2019 Fall Camp Soundbites: Day 19
August 23, 2019 | Football
SEATTLE – Members of the Washington football team, including head coach Chris Petersen, met with the media Friday afternoon following the Huskies' 19th practice of fall camp. Read some of what they had to say.
HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
(On whether a decision has been made about a starting quarterback) "We have. Jacob Eason will be our starting quarterback. I want to go back and say how impressed I was with all of our guys. I really mean that sincerely. If you want to talk about competition and raising the level of play in a room, it was all those guys. Jacob Sirmon did a tremendous job. He's right there. For Dylan Morris to be a freshman, he could go out there and operate like most freshmen can't do with the reps that he got… Jake Haener and Jacob Eason are obviously two really good quarterbacks. It was a tight competition. You take it as long as you can, and you have to make a decision and roll with it. Jake Haener will play in our first game. He should, he deserves it, and he will. I'm excited for that whole room."
(On what went into making the decision on a starting quarterback) "Sometimes it's a gut feeling on things like that. A lot of the time it comes down to that. I can just go back to all the competitions we had that have been legitimate. It comes down to you feeling like you can win with a couple guys, but you have to choose one and you have to roll… It's not going to be any one thing. A lot of this comes down to a gut feeling. You have to let a guy go play and let him grow in games and all those types of things… That's why Jake Haener is going to play some, because he deserves it and he doesn't have much legitimate game time himself. We're excited about this QB position."
(On what this weekend looks like ahead of the first game week of the season) "It's no different. We're still scrambling at it hard. There's still a lot of things that we need to get done. The game planning process begins, but there's still other things that we're tightening up and cleaning up that may not even be in the game plan that we feel are important before we kind of move forward and get into the flow of game week."
(On how the offense has progressed from last season to now) "I can't answer that because we've looked good in practice for a long time, but it has to come in the games. This is a brand-new team with a new quarterback, a new tailback, a new right tackle, a new tight end… There's a lot of newness. It doesn't seem like it. We have an offensive line that's experienced, but we have a lot of newness. This is a different situation. Last season taught us lessons that hopefully we can carry forward if we encounter those same things, but it's a different team. We're well aware of last year and hopefully we can improve on it."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN TREY ADAMS
(On knowing this will be his last season at Washington) "Mentally it's a little different because I know it's my last year, but physically I feel really good right now. I had a great offseason and am super excited for this season. Fall camp is almost over, that was a good push. I didn't miss any reps. Physically I'm feeling good. Mentally, it's kind of weird but also a really cool experience."
(On what it looks like when the offense is clicking) "I love it. The offensive line I definitely love just because we are gelling really well. Salvon [Ahmed] and those guys, we've got good receivers that are fast and can catch the ball. It's really about doing your job is what I think about. For the offensive line, just blocking our butts off and those guys catching the ball and running it. Every offense is going to have its pieces that it needs to work on and the pieces that are already there. We're in that process right now, working on everything. It's been good."
(On the progression of the Huskies' defensive line) "They're good. They have some returning guys, Benning [Potoa'e] and Levi [Onwuzurike]. The edge guys, to me, have really stepped up. Joe Tryon, Ariel Ngata, those guys. I go against them every play, so that's been a good challenge. Those guys have had really good offseasons and you can tell their strength has gone up and their motor and all that. That'll be fun to see…"
HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
(On whether a decision has been made about a starting quarterback) "We have. Jacob Eason will be our starting quarterback. I want to go back and say how impressed I was with all of our guys. I really mean that sincerely. If you want to talk about competition and raising the level of play in a room, it was all those guys. Jacob Sirmon did a tremendous job. He's right there. For Dylan Morris to be a freshman, he could go out there and operate like most freshmen can't do with the reps that he got… Jake Haener and Jacob Eason are obviously two really good quarterbacks. It was a tight competition. You take it as long as you can, and you have to make a decision and roll with it. Jake Haener will play in our first game. He should, he deserves it, and he will. I'm excited for that whole room."
(On what went into making the decision on a starting quarterback) "Sometimes it's a gut feeling on things like that. A lot of the time it comes down to that. I can just go back to all the competitions we had that have been legitimate. It comes down to you feeling like you can win with a couple guys, but you have to choose one and you have to roll… It's not going to be any one thing. A lot of this comes down to a gut feeling. You have to let a guy go play and let him grow in games and all those types of things… That's why Jake Haener is going to play some, because he deserves it and he doesn't have much legitimate game time himself. We're excited about this QB position."
(On what this weekend looks like ahead of the first game week of the season) "It's no different. We're still scrambling at it hard. There's still a lot of things that we need to get done. The game planning process begins, but there's still other things that we're tightening up and cleaning up that may not even be in the game plan that we feel are important before we kind of move forward and get into the flow of game week."
(On how the offense has progressed from last season to now) "I can't answer that because we've looked good in practice for a long time, but it has to come in the games. This is a brand-new team with a new quarterback, a new tailback, a new right tackle, a new tight end… There's a lot of newness. It doesn't seem like it. We have an offensive line that's experienced, but we have a lot of newness. This is a different situation. Last season taught us lessons that hopefully we can carry forward if we encounter those same things, but it's a different team. We're well aware of last year and hopefully we can improve on it."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN TREY ADAMS
(On knowing this will be his last season at Washington) "Mentally it's a little different because I know it's my last year, but physically I feel really good right now. I had a great offseason and am super excited for this season. Fall camp is almost over, that was a good push. I didn't miss any reps. Physically I'm feeling good. Mentally, it's kind of weird but also a really cool experience."
(On what it looks like when the offense is clicking) "I love it. The offensive line I definitely love just because we are gelling really well. Salvon [Ahmed] and those guys, we've got good receivers that are fast and can catch the ball. It's really about doing your job is what I think about. For the offensive line, just blocking our butts off and those guys catching the ball and running it. Every offense is going to have its pieces that it needs to work on and the pieces that are already there. We're in that process right now, working on everything. It's been good."
(On the progression of the Huskies' defensive line) "They're good. They have some returning guys, Benning [Potoa'e] and Levi [Onwuzurike]. The edge guys, to me, have really stepped up. Joe Tryon, Ariel Ngata, those guys. I go against them every play, so that's been a good challenge. Those guys have had really good offseasons and you can tell their strength has gone up and their motor and all that. That'll be fun to see…"
Players Mentioned
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