Honest Assessment: Shipley opens up 'The moment was sometimes too big for me last year'

Clemson running back Will Shipley met with the media following the start of fall camp yesterday in Tiger Town. Shipley gave a frank assessment of his freshman season, defended quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, and noted that he needed to stop dwelling on any mistakes he makes.

Read a few quick notes from his post-practice interview-- or watch the full video above.

On freshman running back Keith Adams Jr:

"He's come in one of the most respectful kids I've ever met. It's 'thank you,' it's, 'I appreciate you.' He's always letting you know how he feels, but he's also a workhorse. He gets out there, you ask him to do something, he's gonna do it. He might mess up a couple of times, but he's gonna get back out there and make sure he does it right. That kid's gonna be successful, it might take a little bit, a little bit of developing just like, you know, for everybody. Everybody has a different path. But I'm really excited to see where he goes. I love that kid."

On his relationship with C.J. Spiller:
"Yeah, it's incredible. It's something that is personal, but we talk about so much more than just football. That's truly what means the most to me. I'm a football player, but I'm so much more than that, as well. That's one thing that Clemson University does is, is they allow me to realize my worth outside of just this field. Coach Spiller does such a great job at that as well. He's experienced almost everything that I want to experience from life. He's done it all-- been around the world, man. Just to have that, as somebody, as a leader, someone I can look up to, has been incredible. Our relationship has grown, and I look forward to it continuing to grow."

FULL VIDEO HERE 👇

On using the JUGS Machine to improve his ability to catch the football:

"I'm really looking forward to it. I've kind of worked in silence on that part. It's definitely something I wanted to improve from last season. I want the coaches to have full trust in me to, to be out there and throw me the football. Not only that-- but the quarterback. I want DJ to trust me to go out there and catch the football, whenever it needs to be caught. My hands have never truly been a question to me. I think last year, it was more of an attention thing-- an adrenaline thing. The moment was sometimes too big for me last year, you know, and I'm not afraid to admit that. I watched a lot of film and it's just me taking my eyes off the ball or being too jittery out there for whatever reason. It's something that comes with with experience, age. Me being a sophomore, I can even really just feel it today. Everything's a lot slower than last year. I'm learning to appreciate it."

On if D.J. Uiagalelei has improved on making screen passes more catchable:

"He never had any problem last year. It was me catching the football. He took WAY too much heat for last year, and I'm taking it now. Like I said, that's all in the past. We're looking forward to this season, and it's gonna be a special one."

On dwelling on his mistakes:

"I was just always dwelling on the past. The one thing I can truly think about is that that play against Pitt. I dropped the ball, and literally, the rest of the game, that's all I can think about. That's a huge mistake on my part. I let my teammates down, not only in dropping that pass but not being locked in for the remainder of the game. That's something that can't happen. As an elite athlete, I want my teammates to trust me when my number's called. I've got to be ready to go, regardless of what happened in the previous play. I've definitely improved in that sense. You know, just my mental game has gotten so much better this offseason so that's something I wanted to improve on-- and I have.