Huskers Talk Spring Ball

Prince Amukamara
On how close he was to entering himself into the NFL draft
"Well, a mock draft just came across my attention. I was at a Christian convention in Denver, and I got a text and was asked if I was going to go into the NFL Draft, and I asked him why, and he just said some Omaha radio station said I was testing the waters or something. I was never really considering it. I was flattered for sure, but my parents were in Nigeria at the time, so they weren't here to make the decision with me, so it didn't feel right."

On if the secondary established itself like it wanted to last season
"Kind of, but it's a hard question to answer because I know our coaches, every week the expectations are high. We might perform that one week (where) we as players think it's good, but they'll just keep raising the bar. We'll never meet the expectations, but I think we will keep getting better and more aggressive as a secondary."

On where he thinks the depth of the secondary is compared to his other years here
"It's definitely competitive with guys like Alfonzo (Dennard), Lazarri (Middleton) and (Anthony) Blue. Just knowing that they know as much as I know and they are just as athletic as me, I think that pushes all of us to know that your spot is never promised. It doesn't matter if your first team or second team, and that keeps you humble and hungry, and makes you want to keep working harder."

On if this is the best secondary they have had since he has been here
"I don't know athletically because I was here with Zac (Bowman), Andre Jones, Armando (Murillo) and Courtney (Grixby). Grixby was a freakish athlete. I don't know. Playmaking abilities, I could say yeah in that aspect of it, but if it was speed, probably not."

On when the light bulb turned on for him and how much he has advanced since it did
"Well, my sophomore year the thing that kept me off the field was probably my focus and consistency, and I was having trouble with that at the beginning of my junior year. But I think I'm learning to focus better and be more consistent. Going into the film room, I think that helps a lot. Being a student of the game."

On if it was a hurdle for him to realize how good he was
"Coach (Marvin) Sanders helped me realize that. I remember me and him would have several little talks because he didn't think I was competing and playing as he wanted me to. I think after playing this (past) year and seeing the talent that I have to deal with, I think that probably gave me more confidence. Going one-on-one with Niles (Paul), because Niles is very competitive and other receivers like B.K. (Brandon Kinne), I think that helped boast my confidence."

On how good Niles Paul has become as a receiver in the last year
"I think Niles went through a huge transformation. I think his confidence, the sky is the limit. He's not cocky, maybe sometimes, but not all the time. He definitely lets me hear if he beats me on a deep route and I let him hear it if I get a PBU on him. Niles is very amazing, and I think the other receivers are learning a lot from him because they are starting to become tough to guard as well."

On Lazarri Middleton
"Lazarri is a very hungry player. He always texted me on the weekends to come to the stadium and do more work. He kind of reminds me of myself because he does have the athletic ability and he has the "want to" is what the coaches will call it. I think you should see big things from Lazarri. He's very competitive and very hungry, and I think that's going to help him become a good player."

On if he appreciated when coach Sanders was hard on him in practice or if it got him down
"That's what I was having trouble with. It's hard to distinguish the criticism and encouragement. Sometimes he'll be on me and I'll be offensive and try to defend myself, but as soon as I let my guard down and started trusting him and believe that he as the best interest for me, that's when I started to become a better player and a better leader. He definitely had a lot of good things to say, but I wasn't trying to hear it. But now I'm hearing it."

On if Niles is now the fastest guy on the team
"Niles did kill everybody with that 10-meter time. He's not going around saying he's the fastest. If he did I'd ask him to race. He's definitely up there now."

On how challenging spring ball will be
"I think we're all looking forward to it, especially me. It's my third time going through this, so I know what's expected. Since knowing what's expected, it's my responsibility to help out the younger guys. They're probably thinking it's going to be horrible, but just to let them know that this is their chance to show the coaches and to get back in it again."

On if they can pick up right where they left off at the end of the season
"Probably not because we have new recruits, so we'll probably start with the basics again, but things might be advanced. You never know what the coaches have in store for us."

On the attitude of this team
"I think our swagger is what we call it nowadays, I don't know if you guys know what that means, our swagger for sure has been turned up. I think a new, different style of energy and a different style of emotion that we play with and I think that's what helping us become successful."

On how he feels about 85,000 people showing up for a Spring Game
"It wouldn't be the first time I've seen it because it's my third spring game, but I love it. I love seeing the fans. When their energy is high it feels like our energy is high, and we buy into it more and think it's a real game when it's like that. I definitely appreciate it."

On if he thinks Roy Helu Jr. is embracing the competition at running back with Rex Burkhead
"Yeah, for sure. I hear every spring that there is a quarterback race, but this spring there might be a running back race. Rex definitely finished his freshman year pretty good. Like I said, the competition is everywhere on our team, but I think Roy is very competitive within himself, so I don't know what's going to happen."

Senior Tight End/Wide Receiver Mike McNeill
On if he is nervous about his move to wide receiver
"No, I'm not nervous about it. It's a moving piece. It is wide receiver and it isn't. I can go anywhere. We call it the adjuster. I wanted to talk to Coach Watson about moving out there after the season because I felt like a lot of times third down was basically when  I was going in, and it was more running for first and second down. This is just a way to be on the field more and not have to worry about run, pass."

On if the move was his idea
"Well, it's funny because I told my parents this is what I wanted to tell Coach Watson and as soon as I got back he pulled me into his office and told me exactly what I wanted to say to him. It's just kind of how it worked out."

On if it is a seamless transition moving to wide receiver because of his experience at tight end
"Yeah, it's just the slot and half the time he'll run one route and I'll run the other when I play Y. Now it will just be the opposite. If you know our concepts and you know our offense, you can play anywhere. After four years, I think I know most of the routes, so it shouldn't be too hard."

On what his playing weight is going to be next year
"Well, I don't really know. They gave me a 15-pound fluctuation of where I can play at, so it's kind of wherever I feel comfortable and wherever things work out the best."

On having 85,000 people at a practice (for Spring Game)
"It's awesome. It's like no other place. I always say when people ask me what it's like to play in Nebraska; I always say our fans are awesome. You couldn't play anywhere better because of the loyalty and the fact that they will show up for a practice with a sold-out stadium. It's great."

On if spring practice is something he looks forward to
"It's always fun to put the pads back on and have a competition. The weight room is, you can compete in there, but on the field is where you like to compete and it's fun. Sometimes people say they don't want to practice because you get tired of practicing, but I think everyone is excited once spring ball starts."

On if he thinks the offense is ready to get out there after struggling last season
"Yeah, it was tough, but we return almost everyone except (graduated center Jacob) Hickman. I think we're just ready to get out there and prove to everyone what we can do. We showed a glimpse against Arizona what can happen and we just need to build on that."

On what the swagger of the team is like
"I would say that the swag is high. No, I think people realize the potential we have. Obviously, right now we haven't proven anything, but I think coming off the loss to Texas, which was close, and the big win in the bowl game, I think everybody realizes that we can do something special."

On if he feels like he can bring a sense of consistency to the offense
"Yeah, it sounded like such a big deal when everybody said I was switching to wide receiver. I flexed out last year. That's a receiver. I'm still the same person. I can be a solid possession receiver and if that's four yards farther out than where I was lined up last year, then that's what it will be. Just because the name sounds different it doesn't really change that much."

On if he thinks the move will help him make more of an impact
"I hope so. That's why we're doing it. It creates mismatches. I'll be blocking people that will be smaller and have linebackers guarding me more now in the slot. Hopefully, it brings a lot of good change."

On what he tries to accomplish during spring ball
"To get better at everything. You just need to work on little techniques here and there. It's a time to improve before the season starts. Now with the change a little bit, I don't know I can say blocking is the thing I need to work on this spring, but route running and learning the new position."

On what things have been like without Zac Lee this winter
"Well, I've spent a lot more time with Cody (Green). He was in my group for 7-on-7. Without him, I think it will make more competition. I think Taylor Martinez, Ron Kellogg and those guys will all be battling with Cody."

Senior Wide Receiver Niles Paul
On if he got faster
"Yeah, a little bit."

On how he got faster
"(Strength) Coach (James) Dobson man, he got everybody faster. He was increasing people's 10's all throughout winter conditioning."

On if he takes on more of a leadership role entering his senior season
"Yeah, I feel like this year I put more responsibility on my back since I feel like I'm officially one of the older guys now, which I was last year, but we had guys like Meno (Menelik Holt) and Chris (Brooks) here. I do feel like I'm one of the older guys (now). It went by fast."

On what the winter has been like without Zac Lee able to throw and what he has seen from the quarterback competition
"I see Cody (Green), L.T. (LaTravis Washington) and Kody Spano getting better. Every Saturday, L.T. and I, Cody Green, we'll come up here and just run routes. It will be us and some of the receivers, with Rex (Burkhead) and Roy (Helu Jr.), and we'll just come up and run routes every Saturday."

On what he thinks of Mike McNeill's move to wide receiver
"We could use him. We kind of messed with him a little bit over winter conditioning because we told him he had to get faster if he wanted to be on our level. We definitely could use him."

On if Mike McNeill has gotten faster
"Yeah, he has. He's way faster then what he was."

On if he sees that being a hard transition to make
"Well not for Mike because I felt like even when he was playing tight end, they still split him out sometimes."

On which wide receivers he think will step up this season
"Brandon Kinne. He's the reason why I have progressed so much over winter conditioning. He comes here and competes with me every day, even if it's little stuff. We've just been competing the whole winter conditioning. That's what I love about him. He made me want to work harder because he works hard."

On what the offense can carry over from the Arizona game
"We have a lot of momentum going into the spring because of the Arizona game, but all we have to do is keep building off what we did. Of course we don't have Zac (Lee), but we have Cody (Green) and hopefully we can keep progressing as an offense."

On if he senses the team has more swagger
"Yeah, everybody had a lot more confidence in themselves. It's not too much confidence, we all know that we still have to work hard, but everybody's confidence level is high. We know we're good. It's that type of feeling in there."

On how the younger quarterbacks have been without Zac Lee
"You see guys trying to step up into that roll. I honestly haven't seen one of them become a leader like Zac could have been, but we're there to help them with the rest of the offense. Guys are always helping them out to progress and be better players."

On what his personal goals are for spring practice
"To go out there and compete. I know that this year is going to be fun. It's going to be a real fun spring. I know I got Brandon over there and we're real big competitors. We're going to compete in everything we do. We already started trash talking with Prince (Amukamara) and Eric (Hagg), and those guys."

On if he would beat Prince Amukamara in a foot race
"Yeah, I would beat Prince."

On what distance he would prefer to race Prince Amukamara
"I wouldn't race Prince in a 40. I think I could beat him in a 60. We, honestly, I think it was sophomore year, we all raced and Prince was the only one who didn't want to race. So Price can't tell me anything about racing because I always tell Price lets race."

On how the receivers have fared during 7-on-7 drills
"We win our battles. In my opinion, we won our fair share of the battles. That's just me as a receiver talking. Of course those guys, they're great. They make plays on the ball. (Strength) coach Dobson added a new little twist to it this year -- if we had any drops or they had any drops, then we had to do these 20 Turkish-get-ups, which nobody wants to do. So you are seeing improvement out of everybody catching the ball and really focusing up."

On how going against them has helped the receivers
"Going against them every day in practice got us prepared for Big 12. They're real physical."

On what he takes from last season
"Last year was a real big learning experience for me. I let a lot of stuff mess with my confidence. I doubted my credibility as a player sometimes. I had a lot of talks with Coach Watson and Coach Pelini. It was just a big learning experience, and now I know what type of player I can be. That's just how I'm looking at it the rest of the season."