcoming week?
JESSE JAMES:  I just want to be a little bit more consistent blocking.  I think I did a pretty good job but there are some points I can improve on.
Other than that, you know, just keep working.  There's a lot of things we can improve on as a team.  Like to run the ball a little bit better.  I think we had a pretty good game and the tight end game, we did pretty well.

Q.  Compare this offense to the last offense, now that you have one game to get used to it, what are the similarities to this year and last year as a tight end?
JESSE JAMES:  There's not too many differences.  I think they are both pretty similar.  I think Coach Hand does a great job teaching the offense.  Pretty much the big part of it, the new language coming in and now we are used to it through camp.

Q.  What have you noticed from Mike Gesicki, made his debut, and what stands out about him?
JESSE JAMES:  I think he has great practice habits and he's a hard worker and always trying to do a little bit extra.  He does a great job in the meeting room trying to pick up the offense more every day.  I think throughout the season, get more of an increased role probably just from his work ethic.

Q.  What's it like dealing with Kyle, being around him in meetings and stuff?  What's his personality like?
JESSE JAMES:  He's a really smart guy.  He's always trying to help out.  He's trying to help the younger guys.  He does a great job in meetings.  He has great practice habits.  He's always been a hard worker, so it was great to have him on the field and we're all excited to see what he'll do this year.

Q.  As a tight end, what challenges do five‑man defensive fronts pose for you where you're probably kept in to block?  I don't know the last time you guys really saw that; just overall scouting that look.
JESSE JAMES:  We really haven't had that look.  We haven't did it much last week or have it at all.  Whenever that happens, we've had it a few times last year.  I've seen them block and I didn't think it was too big a deal.  I think we've handled it well and I think we will be prepared for that if that came up.

Q.  Pretty big shot across the middle, I think in the second half, how are you feeling?
JESSE JAMES:  Yeah, I'm great.  I feel better than ever.  Prepared really good after practice and get ready for Akron.  That was a big hit but I'm 270 pounds for a reason.  I can take those kind of hits.

Q.  Three or four times you were targeted on first down but a couple of times later in the game‑‑ scrambling later on.  Do you see yourself more as a go‑to target‑‑
JESSE JAMES:  Not really sure how to answer that.  That's more‑‑ inaudible‑‑ defenses.  Really depends on the look we're getting.  I think he does a great job going through progressions and he's done a great job with quarterback.

Q.  I don't know how much you've seen of Akron, but they are refilling the back end of their defense, and you guys, big passing defense; are you getting excited to face them knowing they are rebuilding their back end?
JESSE JAMES:  I only watched a little bit of film on them so I really can't say too much about it.  But I think one thing as a team we want to focus on, we have to run the ball.  We haven't had as much success last week as we want to do, so I think that's our focal point heading into this week.

Q.  Curious, this is the first go‑around of practicing on Sunday, if you could speak to that, particularly the long trip and how you think you're going to enjoy Monday off, and plus work the kinks out on Sunday and how it all sort of tied together after this long trip.
JESSE JAMES:  You know, long trip was probably kind of tough because it was a quick turnaround.  But I think for the most part, the guys liked it and they liked having Monday off.  It gives you a day to focus on your own thing.  Sunday, the coaches did a great job; Coach Galt, he had a great work out planned for us that day that helps get you ready for the week coming up.  I think it's really good.  I like the schedule.  I think it's done well.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports


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