Kelly Bryant, "Everybody wanna write me off but I'm still here"

Yesterday after Clemson's scrimmage in Death Valley, Kelly Bryant was all smiles. Here are some notes and the video from yesterday. 

However, not everyone was smiling after practice. Just ask Brent Venables who gave us this gem of an interview after he ran Clemson's defense for 30 minutes post-scrimmage.

Q: How do you think you did today?

"I think I did really good managing it. It was a very good day for the offense and I feel like we did what was asked of us. We wanted to come out and play fast and have that tempo that we've been preaching all spring and managing the game and taking what's there and that's the biggest thing I wanted to come out and do through the course of the game."

Q: Anything you wish you could've done better today?

"Just being more poised in the pocket and being ready to make plays with my feet when plays may collapse and breakdown, that's one I want to go back and look at the film and see what I could do better at." 

Q: Are you pleased with the tempo?

"Definitely. I feel we're right on track and still working to be better but just seeing the quality of depth we have at all positions has really been good and pleasing to see these few weeks of spring ball."

Q: Have you seen improvement in Travis' (Etienne) pass protection?

"Definitely. Last fall he was still learning and now he's still learning but you can see he's more confident out there in the pass protection and making those calls and just hearing him right at my side pointing out the guy he has, it's been great to see how much growth he's made through the course of time."

Q: How do you take the other quarterbacks challenging you? Does it force you to get better?

"Definitely. Everybody wanna talk about everything else that's coming in but me, I just go back to work and just let everybody else do the talking. Everybody wanna write me off but I'm still here and I ain't going nowhere."

Q: How important is it for the freshman to get in the stadium environment?

"It's very important. It's still the same but once we come out here in the stadium, you treat it like game day and you have a little bit more people out here watching and it was really good to see because there was no drop off and all four of us went in and pushed the tempo and drove the offense so it was good to see everybody do their job."

Q: What other advice has Tajh Boyd given to you?

"Just seeing him coming around and the type of player, just growing up and going through the recruiting process and the type of player he was and the type of mentor he's been and in the quarterback room, just keep that faith and I know what I can do and I know what this offense can do so whenever we lose that faith, questions will pop up and start looking left and right to find solutions. We know what we can do. Just continue to work and push."

Q: How was it to see Cornell make some plays today?

"It was good to see #17 go out there and make some plays all across the field. Made a double move there in the end zone was good and made some very competitive plays and those 50-50 balls, we just throw it up and have trust those guys will come down and make a play and that's what he did today."

Q: How different is life today compared to a year ago?

"I don't think anything's changed for me. There's still questions so I'm still going back to work and keep that confidence in myself and just continue to work and never get complacent and try to find ways to be better than I was last year."

Q: How much do the doubters keep you going?

"Oh man, I love it. Tell them to keep questioning."

Q: Is not being live a double-edged sword for you and your running ability?

"Definitely. It's just like practice, it's the same situations but we know we can make plays with my legs and a little bit more to see when you can't make the plays you can't make because of short whistles but we're just going to try to make plays when they're there."