Canes Camp Report: Aug. 13

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes continue making their way through preseason camp, and after Tuesday’s afternoon practice, defensive linemen Elijah Alston, Anthony Campbell and Ahmad Moten, Sr., along with offensive linemen Samson Okunlola and Ryan Rodriguez all spoke with reporters.

Here are some of their best quotes after Tuesday’s workout as Miami moves one step closer to its Aug. 31 season opener at Florida.

Defensive lineman Elijah Alston

On how he envisions his role in Miami’s defense:

“I like to pass rush. I like to drop. I like to do whatever they need me to do. So, I don’t feel like I’m just labeled as one thing. I feel like I’m whatever you need me to be. I feel like I’m that type of player. So, deep down inside, I would say I’m a utility player. Wherever you need me … if you need me on the edge, I’m on the edge. If you need me to drop, I’ll drop. So, that’s why I feel like I play my part. I’m here to help. I’m not just a one-trick pony.”

On what it’s like to try and rush Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward:

“Getting after Cam, I feel like that’s some work for itself just because of … the kind of o-line he has protecting him. That’s a battle, to get to him every day. Him in the pocket, he throws dimes. So, it’s like even when you think you’re pressuring Cam, you’re possibly not really pressuring Cam when he throws the ball, because when you look down the field, all you hear is a blur in practice or you’ll see something that’s unbelievable or somebody’s making a crazy catch where he placed the ball. So, chasing after Cam is a different experience, but it’s a fun experience because it just pushes me to get there a little bit quicker so he can’t get the ball off.”

On the competition in the defensive line room:

“Competition, for me, within the room, I feel like that’s just what comes with football. I don’t take it as a bad thing. I see it as a good thing because competition in the room only pushes us individually to get better. If I’m in front and everybody else is behind me and I’m doing good, it’s going to motivate everybody else to do better than me. If I’m in the back … if I’m behind somebody else and they’re above me or starting above me, then it can only motivate me to do better. … So, I don’t see competition as a bad thing or think it will ruin anything between our relationship, our bond. I feel like it only brings us together. It teaches us as a unit to [say], ‘Hey, well, he does this better than me, so now I want to go over there and see how he works it so it can help me better my game’ and vice versa. The competition only pushes us to get better.”

Defensive lineman Anthony Campbell

On working to continue growing as a player and carving out a role for himself on the defense:

“It’s been a process of just trusting the coaches and everybody else around me, like my teammates and everybody [that’s] been pushing me. So, I’ve been trusting the coaches and focusing on technique and all that stuff, getting better each day.”

On which defensive linemen are setting an example for the younger linemen in the room:

“I would say my whole position group. We push each other and [Akheem] Mesidor is like the leader of the pack. I would say Mesidor and [Rueben] Bain, Jr. . I’m watching their footsteps. They work how they work in practice. They push us a lot.”

Defensive lineman Ahmad Moten

On how he envisions his role on the defense:

“I feel like we’re all just working. My role on this team is just make sure everybody’s better. You know, make myself better. Make sure the d-line is better, the o-line is better, the quarterbacks, the wide receivers, just go out there grinding every day. Dropping weight was a big thing for me that I did, so just getting in shape, getting all the guys in shape … I feel like my role is just to help any way I can and that’s the main thing.”

On what it’s like when Cam Ward and the offense win a play:

“It’s frustrating. What I hate about Cam Ward is when he has a good play … we’re never going to hear the end of it. We’re going to hear it all the way to the locker room. We’re going to hear it all the way to team meetings, to dinner. So I don’t like when he makes plays because he’s just going to talk about it the whole day.”

On what it will be like to see Ward do that to an opponent:

“I’m glad he’s on our team, that’s all I can say. I’m glad we don’t have to go against him every Saturday. Or any Saturday.”

Offensive lineman Samson Okunlola

On how he’d like to build on the work he did in the spring:

“The thing I showed in the spring was just that I’m ready to compete. I’m ready to get better. I’m ready to show that I know our system. I know our playbook and I know how to operate in our playbook, and I know the techniques to use; I know the how, why, and how to do it. So, that’s the thing I want to showcase even more coming up this fall.”

On what he’s learned from some of Miami’s veteran offensive linemen:

“I mean, they helped me grow, just in the sense of technique, you know? Using my hands better in the pass game … knowing the whole technique, the whole scheme of the run. So, I can use my technique in multiple ways; showing me different ways of how to attack this, attack that; raising my IQ when it comes to football, letting me know when blitzes are coming on the run games … so I can better choose a technique to use for that play.”

On the importance of earning the trust of offensive line coach Alex Mirabal:  

“Definitely, trust is a big thing. The five o-linemen who play who play have to be trusted and [have trust] among themselves. The way you go about showing that is just knowing your playbook and the film never lies. So, what you do in the film is going to tell the truth on how he’s going to trust you.”

Offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez

On how he thinks he has improved to earn praise from offensive line coach Alex Mirabal:

“The biggest thing has just been listening to coach and [in] those meetings that we have every day, instead of just sitting there and watching the clock pass, you’ve got to lock in and write notes. You actually listen to what he’s saying because not one second goes by where he is not saying [anything]. You have to sit there and process that information and actually understand what he’s trying to get to and the whole concept of everything. [Then] everything starts clicking a little easier and then you can start playing freer.”

On quarterback Cam Ward:

“Cam’s a great leader, not just for the cameras or when people are looking at him. Behind closed doors, when there’s no cameras, he’s still a great leader. Takes care of us in the o-line room. Takes us to eat all the time, finds ways for us to get together and bond and that’s huge, especially for o-line, because we’re all a big brotherhood. Every position group has a big brotherhood, but o-line, it’s a little different. It’s a little more special. And Cam’s doing a great job of bringing us all together. When you have a quarterback that you really appreciate, you’ll go to war for him and you’ll protect him. Cam’s that guy. We all want to protect him and go to war for him.”

On what he learned from former Hurricanes center Matt Lee and what he is learning from current center Zach Carpenter:

“Well, both of those guys have a lot of experience under the belt. When they came to UM, both of them were going into their sixth years. They had five years of playing, whether they started as freshmen or whatever. They all played a lot of snaps and a lot of football games. So, they had a lot of experience under their belts. … These guys were competing every day, but if you actually just listen and learn what they’re saying and correcting mistakes they might make and they’d correct things that I might make, we just worked off each other and we get each other better and we’re just continuing to get better.

“Matt Lee helped me a ton last year. Matt Lee guided me. I felt like I had some stuff that I had to fix, mentally and physically. I had to gain some weight. I had to be better with the playbook. And when we had an older guy like Matt Lee in the room last year, and I was a younger guy, I would just watch him like ‘This is how I’ve got to be. This is how I’ve got to act every day. This is a professional.’ And then they bring in Zach and Zach’s another professional who knows how to handle his business. He keeps the main thing the main thing and he’s good at that. We’re all coming together and we’re jelling well.”