Everything From Georgia Tech DB Clayton Powell Lee Ahead Of Matchup Against Duke

Georgia Tech safety Clayton Powell Lee talked to the media on Wednesday after practice. Here is everything he had to say.

On Darian Mensah…..

“He's overall just knows how to make those throws, honestly. He's a very talented person. I know he's, I heard he's kind of young, I believe so, not a hundred percent sure, but he can make every throw on the field. So I got to give him his props, but it's a game that we just got to dive into the details a little bit more honestly, since knowing that he can make those throws across the field, in front of him, wherever the case may be. He even takes the check down. That's how you know you have a good quarterback, honestly. He's willing to gain a profit. So it's just good to know that, and we're willing for the challenge, honestly. We're up for it. We live for moments like this. We are going to keep working and just grinding.”

On whether the secondary has done a good job of limiting plays after the catch….

“Honestly, yes, we always talk about if you catch tackle every reception, you'll be one of the top passing defenses in the country, honestly. I feel like we've been doing a really good job at that. So we've got to keep working on that detail. When they catch it, everybody's going to make plays. When he catches it, get him down. Make him keep snapping that ball, and then everything will turn out how we want it to.”

On how hard to see Ahmari Harvey go down and rallying around him…

“I mean, this sucks that I was on the field right beside him when it happened. So it's tough to see your brother that you've been playing with for three to four years go down like that. I don't know any of the details behind it. I mean, that's the trainers and obviously, Coach Key likes they're all over that. So if we can give him the play, we want him to play, and I know he wants to play as well. So just with him, you know, he's gonna keep on playing. We know that we got him in spirit, even if he doesn't honestly, but just knowing that he's more willing to play than us honestly, like he really wants to come back, so we get him back. He's a big key to our success, honestly, on defense.”

On being disciplined if Mensah escapes from the pocket…

“We take that into every game, honestly, because any quarterback can make those plays. Honestly, every quarterback I feel like he has that ability to make those improvising plays, and he's one of them, so just knowing that and just harnessing on the details of all right. He may get out of the pocket, that doesn't mean come out of coverage, that doesn't mean do these things that you're not really supposed to, honestly, so if we just stay disciplined, stay to our keys, stay to our reads, and everything, and plaster when he is outside the pocket, he has nowhere to throw. Then we can keep playing ball like that. You can't beat us just running outside the pocket.”

On how much Duke coming off a bye week factors into preparation…

“We've been going week by week for the past going on seven, eight weeks now. So it's just the next opponent, honestly. We all understand that they've had a little extra time, like, bye week, you may think, oh, they're going to do all this crazy stuff for as far as, like, scheme, like, bring out new plays and things of that nature. But we just, we just stick to the ground, honestly, and focus on the key play that they may run, the key formations, all these types of things like that. So it's just not really looking at the by week as an excuse. I would say to give yourself any leeway or anything like that. It's still a competitive game, an ACC conference game. So it's, you just gotta keep on working.”

On the communication in the backend…

“As far as us at the back end, we practice that every day, honestly, in practice, even pre-practice and everything. Just what we see from our side, like just communicating with both sides, because different things can be going on at each side. So, just trying to understand the full scheme of things, what are they trying to attack us with, honestly? So just our communication has been really good, honestly, I feel like. So we just gotta keep that going, and that starts with me and Omar as the safeties in the backend. Just getting that to the linebackers, getting that to our corners and everything, but it starts with us.”

On taking pride in being asked to do a lot of different things…

“I love it. Having to be the all-around player is something I would love to have two PBUs, a pick maybe, and about six tackles. I'm up for the challenge. Honestly, me and the rest of my guys, we’re up for these challenges. As a defense, you live for it. They’re nationally ranked like top 15, top 30 in the pass and the run. It's like, hey, we live for it. We're going to follow our keys, do our job, and try to limit every explosive that we can, honestly.”

On Duke RB Nate Sheppard…

“He's a very talented back. I have to give it to him. He's been playing some good, solid ball. He's not one of those backs that just go down off of arm tackles or anything. You actually have to get your body on him. So I love a back that's like that. It's a good challenge for me, and really all of us. To stop the run, it takes 11 guys to the ball. So just focusing on those things because if you're not tackling alone, you can't go anywhere, honestly.”

On the cornerbacks playing more reps and who has stood out…

“We just preach next man up, honestly. It sucks when you see situations like this happen, it's tough, but it's next man up honestly. We can't let that affect what happens in our preparation. Just because one guy goes down, you can't be like, ah, we're gonna lose. This is gonna happen, that's gonna happen. You can't think like that. That's a loser's mentality. We don't have that type of mentality in our room, at least. When that type of thing happens, hey, next man up. Like, no matter if you're a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior, it's next man up. You're expected to make those plays and even more plays, honestly. It may not be the situation you want it to be, but it's the opportunity for you, as that guy that came onto the scene, to just make those plays, kind of like how I did. It was next man up when I was a freshman. So, just kind of that same mentality of just next man up. I can't really speak to who has caught my eye, but all of them, all of them are doing their jobs, balling out in practice and just trying to seize opportunity honestly, because everybody's going to get a shot at it.”

On bringing their own energy to Duke and what the team learned from their previous Noon game…

“It's always been bring your own energy. It's an away game, so you can't rely on external things, honestly. We have to, within ourselves, just to get each other going, wake up a little earlier. Get each other fired up and everything, because it's a noon game against an ACC opponent in conference. You can't ask for anything better than that. It is what it is. You just have to go out there and start fast. Even though we may have the history or not, you got to change that narrative. I'm tired of us starting slow. I want to start fast and put some points on the board, get some stops, and everything like that. So I want to play fast on Saturday.”

On where he has grown the most in his game during his senior season…

“Me personally, I just try to work on everything, honestly, like whether it is man, zone, and mainly just tackling. As a safety, you have to be a premier tackler. That's the biggest thing because plays can happen where it's a one-on-one with you in the running back, you in the quarterback, or you in the receiver. You've got to be able to make those plays at a very high level. That's what I've been harping on for myself at least. Then making plays on the ball, honestly, like being around the ball as much as I can, because you never know if you're around the ball, you can get a pick, you can get a tip, you can get a fumble recovery, you can get a forced fumble. All those little things like that. As well as my communication and preaching and teaching the young guys, because obviously, after this season, I'll be gone. So, just trying to feed the young guys as much as I can. That's what was done to me, honestly, by Jaylon King. Just preaching to them about taking every rep like it's your last. Taking every rep like there's no tomorrow type of things. Always teaching them the big picture of not just football, but in school and outside of this life, because we're more than just football players. We have lives, we have families, we're just more than football players. So just trying to teach them the balances of life cause it's hard, like you're a freshman. It's a lot of pressure on your plate. You may feel like you got to do it for the guys at home, but nah do it for you. That's the biggest thing I preach to them.”

On the key to unlocking the run defense…

“We take it personally because if someone's willing to run the ball on a 4th and 1, we take that as an insult. If someone says that they can run the ball however many yards, however many times, it's an insult to us as a defense, honestly. So, just, you gotta trust the person next to you. We always say, do your job, play your gap, don't do anybody else's job. That really plays a factor into how defenses come together, honestly. If you have full faith and full trust in your brother, that he's gonna do his job, that means I can have full faith in myself to do my job. When things like that happen, it gets scary for defenses, especially run defense. That's a big thing, honestly, as well as pass, but it's always good to have a good run defense.”

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