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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: CLEMSON VS OKLAHOMA


December 28, 2015


Shaq Lawson

Kevin Dodd

D.J. Reader

Brent Venables

Cordrea Tankersley

Ben Boulware


Miami Gardens, Florida

SHAQ LAWSON: I wasn't really thinking about a championship. I know I didn't win any championships in high school and I played with a couple teammates that went to Clemson so our goal was to come back and play with each other and try to win a National Championship at Clemson, so that was the reason why I came to Clemson.

Q. Has it been kind of surreal to you to get to this point?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, yes, sir. It's been a special season for us, me just enjoying the journey and all the hard work paying off for us.

Q. What was different about this season for you? Obviously you were more productive this season. Did something click or did they use you differently or more pressure to be the guy more?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say playing more. I played behind Vic Beasley last year so my snaps was limited. But after I did what I had to do this year, I just stepped my leadership role up and just got better every week, and my game got better. That's pretty much what I learned from them guys like Vic and guys that's been in the program longer than me, how they had to sit there and wait their time, so that's pretty much what I had to do.

Q. You guys obviously have a lot of talent but there was also a lack of experience. At what point along the process, whether it's spring, fall, X number of games in, at what point did you say, wow, we're up to this task?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say after the Notre Dame game, after we got the two point conversion stop, and that really defined where our team was at and how good we really was after that game. The games before that I couldn't really tell where we was at because we hadn't played nobody good like that, but after that Notre Dame game, I knew our team was where we needed to be.

Q. What do you like about this defense?
SHAQ LAWSON: We're hungry. We like getting better every day. We're all brothers off the field, so that just makes us play better on the field together with each other.

Q. What has Brent Venables done for you just as an influence in your life to help you develop?
SHAQ LAWSON: He helped me develop a lot. If you see him every day as a coach, he's just excited about defense, and he just helps put us in the right position to make plays. Our defense is so good, and our scheme the scheme he's got for us makes the players that much better.

Q. What did you learn from Beasley and those guys in terms of your off the field work? Did they show you how to practice?
SHAQ LAWSON: No, sir. Really I always liked to practice starting in high school. They just told me how to lead on the field and off the field. They were just giving me examples how to lead, and you don't always got to lead by always saying something, so stuff like that.

Q. Why do you love practice? I think most people would probably say I don't like practice, I just like the games?
SHAQ LAWSON: Because you've got a chance to get better every day, just waking up knowing you can go do what you love to do and practice, that makes us better.

Q. Where else were you looking in high school?
SHAQ LAWSON: Tennessee, University of Tennessee. I was about to go there, but I'm glad I stayed at home and everything.

Q. What changed, because you are a local guy, so was that difficult to potentially leave the state?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say my family reason, after my pops died, I just wanted to be closer with my brothers and little sister, so that pretty much changed my decision.

Q. You guys have played some mobile quarterbacks. What do you have to do differently against Baker because he's run so much and scrambled and taken off?
SHAQ LAWSON: We can't let him hit us with the ball fade. We've just got to make sure we contain the ball at all times. The kid is fast, unbelievable when you watch him on film. We've got to be on edge every time.

Q. You mentioned a minute ago that it takes a certain kind of patience to play here. Did you know that going in or was it a bit of a shock that you were going to have to wait your turn?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, I knew that going in I'd have to wait my turn, coming in late because I had went to Hargrave and all that, and I knew Vic was there, and I knew I had to wait, and I knew I had to just be patient and my time was going to come.

Q. Was waiting difficult for you?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, no. I had to wait I didn't qualify out of high school coming into Clemson. I had to go to Hargrave for a semester, so I'm used to waiting and that kind of stuff. So that really helped me in that process from going to Hargrave to Clemson and waiting to get my chance to play.

Q. Hargrave is kind of a humbling experience, isn't it?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, yes, sir, it is. It makes you a better person, a better man, just gives you instruction in life and everything. I'm really glad I experienced it, to get to go to Hargrave. It's part of the change in me, and I'm really kind of glad I went to Hargrave. At first I didn't want to go, but I got used to what I had to do and stuff, and it wasn't that bad at all.

Q. I heard you had to walk like a mile or a half a mile to practice. What was that like?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, that was bad. You had to walk up a dirt hill, rocks, past a graveyard. That's why they called it The Grave, all the way to practice, pushed sleds 500 yards during practice. It was a tough experience for us. It just made me better and made it more easier when I got to Clemson.

Q. When did you lose your dad?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say going into my senior year, my junior year, as a matter of fact, during spring football, high school, I had lost him to a car accident.

Q. That made you want to stay in South Carolina?
SHAQ LAWSON: Yeah, that situation, I always wanted to be away from home, so I probably wouldn't have changed things, but God had a plan for me, and it all played out.

Q. You were looking at Texas early on?
SHAQ LAWSON: Tennessee.

Q. Your mom and sisters want you to stick around?
SHAQ LAWSON: That didn't really matter. It was just the best fit for me and best fit for the school, what they bring to the program.

Q. Generally what's it been like to be a part of this defense? You've seen it go from getting 70 points four years ago to what it is now.
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, it's a crazy change. I remember seeing then in junior year of high school watching giving up 70 points to West Virginia, and the change over the years came, just different players developed for us and started it for us like Branch and all those guys, Brandon Thomas, they started it for us and made the defense that much better and we've just been following up with it.

Q. Did you grow up a Clemson fan?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, yes, I used to work at a concession stand when I was younger, used to sit in and watch the games and jump over the stands and try to get some gloves from anybody. That was pretty much what I did growing up as a Clemson fan. I used to watch back when Kevin Youngblood and all those guys played and Charlie Whitehurst and all them. So I've been looking at Clemson since I was younger.

Q. Could you see the field from the concession stand?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, no, not really. I used to try to get a break, sneak down there and try to get the coach's attention. I used to play video games and act like I was when I was playing with Clemson, I used to commentate like I was a commentator out there and everything. It was just crazy that now I'm playing for Clemson.

Q. Just describe the season that you've had, how much the team was going to be relying on you this year.
KEVIN DODD: Just the team, I was losing two great defensive pass rushers, and just knowing that I had to fill the spots and basically get the job done, and in the locker room a lot was going to be expected out of me because a lot was expected out of the guys ahead of me, so they left a lot on the line. Just knowing that I have to fill those shoes and need to do better, so I trained the hardest I ever did this off season, just putting myself in a position to make plays.

Q. What did that entail, your training?
KEVIN DODD: Just the normal things that we did at Clemson with the regular with the team, and at home I probably ran like three miles. I ran my whole neighborhood, which was like a total of three miles. I tried to stay in shape because anybody can play at a high level for the first three quarters, but if you can play at a high level in the fourth quarter, that says a lot about you.

Q. What do you think about the match ups that's been build as Baker against Deshaun? Just what do you think about the challenge of going up against Baker and what's the approach you guys take?
KEVIN DODD: He's a great player just like Deshaun. We're just going to keep him in the pocket and come after him and do what we do against all great quarterbacks.

Q. Is that what the game comes down to, each team trying to keep the guy in the pocket?
KEVIN DODD: Pretty much. They have a great quarterback and we have a great quarterback. The games come down to players making plays, and their players got to make plays and our players got to make plays. Simple as that.

Q. When you first came to Clemson was your primary thought winning championships or did you like the fact that it was kind of like a family atmosphere that would help you grow as a player and a person?
KEVIN DODD: I saw a team on the come up with all these great players. Freshmen were coming in and doing unbelievable stuff such as Sammy Watkins and stuff like that, all that, just starting as a freshman, and just the environment around Clemson. That's why I came.

Q. Can you take anything from last year or is it completely different?
KEVIN DODD: It's going to be the same approach, same approach as last year. We have to execute the game plan and pretty much get after their players. It's pretty much the same thing as last year. We've got to make our plays and they've got to make their plays, and whoever executes the best, it's simple.

Q. Do they look different to you?
KEVIN DODD: The quarterback, he's something serious, something that we've really got to take into consideration. He's a great player. He has all the skill sets to dominate this game, and if we take him for granted, this game could get out of hand early, so we've definitely got to handle this quarterback, and their backs. They have great backs, two great backs. So yeah, we've got to respect those guys, as well.

Q. No one is really talking about the backs because everyone is focusing on the quarterbacks. Obviously you played D line last year, but what have you seen about the combo of Perine and Mixon that presents a challenge?
KEVIN DODD: One is more elusive. Perine, he's a hard one, and that's going to be the talk of the game, who tackles the best. These guys are going to be hard to get down. It's going to be tough to get these guys down so we're going to have to wrap them up.

Q. How has the week gone so far?
D.J. READER: The week has gone good. Got that first practice out of the way yesterday. So it's been good. It's good to be down here, good weather. I mean, we feel good. Yesterday playing, just knocking off the rust off and finally getting back to contact after that long break that we had.

Q. What does this defense think about Baker Mayfield and the way he can what kind of pressure does that put on you guys?
D.J. READER: You know, it's a hard game plan. He's a great player. Reminds us a lot of what we play against in practice. He's a pretty good player. He's a competitor. That's what we've seen from him on film. He really likes to compete, and he's a leader, and his team feeds off his energy, so yeah, it's good to go against a player like that, and we're excited to get out there and play against him.

Q. What do you do what he's scrambling in the pocket and trying to find somewhere to go? How do you keep him there, contain him?
D.J. READER: You just try to fill your lane, your rush lanes, man, and really just try to get him on the ground. I watch a lot of film and watch him escape tackles and it's amazing to watch because it's not like he's the biggest guy, but he's crafty with his feet, he's got good balance. He, like I said, competes and wants to make every play. Really just got to have control of the rush lanes, can't get out of the gap or he's going to expose you. He does a great job at what he does. So we've just got to really get him on the ground and make sure we have controlled rushes.

Q. Do you see any of Watson's tendencies in him, Deshaun's?
D.J. READER: I think he's a great player. Deshaun is a great player. They're different in their own aspects. So I mean, I think both of them are really competitors and both leaders. That's really the comparison I can tell you. Other than that, you know, they're both really good. Baker has got 35 touchdowns on five picks this year. He's having a great year, so you can't argue with what he's done. He's done a great job for them.

Q. Does he remind you of Johnny Manziel at all?
D.J. READER: Yeah, like the way he competes, wants to extend plays. He does a great job at taking care of the ball, obviously, with only five picks. He's very productive, and he's a leader. He feeds off that energy. He's not afraid to sometimes put his head down, maybe fight for those extra yards. Yeah, you definitely see those characteristics out of him.

Q. Do you have a favorite story about Coach Venables?
D.J. READER: Do I have a favorite story about Coach Venables? Probably my funniest story is probably last year playing South Carolina, Coach V, Vic has a strip sack, and the ball is just on the ground, and Coach V there's almost two yards on the field floating at the ball, and our strength coach has to grab him and pull him back and then finally recovered it, but he's that intense. That's the funniest part about Coach V. There's always intensity, and it's kind of cool to see him flip that switch and be one of the guys whenever practice is over, and he goes right back to being one of the guys. He's just a normal guy, so it's pretty cool.

Q. What are some of the hallmarks of his intensity? I can think of the eyes.
D.J. READER: He chews five different flavors of gum at practice, and when you just see him like it's like the end of practice. During the game, middle the game, he'll start chewing so hard. That gets me every time, like he's really chomping down. He's so intense right now. I think that's like the part that gets me. Maybe his spasms of yelling. He'll go from such a high yell to calm right in the next second, so it's just like those parts really get me about Coach Venables. He can tell he's into those moments.

Q. You obviously had a lack of experience. At what point, whether it was spring or fall or the Notre Dame game did you say we're up for this?
BRENT VENABLES: Yeah, you know, I know we were replacing both lines. We had one starter returning on the offensive and defensive lines. To say we would be in a College Playoff, I would have checked into an insane asylum. I remember thinking back to the Louisville game, there's no way in heck we're going to be able to win how are we going to find a way to win that game, four days' preparation, going on the road at their place. That's how I kind of think let alone get to Notre Dame. I never passed Louisville, and how are you going to stop the last time we played Wofford they should have beat us. That's kind of the world I lived in when you're asking me to go back and reflect, let alone losing all those monsters we had on defense a year ago.

My thing is leadership, toughness, and then we had no depth, so more snaps, durability. But leadership and play making, there's really three positions that I was really concerned. Linebacker was one, particularly B.J. Goodson, our middle linebacker, and then our defensive end, Kevin Dodd, had no real track record, B.J. had no real track record, and then Cordrea Tankersley had no real track record. Those three guys that we were going to be counting on was really big, and then their maturation, all three of them, had far exceeded my expectations. Those three have played outstanding this year, and have been to me that's not to downplay anybody else, but those three guys because I know we had enough guys that had played at the other positions, would be huge.

So again, I knew we were going to be good. Everybody else doubted us, but I never did (laughter), I'm usually not that guy, and I'm not Debbie Downer and I'm not a negative person. I'm a perpetuator of the positive, high energy, confidence, let's go, but I was worried about beating Wofford and stopping the option. That's really it's just one game at a time.

Q. Shaq said that he thought the Notre Dame game was incredibly important for their confidence. Would you agree?
BRENT VENABLES: Confidence?

Q. He said that the way the Notre Dame game ended, he said you said something about, okay, we can trust ourselves, we know what we're doing.
BRENT VENABLES: Yeah, we can screw it up and then find a way to get out of our own way, yeah. That was a great stop and that was a great play in our season. I was talking on the other side, and watching Oklahoma, and I tweeted Boomer, and of course I don't really tweet impulsively. I'm usually calculated for recruits. That's all I ever do. And then I'm like, yeah, that was a great win. Man, what a season defining win that can be for Oklahoma, when they beat Tennessee after being 17 down, and as a fan of Coach Stoops, Joe Castiglione, President Ford, the Sooners, I was so pumped. Wow, I can't remember that was before or after our Notre Dame, but that was a wow stop. I'm like, what just happened? I was so peeved still about that little pick route they ran for the touchdown, the fade route, because we were in a good coverage and we had one player wave off the coverage and he was going to run his own coverage, so I was still mad about that, and we just won that game and we got that stop. That was a heck of a play. But they had scored on that earlier.

Q. Have you watched last year's Oklahoma game?
BRENT VENABLES: Yeah, we haven't watched it at all on defense. We haven't watched it at all.

Q. Why is that?
BRENT VENABLES: Well, they've got all new coaches coaching different positions and a completely new scheme. You know, I could tell you right now, I think Ronnie popped one, and I could tell you the defensive call and formation. I don't need to really watch it. He's a great player. Sterling is probably a shell of himself even though he's cleared and healthy, because it really has nothing to do with this year for us. It's just a different animal. But it's really the schemes as much as anything.

Q. (Inaudible) the result of that game.
BRENT VENABLES: Yeah, that doesn't matter. That's living in la la land. Every year you play, you've got to start over and you have to earn everything again. You've got to tear everything down from week to week, season to season. You look at Oklahoma and look at where they feel like they are mentally from their last game from a year ago, and now all of a sudden they lost their bowl game, they have no momentum, and they're going to get rid of everybody, and it's time for Coach Stoops to go and everything else. I know that animal, whether it's at Oklahoma or whether it's at Clemson or it's at Bowling Green. It doesn't matter, whether it's at Texas. You're always a week away from humility. It's a very fragile game, and a lot of times, win or lose, it comes down to having really good players, and then having really good players play well, and then you've got to coach them well, too, don't get me wrong. But look where they are one year later, or even less than that. They went from that last game to then look at the run that they've had.

Q. Is it an advantage now for Oklahoma since you were coaching there?
BRENT VENABLES: I don't really believe in that.

Q. You don't?
BRENT VENABLES: Yeah, I just don't. I think going into last year, they had a very good offense, and they said, well, Trevor Knight killed Alabama in their last bowl game, and Clemson hadn't seen a Big 12 offense, so there's always that story line, and then you've just got to kind of go in and find that game. We weren't 46 better. Everybody knows that. Turnovers are always a big part of the game and momentum, and things went our way, and some things didn't go their way, a few plays, and next thing you know it gets out of hand. But that was last year. I really think it has zero to do they might think different. I don't really care, and it doesn't affect me and it doesn't affect us what they think. It really affects what affects this game is how we think and our preparation and how we practice today. It really is that simple. I think when you get ahead of yourself I don't know, I have too much consumption on today's third downs, you know, and I think when you get your players to buy into that, I think ultimately you have more success than failure.

Q. When you break away and go out on your own and you're involved in putting together a defense with the up tempo, high explosive offense, what have you learned just out on your own about being a defensive coordinator in this kind of era? It started obviously in the Big 12.
BRENT VENABLES: Yeah, I think it helps to have good players. I think being long, being athletic and physical in the back end, I don't think that you can just have a bunch of cover guys. I'm not listening to myself as I'm talking. I'm thinking out loud here. But you want the biggest, strongest, fastest guys that you can.

I know from the ACC, it isn't just all four wides. I really have grown to appreciate about the ACC is you kind of see everything from the Boston College and nine tight ends and 15 offensive linemen and all these crazy formations, very Stanford like, to Georgia Tech and the triple option, to North Carolina, which is one of the closest versions probably to the Big 12 and what you see week in and week out in the Big 12.

But I don't know what all I've learned. It was hard, I know that. It was really hard teaching a new system, starting over. It's one thing for me to start over and learn somebody else's, but when you've having to teach it to all new players and new coaches, it's hard. It was hard trying to simplify some things from a verbiage standpoint and communicative standpoint, and then really instead of making the new players adapt to you and your coaches as you establish yourself over a period of time, you really had to okay, how are they looking at it and how are they thinking, and now how can I get them to be confident and sure of themselves and all those things. But adapting to a new culture, a new philosophy from a coaching staff wise, and I've got to plug into them, not the other way around, and that's always a transition. I say always like I've done it nine, ten times. That was a transition. That was very hard emotionally.

Those are all things that help you. You grow and you kind of stretch, get out of your comfort zone. I think for all of us, sometimes as hard as that is, it really just helps you, whether you view things differently or things like that.

Q. I'm sure you haven't felt like sort of the second in command there of the cornerbacks, but Mackensie obviously gets a lot of attention nationally. You've had a tremendous year. Have you kind of felt like you've flown under the radar at all or do you like that role?
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: I do embrace that role. I just want to go out there and compete and help my team. I knew all along that I'd have to go about my business, but it really wasn't about that, it was just going out there and helping my team, just going out and making sure I'm making the team better.

Q. Obviously you look at just the target numbers and quarterbacks all tend to throw his way a ton. Have you enjoyed
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: I welcome it. I love it, actually. He had so much stress put on him his freshman year, so I'm out there to take up the slack. He's done a great job, he's a great player, so who wouldn't want to go his way. I would pick on me, too. But it's something I embrace. It's something that Coach V prepares me for, something my teammates challenge me, and I just want to go out there and help the team.

Q. Is the entertaining thing about Mackensie is he does not shy away from talking about how good he is, but on those occasions in which he does talk to us
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: He has no filter. He at times got the game, and that's something he's great at. He backs it up pretty well. I'm the opposite. I just want to go out there and just play ball. But he's done so much for this program, you have to respect him. So him being a great player, I just want to join him. I'm not going to do the trash talking, though.

Q. As a secondary or as a team, how much are you guys focused on stopping Sterling Shepard?
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: I mean, he's one of the big keys to their offense, but we want to stop their entire offense. We have great players, have a great quarterback, great running back, so we just want to go out there and pretty much stop all they can do, including Sterling Shepard, but he's such an explosive player that you cannot he can't go unnoticed on film.

Q. Have you seen anything on film that you think you can exploit?
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: I mean, I think there's a lot of things I think we can try to slow down. Like I said, they have a great, explosive offense. You're not going to be able to try to stop everything, but you can just try your best to slow them down. They're just so good.

Q. How much can you take away from last year's game or does Baker Mayfield make them a completely different team than we saw last year?
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: I believe he does. That was a really good team last year, but I think he adds that extra heightness to him. He's a great competitor. He runs really well, throws the ball really well, so he just has the overall package that you look for in a quarterback, and he's made the people around him better.

Q. Is there a quarterback that you've seen this year or last year that's similar in style or athleticism to him? Is it Deshaun maybe?
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: I think Deshaun is really the only one that compares to each other. Both of them are explosive, great players. You can pick your poison with either one of them. You can't go wrong. I just feel like Deshaun makes our team better, and he makes their team better, and you can win with either one of them.

Q. How gratifying has it been for the defense this year that there was so much turnover from last year and everybody kind of said, oh, well, they're going to be rebuilding? I'm sure you guys didn't ever look at it that way, but has it been fun to kind of
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: We lost a lot of starters from last year to the NFL, coming from the No. 1 defense in the country, so I feel like we prepared well. Coach Swinney always wants to prepare his backups. He don't want to have no drop off. So I feel like coming into this year, just moving from last year to this year just with different faces. But we had a lot of good leadership on that team, as we do now. I think he prepared us really well.

Q. That's one of those things that Coach V has talked about is I've got to have trust and faith in my No. 2s because they're going to be my No. 1s eventually.
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: Exactly. He stressed that a lot, so when we go to second string, he installs it as if he's coaching the first team. There's no drop off. He spends the second team corner just like the first team corner. There's no excuses.

Q. Which one of the No. 2s on your team do you think in a year or two is going to be a star?
CORDREA TANKERSLEY: We have like Mark Fields, Adrian Baker. Those two are ones that stand out in my mind that are going to be really good football players. Then we have some up like Kaleb Chalmers. He's going to be really, really good, as well. We have a lot of people that can step up and help us in the near future.

Q. Talk about Baker Mayfield and his competitiveness.
BEN BOULWARE: That's one thing you definitely can see on film. After plays he's getting in guys' face. He's pulling down, running to the mouth. As a competitor like myself, you love seeing that. You love getting to play against that, so I'm looking forward to getting to play against him. We've got to play there's a new quarterback last year, so we're definitely looking forward to playing against him and just seeing all the things he can do.

Q. It seems obvious, but is that the biggest difference in this team from a year ago?
BEN BOULWARE: Yeah, the quarterback. Baker Mayfield brings a lot to the table. He's probably one of the best quarterbacks we've faced all year. He's a Heisman contender. You can see by his stats he's a great player. He's probably one of the top best players in the nation. You definitely can see that on film.

Q. Can you take anything away from last year's game because he changed that team so much?
BEN BOULWARE: Yeah, he completely changes that team 100 percent. It's a complete 180 turnaround. He was a great player, but it just shows how much better of a player Baker Mayfield is.

Q. When you first came to Clemson, were you thinking more championships or were you thinking how it could help you grow as a person and you just liked the atmosphere and the coaching staff?
BEN BOULWARE: Probably a little bit of both, but I mean, I wasn't I just wanted to come to Clemson because I've been a Clemson fan my whole life. I grew up 30 minutes away from here, and then going to the games. So I never thought about that, I just wanted to come to Clemson and hope for the best really, and it's definitely exceeded my expectations.

Q. Shaq said a little bit ago, I really love practice. It seemed like a strange thing to say. What's that say about his personality?
BEN BOULWARE: We've probably got a lot of guys on our team that feel that way. It's why we've been so successful the past couple years because Coach Swinney has done such a good job of making practices as fun as possible, and it's definitely grueling, it's definitely tiresome every day. But I think they've done a great job of making it as enjoyable as possible these 18 weeks. It speaks volumes to them that we're this far in the season, he's out there just having a good time, joking around, and you want that attitude out there. It just brings a lot to practice because it does get tiresome.

Q. What about Shaq Lawson and all the attention he receives?
BEN BOULWARE: Yeah, I don't think he lets that get to his head. He's still the same old kid from Daniel, South Carolina, or Central South Carolina, so it's cool to see him grow as a person and see why he's growing and staying so humble after receiving every award in the country.

Q. He seems like a guy who always had the physical gifts, but you probably saw him when he came in
BEN BOULWARE: Yeah.

Q. But what he was saying is that he really kind of looking back enjoyed the time he sat behind Beasley or went to Hargrave. Does that show how much he loves the game?
BEN BOULWARE: Yeah, I'm sure it's definitely been a growing experience for him. He's had a lot of obstacles put in his face, having to go to Hargrave, and then having to sit behind Beasley, Crawford, all those guys, so it's definitely been a learning experience for him. I think it's paid off, him having to be so patient and not getting that starting role until now. It's been a learning experience for him.

Q. With a mobile quarterback like Mayfield and the way that he can avoid trouble and that kind of stuff, what does that change for the linebackers, how you have to read and react when he's in the pocket scrambling and running?
BEN BOULWARE: We definitely have to have more focus on him. We have our keys and stuff like that. We have our drops and our fits and all that, but while we're doing that, we have to keep an eye on him because he can do so many things with his feet, so we have a little more focus on him, just keeping on eye on him.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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