Michigan State DE/LB Jamal Lyles Tell You How He Felt He Did This Spring!
Michigan State DE/LB Jamal Lyles Tell You How He Felt He Did This Spring!
A: They told me I could stay at the same weight I am now so I can still move. Because when I’m at defensive end I’m dropping coverage a lot, too. I’m at 242 right now, so that’s a pretty good weight for both positions.
Q: Watching you with Narduzzi today, he’s tapping you on the head, he’s tapping you on the bum, he’s hugging you, he’s pushing you. Talk about your relationship with him because it seems that you guys have a good one.
A: Yeah, he just wanted to light a fire under me at the beginning of practice because he wants me to be a great player. He said I’ve just been playing good so far, and he was just trying to make me play better. So he got in my face.
Q: What constitutes being a great player for you?
A: Using my hands more, don’t mess up on the same things more than one time. Just improvement every day.
Q: What have you been messing upon?
A: At defensive end, this is a new position to me so on my first day out, a lot. Learning things, installs and stuff. More hand placement, knowing their place. Last year I played in the boundary and when I hear the call I’m thinking boundary. But now I play defensive end in the field so I can’t mix up to two things.
Q: So is the hardest part of this mental?
A: Yeah, it’s mental. Mental mostly.
Q: Learning what you’re supposed to do?
A: Yeah, because if you don’t know what to do you can’t play as fast.
Q: Once you know what you’re supposed to do and you got that read, then how’s the rest of it stacking up against bigger guys?
A: Oh, pretty good. I made a lot of players during the scrimmages. So I’ve been doing well when I know what I’m doing.
Q: The biggest thing coming out of spring ball going into this spring game, what’s gonna be the biggest thing for you as far growth and improvement?
A: Using my hands mostly, so I can defeat blockers. And using more speed, the power moves because people are bigger than me but I’m alot faster than them. I can get around the edge better.
Q: You have Tressel on one side and you got Burton on the other. Talk about the differences between them coaching you.
A: Oh, their coaching style is very the same. They’re very fiery coaches, in your face coaches. So I like that. But they just want me to do the best I can do.
Q: With Burton saying he wants everybody to get 3 reps for every 1, then you might get more of a little break with Tressel on training reps.
A: Yeah, the reps are more like D end right now because I did l linebacker all last year. So I’m trying to catch up with both of them.
Q: Jamal, for you, are you enjoying yourself? Last year was hard because you were red shirting. Is it fun to be in the mix?
A: Yeah it’s fun to be in the mix, trying to get better every day. You’re competing for player time now, to get out on the field finally. It’s a long time in coming so I’m real excited.
Q: Where are you in the depth chart right now?
A: At defensive end I’m 2 and at linebacker I’m 2.
Q: Nice. So where are you playing linebacker at? Which one?
A: The short side field boundary.
Q: For you now, has the game slowed down a little bit? Last year you were on scout team... But has it slowed down? Is it like high school now?
A: Yeah, it’s slowed down a lot. I’ve been really flying around out there. I just gotta work on a few things on defensive end and trying to get better at both of them.
Q: This team has responded to Riley at running back. The energy level goes up. What is it about Riley at running back that gets everybody fired up?
A: Because he’s our defensive guy. Every time we send a defensive guy to offense everybody is fired up to stop him because we’re like, You’re training on us now. No messing around.
Q: But he seems to be having more success than any of the other running backs.
A: He’s been real successful. He’s 230 lbs. so he’s gonna fall forward sometimes. So it’s real exciting to watch him run the ball.
Q: For you personally, because obviously you’re a Spartan first, but what do you like about Riley running the ball?
A: I like him running the ball because I know he’s gonna try to run people over, instead of making people miss most of the time. It’s been real fun watching him be physical.
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