Q. Jaylen, obviously it's a transition of quarterbacks. What has Jawon Pass been for you, what can you say coming out of the spring going into the fall, and what he can be for this team as the focus is on -- it's not Lamar, now let's focus on Jawon and why he's so special.
JAYLEN SMITH: Jawon is a natural born leader. It's in him. Once he came, he knew what he was getting himself into. He knew he was going to play behind a guy like Lamar. He learned a lot, and you can see he's learned the plays, he's learned the progressions. His physicality is not a question to me, but what I like about him is his demeanor. He's a guy who's very cool, calm, and collected at all moments of time. It's very hard to rattle a guy like that.
Q. Jaylen, to end the season last year you had a touchdown in each of the last four games. How does one nice episode in your life layer on top of the next, layer on top of the next? Where does the confidence then -- how do you use that, I guess?
JAYLEN SMITH: It's a game of life. Momentum is a game of life, whether it be playing football or whatever. I think that was good for me, building on that. I missed three games, so it was important for me to come back and finish strong, and I think that boosted me into the start of this 2018 season.
Q. Jaylen, just speak on the receiving corps, just what you can say about what you've done individually to improve and what you're seeing out of the rest of the corps, as we know that this offense can score points.
JAYLEN SMITH: Well, I've tried to mold myself into more of a leader at the receiver position, and me, Dez and Seth, we get the spotlight, but it goes way beyond that, guys like Corey Reed, Devante Peete coming back, Emonee Spence who's been under the radar for a minute, and all the freshmen coming in are all speed guys. I feel like we have the best group in the conference, and we work like it. So that's the main thing to me. We put in the work to have the title of the best group in the conference, and it shows.
Q. Jaylen, you returned four offensive linemen and not just yourself but two other wide receivers. Talk about the comfort level for a new quarterback to have that many familiar faces blocking for him and that many familiar faces to throw to.
JAYLEN SMITH: Yeah, that was a focus for us, making Puma's job a lot easier. As much as we can do to help him out in his first season as the starting quarterback is what we will do. The O-line will do the same. So I think that would be important for us. Puma has put in the work, he's put in his time, he's paid his dues, and it's his time to shine.
Q. I want to ask you about the running game. Dae Williams and Colin Wilson, sort of that tandem there, sort of your thoughts about him?
JAYLEN SMITH: Yeah, Dae Williams, he came back from an ACL, and he proved a lot of people wrong, a lot of people thought he wasn't going to be able to play last year, and he did numbers in the sporadic time. Same thing with Mojo. That's Colin's nickname, Mojo. He's one of the best backs I've seen as far as vision goes, and even then we have a stable of running backs, Tobias -- Pee-wee, that's what we call him. Pee-wee, he's come along. He's moved from defense to offense, and we have Tre Smith, who's been here for four years, and he's coming along well. I feel like those four guys right there, they give us a stable back there of running backs, so we'll be in good hands back there, as well.
Q. You talked about that injury last year to your wrist. How did you maintain that football focus while you were out?
JAYLEN SMITH: Just knowing I would be back. It's easy to lose focus unless you have a plan at hand. My thing was I know I'll be gone, but I won't be gone long. That's how I just stayed focused knowing that that wasn't the end of the chapter.
Q. Do you guys feel a little under the radar? You lost Lamar, a lot of talk about him, but do you feel a little under the radar going into the season as a team?
JAYLEN SMITH: Yeah, we do. It's just you lose that production, all that Lamar did. Even with the skills that Puma possesses, people are still going to have questions. They're still going to have their doubts about what we can do without Lamar and how much we actually did without him. So yeah, it feels like we're kind of sliding under the radar, but it's up to us to do what we do, work hard, put it together and let the chips fall where they may.
JAYLEN SMITH: Jawon is a natural born leader. It's in him. Once he came, he knew what he was getting himself into. He knew he was going to play behind a guy like Lamar. He learned a lot, and you can see he's learned the plays, he's learned the progressions. His physicality is not a question to me, but what I like about him is his demeanor. He's a guy who's very cool, calm, and collected at all moments of time. It's very hard to rattle a guy like that.
Q. Jaylen, to end the season last year you had a touchdown in each of the last four games. How does one nice episode in your life layer on top of the next, layer on top of the next? Where does the confidence then -- how do you use that, I guess?
JAYLEN SMITH: It's a game of life. Momentum is a game of life, whether it be playing football or whatever. I think that was good for me, building on that. I missed three games, so it was important for me to come back and finish strong, and I think that boosted me into the start of this 2018 season.
Q. Jaylen, just speak on the receiving corps, just what you can say about what you've done individually to improve and what you're seeing out of the rest of the corps, as we know that this offense can score points.
JAYLEN SMITH: Well, I've tried to mold myself into more of a leader at the receiver position, and me, Dez and Seth, we get the spotlight, but it goes way beyond that, guys like Corey Reed, Devante Peete coming back, Emonee Spence who's been under the radar for a minute, and all the freshmen coming in are all speed guys. I feel like we have the best group in the conference, and we work like it. So that's the main thing to me. We put in the work to have the title of the best group in the conference, and it shows.
Q. Jaylen, you returned four offensive linemen and not just yourself but two other wide receivers. Talk about the comfort level for a new quarterback to have that many familiar faces blocking for him and that many familiar faces to throw to.
JAYLEN SMITH: Yeah, that was a focus for us, making Puma's job a lot easier. As much as we can do to help him out in his first season as the starting quarterback is what we will do. The O-line will do the same. So I think that would be important for us. Puma has put in the work, he's put in his time, he's paid his dues, and it's his time to shine.
Q. I want to ask you about the running game. Dae Williams and Colin Wilson, sort of that tandem there, sort of your thoughts about him?
JAYLEN SMITH: Yeah, Dae Williams, he came back from an ACL, and he proved a lot of people wrong, a lot of people thought he wasn't going to be able to play last year, and he did numbers in the sporadic time. Same thing with Mojo. That's Colin's nickname, Mojo. He's one of the best backs I've seen as far as vision goes, and even then we have a stable of running backs, Tobias -- Pee-wee, that's what we call him. Pee-wee, he's come along. He's moved from defense to offense, and we have Tre Smith, who's been here for four years, and he's coming along well. I feel like those four guys right there, they give us a stable back there of running backs, so we'll be in good hands back there, as well.
Q. You talked about that injury last year to your wrist. How did you maintain that football focus while you were out?
JAYLEN SMITH: Just knowing I would be back. It's easy to lose focus unless you have a plan at hand. My thing was I know I'll be gone, but I won't be gone long. That's how I just stayed focused knowing that that wasn't the end of the chapter.
Q. Do you guys feel a little under the radar? You lost Lamar, a lot of talk about him, but do you feel a little under the radar going into the season as a team?
JAYLEN SMITH: Yeah, we do. It's just you lose that production, all that Lamar did. Even with the skills that Puma possesses, people are still going to have questions. They're still going to have their doubts about what we can do without Lamar and how much we actually did without him. So yeah, it feels like we're kind of sliding under the radar, but it's up to us to do what we do, work hard, put it together and let the chips fall where they may.
