Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Football Wraps Up 12th Practice of Fall Camp
August 17, 2023 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State football team held its 12th practice of fall camp Thursday morning, practicing for two hours at the Sherman E. Smith Training Center.
After practice, coach Mike Gundy and several Cowboy players met with media to talk about the team's progress. Here are some of their comments:
Coach Mike Gundy
On the strength of the defensive line:
"I really like our defensive line because we have depth. Now that we've integrated some of the odd front, we're one less guy out there burning up reps. What you run into is, in this league they play so many plays they get tired. Now the league is changing a little bit with more teams huddling, not playing as fast, but still those guys burn a lot of energy. Same thing with the offensive line, but I really like our depth, and I feel like we can play 10 linemen in the first half of the first game and be very comfortable with them."
On Justin Kirkland:
"We brought him in here not knowing we were playing more odd front. It worked out great for us. He just has to go up the field and drive the center back. He's perfect for that for us. He's in much better condition now. Rob Glass has really, really helped him. Strength is a non-factor. Strength is through the roof. Conditioning and agility is where he's made his biggest strides, and we feel good about where he's at."
On athletic success:
"I think our defense can run. We've recruited speed when we've had that luxury. We didn't want to make speed more important than being productive in high school, but if we had that comparison of two guys that were just as productive, we've tried to go with the speed the last four or five years. And we've been fast on defense, and I feel like we're going to be fast on defense this year too."
On Xavier Benson:
"He's made the most improvement of anybody on our team from the bowl game until now. He's really comfortable with himself. He's comfortable with our environment. He has a great relationship with Coach (Bryan) Nardo. I'm very pleased with him. I'm very happy for him. His demeanor, his leadership, there's several things he's done in the last week to help our team that he wouldn't have done last year, for whatever reason. That's obsolete now that he is in a great frame of mind and really helping us. I look forward to seeing him having a great year."
Wide Receiver Jaden Bray
On Leon Johnson III:
"He's going to have a big impact on us. He's 6-5, big, an athlete. He's super fast, super strong. He has a really big stride. He goes up and high points the ball really well. He's going to be a guy out there that can come in and make plays on the field. He's a great human being as well. He's a good person on and off the field. Just having him on the team has been great."
On Gundy referring to his and Talyn Shettron's success:
"Talyn, every day he's getting better. He's working. I can tell he's hungry everyday, especially coming off the injuries he has had. It's been hard, but I've never seen somebody work as hard as him as well. Every day someone tells him something, he works on it. Super humble guy. Just being alongside him and seeing his progression has been great."
On the quarterback battle:
"It's not hard at all. Whoever gets the job gets the job, but the quarterbacks that we do have, all of them could be in that position and start for us. It's just great seeing them work every day. It's great to have those quarterbacks push each other every day to be great. It's great to have those guys."
Safety Trey Rucker
On the team's energy:
"The energy is very high right now. The defense is looking very good, very productive within the last two weeks. I think the energy is just going to keep rising from here."
On how athletic the defense is this year:
"It's very athletic because they let us be in multiple positions at one time. It allows us to be all over the field without actually looking like we are all over the field. It's a very open defense and I think it allows all of us to move very fast and precise."
On how long it took to learn the new defense:
"It probably took us around a month. It took us around a month to get used to all the adjustments and all the hand signals. Everything that comes with communication. So, you know we picked up on that very quick, because like two years before we had two defensive coordinators."
On what made him want to transfer to Oklahoma State:
"I heard it was a great place. At first, I didn't know too much about Oklahoma, but my parents moved out here the year before while I was still at Wake Forest, and they fell in love with it, so I was like I'm going to come out here to give it a try."
On the team's chemistry:
"The chemistry is already built up, so we didn't really have to worry too much about that. We just have to go out there and have fun."
Cornerback Cam Smith
On the difference in the team between this year and last year:
"As a whole, not just the defense but as everybody on the team, we seem more together as a family. When you go into the locker room you see the defense messing with the offense and the offense messing with the defense. We are more just a family this year than we were last year."
On playing time last year helping him this year:
"It'll help a lot. I know like toward the end of the season I kind of started getting a little more comfortable and I feel like I carried that into fall camp."
On being a leader:
"Having my little brother come up here I feel like that was a good opportunity for me to be more of a vocal leader for him, but not only for him but for the other freshman that came in."
On defense this year:
"That's a credit to (Bryan) Nardo. We have a pretty good defense. He just tries to keep it simple so we don't have to think as much. We can just play hard and fast."
Offensive Lineman Jason Brooks Jr.
On his position:
"Yeah, I mean I'm really comfortable at whatever, but I mean I've kind of settled down at guard since the end of last year and it's been good. I like playing guard. I like playing both sides, so it's been good."
On if experience at multiple positions helps him:
"Definitely. When you start playing different positions, it will help you learn the offense faster because you have to know everybody's assignments. It just helps me gain more confidence and playing all those positions has helped me learn the game faster."
On being surrounded by veterans on the offensive line:
"Yeah, I would say it's really helpful. A lot of those guys, they were here way before me. It was only my first year last year and this is like their fifth year, so having those veteran guys next to me, they still help me even when I'm out there. They're helping me with different assignments and knowing certain stuff that they already knew within the offense, and I didn't. So, it's good to have them next to me."
On the mindset of the team after last season:
"I would say the biggest thing is just the bonding. As soon as the season ended last year and we started winter workouts, we made sure we have standards and goals that we all wanted to achieve, and we all had to make sure we were buying in to what we wanted to do. Once the whole team bought in to what we were trying to do, everything fell in play itself. Guys were putting in the work. Guys were holding each other accountable, getting the young guys in and saying things. Once that all fell into place, the chemistry just started bonding together and it's been helping us a lot."
The Oklahoma State football team is scheduled to open the 2023 season September 2 when it faces Central Arkansas at Boone Pickens Stadium, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Cowboy football tickets are available online through okstate.com/tickets and by calling or texting 877-255-4678.
After practice, coach Mike Gundy and several Cowboy players met with media to talk about the team's progress. Here are some of their comments:
Coach Mike Gundy
On the strength of the defensive line:
"I really like our defensive line because we have depth. Now that we've integrated some of the odd front, we're one less guy out there burning up reps. What you run into is, in this league they play so many plays they get tired. Now the league is changing a little bit with more teams huddling, not playing as fast, but still those guys burn a lot of energy. Same thing with the offensive line, but I really like our depth, and I feel like we can play 10 linemen in the first half of the first game and be very comfortable with them."
On Justin Kirkland:
"We brought him in here not knowing we were playing more odd front. It worked out great for us. He just has to go up the field and drive the center back. He's perfect for that for us. He's in much better condition now. Rob Glass has really, really helped him. Strength is a non-factor. Strength is through the roof. Conditioning and agility is where he's made his biggest strides, and we feel good about where he's at."
On athletic success:
"I think our defense can run. We've recruited speed when we've had that luxury. We didn't want to make speed more important than being productive in high school, but if we had that comparison of two guys that were just as productive, we've tried to go with the speed the last four or five years. And we've been fast on defense, and I feel like we're going to be fast on defense this year too."
On Xavier Benson:
"He's made the most improvement of anybody on our team from the bowl game until now. He's really comfortable with himself. He's comfortable with our environment. He has a great relationship with Coach (Bryan) Nardo. I'm very pleased with him. I'm very happy for him. His demeanor, his leadership, there's several things he's done in the last week to help our team that he wouldn't have done last year, for whatever reason. That's obsolete now that he is in a great frame of mind and really helping us. I look forward to seeing him having a great year."
Wide Receiver Jaden Bray
On Leon Johnson III:
"He's going to have a big impact on us. He's 6-5, big, an athlete. He's super fast, super strong. He has a really big stride. He goes up and high points the ball really well. He's going to be a guy out there that can come in and make plays on the field. He's a great human being as well. He's a good person on and off the field. Just having him on the team has been great."
On Gundy referring to his and Talyn Shettron's success:
"Talyn, every day he's getting better. He's working. I can tell he's hungry everyday, especially coming off the injuries he has had. It's been hard, but I've never seen somebody work as hard as him as well. Every day someone tells him something, he works on it. Super humble guy. Just being alongside him and seeing his progression has been great."
On the quarterback battle:
"It's not hard at all. Whoever gets the job gets the job, but the quarterbacks that we do have, all of them could be in that position and start for us. It's just great seeing them work every day. It's great to have those quarterbacks push each other every day to be great. It's great to have those guys."
Safety Trey Rucker
On the team's energy:
"The energy is very high right now. The defense is looking very good, very productive within the last two weeks. I think the energy is just going to keep rising from here."
On how athletic the defense is this year:
"It's very athletic because they let us be in multiple positions at one time. It allows us to be all over the field without actually looking like we are all over the field. It's a very open defense and I think it allows all of us to move very fast and precise."
On how long it took to learn the new defense:
"It probably took us around a month. It took us around a month to get used to all the adjustments and all the hand signals. Everything that comes with communication. So, you know we picked up on that very quick, because like two years before we had two defensive coordinators."
On what made him want to transfer to Oklahoma State:
"I heard it was a great place. At first, I didn't know too much about Oklahoma, but my parents moved out here the year before while I was still at Wake Forest, and they fell in love with it, so I was like I'm going to come out here to give it a try."
On the team's chemistry:
"The chemistry is already built up, so we didn't really have to worry too much about that. We just have to go out there and have fun."
Cornerback Cam Smith
On the difference in the team between this year and last year:
"As a whole, not just the defense but as everybody on the team, we seem more together as a family. When you go into the locker room you see the defense messing with the offense and the offense messing with the defense. We are more just a family this year than we were last year."
On playing time last year helping him this year:
"It'll help a lot. I know like toward the end of the season I kind of started getting a little more comfortable and I feel like I carried that into fall camp."
On being a leader:
"Having my little brother come up here I feel like that was a good opportunity for me to be more of a vocal leader for him, but not only for him but for the other freshman that came in."
On defense this year:
"That's a credit to (Bryan) Nardo. We have a pretty good defense. He just tries to keep it simple so we don't have to think as much. We can just play hard and fast."
Offensive Lineman Jason Brooks Jr.
On his position:
"Yeah, I mean I'm really comfortable at whatever, but I mean I've kind of settled down at guard since the end of last year and it's been good. I like playing guard. I like playing both sides, so it's been good."
On if experience at multiple positions helps him:
"Definitely. When you start playing different positions, it will help you learn the offense faster because you have to know everybody's assignments. It just helps me gain more confidence and playing all those positions has helped me learn the game faster."
On being surrounded by veterans on the offensive line:
"Yeah, I would say it's really helpful. A lot of those guys, they were here way before me. It was only my first year last year and this is like their fifth year, so having those veteran guys next to me, they still help me even when I'm out there. They're helping me with different assignments and knowing certain stuff that they already knew within the offense, and I didn't. So, it's good to have them next to me."
On the mindset of the team after last season:
"I would say the biggest thing is just the bonding. As soon as the season ended last year and we started winter workouts, we made sure we have standards and goals that we all wanted to achieve, and we all had to make sure we were buying in to what we wanted to do. Once the whole team bought in to what we were trying to do, everything fell in play itself. Guys were putting in the work. Guys were holding each other accountable, getting the young guys in and saying things. Once that all fell into place, the chemistry just started bonding together and it's been helping us a lot."
The Oklahoma State football team is scheduled to open the 2023 season September 2 when it faces Central Arkansas at Boone Pickens Stadium, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. CT on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Cowboy football tickets are available online through okstate.com/tickets and by calling or texting 877-255-4678.
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Cowboy Football
WR
/ Cowboy Football
OL
/ Cowboy Football
WR
/ Cowboy Football
NT
/ Cowboy Football
S
/ Cowboy Football
WR
/ Cowboy Football
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