Putnam on playing 3,000 snaps: 'Reflection of this coaching staff and my teammates'
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On being only one of six players in Clemson Football History to have appeared in 3,000 career snaps from scrimmage: “I came to Clemson because I wanted to play football and play football at a college level. I think that’s really cool to stop and look back. It is not really anything I have ever looked at or thought about, but it’s really cool to reflect on that. At the end of the day, it's all just a reflection of this coaching staff and my teammates helping me get better, push through all sorts of adversity throughout my time here. I haven’t thought about it too much, I am very grateful, but we still have a lot more football to play.”
On this offensive line’s performance at the halfway point of the season: “I would say it’s tough losing a guy like Walker Parks, that’s a guy who is sorely missed. Walker is a great player, great guard, great tackle, and having to overcome that has definitely been difficult. Right now, we are just figuring it out and plugging in different guys-- figuring out what really works. We still have some younger guys in the offensive line, so trying to build that continuity I think is something that we continue to work on week in and week out.”
On the running game: “I mean it has been up and down where some games you are like, ‘man this is really good’, and other games not. I do agree that we are right there to break out, and the best thing we can do is try to eliminate turnovers. I think we do best when we can put those long drives together. Upfront as the offensive line, we try to pride ourselves with being the best-conditioned unit on the field and you can’t really show that when you go three plays and boom you are out. For us, trying to get those first downs and keep moving the chains in my opinion our run game gets better and better. I think to get our run game clicking, just staying on the field and eliminating those big momentum swings on the field is when we can really start rolling.”
On managing the expectations of the offense: “For us, we aren’t really driven by expectations in the first place. The biggest thing for us right now is that players got to play. The coaches can figure out if this is working or if it’s not, that’s not really something I focus on or can control either. I think us as players have to play, and guys who are designated as “playmakers” need to go make plays. I'm an offensive lineman. I need to make my blocks. I think just having that mentality is really what’s going to carry us forward because we need consistency across the board. No one has to play like a superstar week in and week out, we just need guys to consistently show up and do their job. Mistakes are going to happen, I make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes, no one plays a perfect game, but I just think guys having that mentality of trying to chase perfection is what we need to be at. Locking in and shutting out the outside noise can really help guys out too.”
