COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES RAMS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
(On what it’s like to be joining the Rams)
“It feels great. I’m just grateful to be a part of a great organization and I’m ready to get started.”
(On what it was like when he got the phone call)
“Honestly, we didn’t really know where our future kind of lied. I knew I was going to be a day three kind of guy. Getting to those later rounds, we started getting calls about, ‘Hey, we’d love to have you as a free agent.’ I got a couple of head coaches that called me talking about, ‘Hey, we want you now.’ Me and my father were kind of making arrangements for that. But, then (Head) Coach (Sean) McVay called and said, ‘Hey, are you ready to be a Ram?’ At that moment, we all kind of figured I was going to be a free agent, but with the news, we were all really excited.”
(On if he has any connection to Los Angeles considering his dad played basketball in L.A.)
“I guess the closest to Los Angeles I’ve been is standing next to his jersey that’s mounted downstairs in the basement. I have not been there many times, but I have been to California before.”
(On where he has mostly played and is most comfortable playing on the offensive line)
“I have played both tackles and I have practiced both guards. I’m comfortable on the right side of the line, mostly, right tackle, right guard. But again, I am open to playing any spot on the line.”
(On if he sees opportunity with the Rams given what their personnel looks like and their number of offensive linemen)
“Yeah, I do see kind of an opportunity to play. I’d honestly go in and I’m going to check out where who’s been playing where, what they’ve been doing. But in all honesty, I figured…I told coach, ‘Look, hey, I’m open to take any spots.’ I cross-train, I take pride in being a versatile offensive lineman. I’ll come in ready to take any spot that’s available.”
(On what the advantages and disadvantages are to playing on a team as good as Clemson)
“Playing for a high-level team like Clemson is a way, way advantage that you can never really underestimate. When you have a competition level that high where you play with the Clemsons, the Alabamas, the Ohio States of the world, you know what an authentic mindset looks like. You know what a championship effort looks like from a backend, on the front end, what it feels like, and the day-in day-out commitment that it takes to win. Knowing that, playing with a lot of great players, which I don’t think there’s a negative to, but it really holds you accountable, staying at that level of competition, staying on your A game every single day, taking that into the next level is going to be invaluable.”
(On what it was like preparing for free agency and then the feeling when he got a call that he was being drafted)
“It’s a little relief, I guess. It takes the hard part out, which is the decision making. Now the only decision right now is just to go out and play, and dominate.”
(On clarifying if he played tackle at Clemson and if he can also play guard)
“Absolutely.”
(On when was the last time he played guard)
“I played (guard) in my practices when leading up to the playoff games and the championship games at practice, swapping in just to give people breathers, but also working in my technique at different positions.”
