CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes were back in action on the Greentree Practice fields for their fourth day of preseason camp, and after Saturday’s practice, defensive linemen Armondo Blount, Marquise Lightfoot and Justin Scott, along with linebacker Chase Smith, spoke with reporters to share their thoughts on the day’s session and how camp is progressing.
Here are some of their best quotes from Saturday’s practice as Miami moves one step closer to its Sept. 4 opener at Stanford.
Defensive lineman Armondo Blount
On how his game has developed and grown as he’s gained more experience at Miami:
“I would say my IQ expanded with my game. I’ve just been learning more, becoming a student of the game at Miami, going 1-0 every day in everything and just becoming better at everything; just advancing with my mindset … my physicality and everything.”
On the competitiveness and camaraderie on the defensive line:
“Well, with the D-line, we push each other every day. You can’t have [any] off days with this D-line. We just go relentless every day. We make sure to keep each other at a high standard. Not just me and Marquise [Lightfoot], me and Ahmad [Moten Sr.], me and [Justin] Scott, even the younger guys. We have younger guys like [freshman] Asharri Charles. I push all my guys. They push me. I feel like that’s what makes us better.”
On what he’s seen from some of the younger offensive linemen so far in camp:
“I would say our young guys are hard workers. We’ve got some young guys that are willing to work. … We’ve got guys that are willing to fall in with the program and hold themselves to a standard, because once you get [to] Miami, [there’s] a standard you’ve got to uphold no matter your age. So, I would say that. With the younger guys, they’re very hard workers.
On what he learned from former Miami defensive linemen Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor:
“Work ethic. They showed me that if you put enough work in, anything is possible. Just with the weight room, football, technique walk-throughs. Those guys did everything 100 percent. They didn’t just go hard on the field. They went hard in meeting rooms, in the film room. It showed me a lot.”