Q: How do you feel about the general health of the team through tonight’s practice?
Swinney: “Pretty good. We’ve got what we’ve got, and we’ll see where everybody is tomorrow. We can take 80, so we’ll load up 80 and head to Atlanta with the best we’ve got.”
Q: You mentioned yesterday wanting more of a flowing offense, getting some of the backup running backs worked in. What have you seen from that group behind Adam?
Swinney: “Yeah, more rhythm, more plays, more in sync, less three-and-outs. They’ll get their opportunity. Like I said, it’s going to start with Adam [Randall], and then we’ll go from there, but definitely rhythm and play count. They’ve done great. They’re two young backs who are getting better. They’ve had some mistakes — both of them — when they’ve gotten in there. David Eziomume had a drop the other day, but I thought Gideon [Davidson], with his couple of plays, did a nice job last week. Their opportunity will come.”
Q: Jack Smith spoke to the media today about Coach Ryan Allen’s impact on him during the punting competition. How have you seen Coach Allen coach the guys through the preseason?
Swinney: “He’s great. He’s done it. He’s a three-time Super Bowl champ. He understands competition. He understands the technical aspects of kicking, punting, snapping, holding, all that stuff. He’s been a great addition to our staff. We hired him last year, and he’s done a great job for us.”
Q: DeMonte Capehart told us earlier today about Peter Woods’ halftime speech in the locker room against Troy. What did you see from that, and what does it say about this team’s player-led leadership?
Swinney: “That was positive, coming from kind of a funky game, especially offensively. It could create a lot of frustration — two games in a row where you don’t play good on offense, and defensively you’ve got points on the board and you’ve only given up one true touchdown. It can get frustrating.”
“I was proud of them. Proud of how they hung together and kept encouraging each other. We always say adversity — people say it builds character, but it really reveals character. I think you saw the character of our team, how they fought back, hung in there, and found a way to win.”
Q: You’ve mentioned that the field goal protection unit has improved this year. What have you seen through the first two games?
Swinney: “Just personnel. Coach Luke has done a great job with that team, and our personnel has taken a lot of pride in it.”
Q: Regarding [Bryant] Wesco’s role on punt return. What did you see from him in the preseason that gave him those duties with Antonio [Williams] missing time?
Swinney: “We worked with him last year a good bit. We just trust him. He fields the ball naturally, he’s a good decision-maker, and obviously he can run with it.”
“We’ve got T.J. Moore, another guy we trust. Cole [Turner] is a guy we trust. Tink is a guy we could put back there. We’ve got a good group of core guys who have earned our trust. But Wesco is the next man up.
