Jerald Foster Quotes

Nebraska Football
Weekly Press Conference
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Monday, Aug. 27, 2018
Pre-Akron

Jerald Foster
Senior, Offensive Guard

On the experience of the offensive line
"When you have guys that have been there, it allows everyone else to be just a bit more comfortable with their play and understanding their responsibilities. With three of our five starting offensive linemen being as old as they are, that's special. I'm happy to have all my seniors out on the field with me. Don't take away anything from the two starting [offensive] tackles as they have experience and were out there last year. We're all really excited about this year with Coach Frost's offense and the way they push us and set a fire beneath us. It's pushing us forward and it's going to be an exciting first game."

On whether or not he still gets butterflies before games
"Yes and no. I'll get it around Wednesday when I get done with the harder practices. It's more of a mental stress where I have to figure out what I'm going to be doing to figure out opposing defenses for the week. I don't get butterflies during games."

On his thoughts about starting true freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez
"Wow, this is going to be fun. He's really worked hard and deserves everything he's gotten. Adrian is going to do exactly what he needs to do on the field. We're not nervous about it. With our line being older, I hope he uses the offensive line as a fallback to rely on our experience and age to help him out throughout the game. He is calm and collected. He respects us and we respect him, so we aren't worried or anything like that."

On how he would describe freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez
"He's a confident person. Obviously we don't have huddles anymore, but he knows exactly what needs to be done when we need him to switch us from a slide-left man-right or slide-right man-left. He's there for us and he calls it when he see's it. If we have any criticism, then he'll take it. He takes it to heart and really works on his game to be able to be a better quarterback."

On the conditioning of the offensive players in the new system
"We are conditioned, don't worry about that. There is no part of this game where I worry about us being tired. How we do it, is we are as up-tempo as possible. I'm not worried about us being tired during a game but being able to see and react to how a defense changes up to combat our quick game. But yeah, we won't be tired, we'll be good."

On if he can quantify his condition this year compared to previous years
"I don't really like to talk about years and compare them. That was a huddle-style and pro-style offense whereas this is a no-huddle type of collegiate offense where you really try to run and gun and make it so the defense has to line up quick. You can't really call in any blitzes because you are trying not to get out-paced as a defense. So that's really what we have now."

On leadership of the team and how freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez being named quarterback effects that
"I think he knows his position. That's something that's gone over well with the young guys not feeling like they can overstep themselves as we do have good leaders with the older guys that are already out there. It makes their lives easier. Adrian knows that the leaders are going to be us older offensive line guys and the wideouts. The whole offseason, we've been the guys kind of talking here and there. I think that makes his life a little easier, but at the same time he's not just going to stand back and just listen to what everyone says. If he needs to talk, he is going to be someone who says "you're in the wrong here and I can see it, and you need to fix that." I know he's gonna say it. Our team is not the type to take little things to heart. We understand that if we are going to take all the little things to heart and not communicate, then we wouldn't be the team that I think we are."

On the differences in the offensive personnel in the past year
"We have the same offensive line, check that. We have more experience and a better understanding with what's asked of us, we're more mature. Just the flow to the game that we have as an offense, our run game is something that we're going to be able to fall back on and have great success with throughout the year. Our quarterback is going to be running the ball as well and just having that extra piece to the whole puzzle is going to make defenses think twice about going after our running backs because our quarterback can just keep the ball and head up field."

On what the running backs from the 2018 recruiting class bring to the table (junior college transfer Greg Bell and true freshmen Maurice Washington and Miles Jones)
"Well, lets not forget about [senior running backs] Devine [Ozigbo] and Mikale [Wilbon]. We have good backs, so it really doesn't matter in the sense of effort. All of them give 100 percent effort in our backfield. Uniqueness and what the younger guys bring to the table, they bring a nice, edgy, uniqueness about their game. Greg Bell, being able to see what he can do and what he's able to bring to the field is exciting. I'm happy to have the guys that we do. Again, if you're not able to understand your role on this team, then you are going to have a hard time being out there, as we are really shooting for everyone to be on the same page so we can go out and make this year a really successful one for us."