Putnam discusses Clemson's new-look offensive line, protecting D.J. Uiagalelei

Clemson center Will Putnam spoke to the media following this morning’s practice session. Putnam elaborated on his transition to center, his experience protecting DJ Uiagalelei, the reshuffling of the offensive line, and much more. 

Here are some of the top quotes and notes from Putnam’s press conference:

On his transition to center: “I feel like it was pretty natural for the most part. There's just kind of some things just keeping the ball center in front of you. You know I'm right-handed, so when i step right not letting like my release point differ. I didn't have two too many issues.”

On protecting starting QB DJ Uiagalelei: “It's just part of the quarterback position. If something goes wrong, they're gonna get all the blame. If something goes right, they're gonna get all the glory. But I mean- us as a team, we've never blamed him for anything because as a team, everyone has to take ownership and accountability for all of our success and all of our failures. It has to be unconditional, and some of it's not fair to DJ- because like passes, for example, it's not always on the quarterback. It can be on the wide receiver running the wrong route- it can be on us up front for not having the best protection that we could have had, and then sometimes he just might make a mistake- which we all make mistakes. I think that's something that we're also rallying around this year a little bit more because he's a great player, he's a great teammate, we love him, and we want him to do well.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCp9LxoPmNs&t=2s

On communication: “Learning the calls and what to do didn't really take much time at all because I played guard in the past. Since i've been here and to try to be the best you can at guard- I mean you should know who you're playing next to and what they're doing. I mean I already knew every play, what the center is doing. I know every play what the guards’ doing because I'm playing guard, and I know pretty much every play what the tackle is doing as well. So, that helps a lot too.”

On changes from last year: “We kind of shuffled things around a lot like in the interior, especially at the center position. With me being kind of the veteran guy in the interior side of the line a lot of times- I mean, I kind of took that responsibility myself to make those calls and help them out a little bit, because let's say if we're going on like a silent count and the center has his head in between his legs- he can't really see what the defense is doing the shifts and stuff he's making. So, it's up to the guards to make those calls.”

On Walker Parks: “Let's say it is a very crazy game environment, and it's very loud, and you know the center has to put his head between his legs to get the calls and stuff like that- I mean, I'm going to rely on Walker for that time being to take over the making the calls and points and stuff like that as well. I think he's excited to move in, play guard, different position, new challenge kind of like I was moving from guard to center, and I think he's really looking forward to that.”

The Tigers open the season on September 5 in Mercedes Benz Stadium against Georgia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic.