Auburn senior defensive tackle Montravius Adams, senior receiver Marcus Davis and junior defensive end Carl Lawson were the three players selected to represent the 2016 Tigers, of course alongside head coach Gus Malzahn in Hoover, Ala., for SEC Media Days.
Here’s what the three players had to say during their media availability Monday:
Senior defensive tackle Montravius Adams
On his 2016 season:
“I need to be more of a dominating specimen, more tenacious this year.”
On Coach Malzahn and leadership and motivation:
“Well I just feel like, you know, every year teams set the goals and right now my goal is to
take it one day at a time and that’s our mindset and that’s what he told us to have. So we’re
really just going to take it one day at a time. Get better at practice … try to do better at the
game and try to win as many games as we can.”
On being at SEC Media Days:
“When I first came in I felt kind of nervous, all of these cameras in here. But now I feel good,
I feel comfortable and anytime someone asks a question I’m ready to answer.”
On the bond between Coach Rodney Garner and his players:
“That bond that we have in the D-lineman room, I just think it’s crazy. I don’t know if
anybody else shares that bond that we have, like on other football teams. I just think (of) us
as a D-line with Coach (Garner); I just think it’s crazy. We pick up on his habits. It’s like
we’re really his sons … He sets the tone.”
On relationship with Carl Lawson:
“Me and Carl have known each other since 11th grade. We played in the junior bowl
together and we were roommates then. We stayed right beside each other … that just made
us be closer as players. That’s why we’re always together. We learn from each other.”
Senior receiver Marcus Davis
On coming to SEC Media Days:
“First off, it’s definitely an honor to be here, to represent such a great university. It’s a
pleasure to take questions from you guys, and I’m pretty excited about it today.”
On becoming a more versatile receiver:
“That’s been the goal, you know. I think everything comes with opportunity, and I think I’m
going to have more opportunity this year to be more explosive and make more explosive
plays. I’m looking forward to it; I’m looking forward to the tasks to do it. I’m excited about
what’s to come.”
On Coach Gus Malzahn’s new coaching philosophy of going back to his roots:
“I most definitely see a difference. Being the head coach, sometimes head coaches sit back
and watch things happening, but now I think he’s taking more charge and being more
involved and more vocal – not just to the players, but to the coaches as well. I’m pretty
excited to see how everything goes. I’m used to him sitting back, but now that I see
something different, I’m excited to see where it goes.”
On the Auburn quarterback selection:
“I think all three of those guys can run the offense pretty well. With Jeremy (Johnson), I
think he developed more of a running ability than he did last year. With Sean (White), he’s
just got a knack for the position; he’s a great quarterback. With John (Franklin III), he does
things different. He’s really athletic, he’s a fast guy, and he’s a guy that’s a really hard
worker. I want to see how everything turns out, but I’m just ready to have one guy we can
get behind and do what we need to do from there.
Junior defensive lineman Carl Lawson
On how difficult the decision go to NFL was:
“It was a decision that I had to make with my family. What was best for me was to
come back to Auburn, finish my degree, become a better athlete, become a better
football player. It was a decision that was made by me and my family”
On how the D-line stacks up against rest of SEC:
“I feel like we recruited well. We have a lot of talent. We need to execute, and that’s
what we’ve been doing this past spring. Everybody has talent. When we get to the
season, we’ll see how we stack up.”
On how much opening up at home is a motivating factor:
“Not too much. Last year has been the motivating factor for us because we didn’t like
the way we played. We didn’t like our record last year. Every game next year is one
game at a time same mentality. But last year has been the motivating factor for this
team, to not repeat.”
On coming back from injury:
“In life you have adversity, and every time I’ve had adversity in my life I’ve come
back stronger. I didn’t like what happened, but I appreciated what happened because
it made me a better player. Made me view things from a different perspective. Every
experience, a bad experience or a good experience, is a learning experience. Last
year I wasn’t 100 percent probably, about 60% coming back from the hip injury.
Coming off the Birmingham Bowl and having time to rest and going through this off
season I feel like I’m faster and stronger.”
On what he’s seen out of teammates:
“I see a lot of great work ethic on this D-line and all the young guys that we have –
they all work together every day to improve each other. I can’t wait for the season to
start so you see these guys play for yourself instead of me telling you.”
On pressure on the defense:
“Of course, in the SEC, defense is ‘postersized.’ So as a team, defensively, we want to
be the best in the SEC, and that’s what we’re striving for every day. So yeah, there’s a
lot of pressure on us not just the on the offense being good.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
