WATCH: Dorian Thompson-Robinson on His Legacy at UCLA, Facing Cal

UCLA football quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson spoke with reporters following Monday morning's practice session at the Wasserman Football Center. Thompson-Robinson talked about how he's feeling two days removed from the loss to USC, what he thinks about his extended time at UCLA, the emotions that hit following his final game at the Rose Bowl, the motivation of making mistakes and being able to celebrate with his teammates by rebounding against Cal on Friday.

How are you feeling?

Feeling well, feeling well. Obviously a little banged up here and there, but just glad nothing's hurt, injured or, you know, severely injured. So I feel good though, team's in a good place. We're looking forward to this last game, last opportunity to be around each other, so it's gonna be a fun week.

What do you see your legacy at UCLA being?

I think that's for the fans and the players that come here after me, for them to say. Right now, I'm focused on winning this last game, going out a winner and ending the season out the right way and on the right foot.

Went back out on the field after media interviews – what was that like, why'd you do that?

Ah, bunch of reasons. Um, obviously the main one is that was my last home game there, so just getting to soak it all in. Obviously the outcome isn't what we wanted, but just being there with the fans, they showed out for us, they were cheering all game, were there the whole game, supporting us, my team, fighting all the way through, me battling through injury and us being right there at the end giving us a shot. So just being able to soak the moment in, I know I won't be able to have that forever, and that'll always be something I'll be able to look back on is all my time there. So just reminiscing about, you know my five years of being here as a Bruin and being able to play there.

How difficult is it coming off a loss to shift focus to the Cal game?

Yeah, um...

For you and the team?

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Uh, super difficult, obviously. That's the one you want every year, that's our championship, you can call it. And so obviously it hurts, but like I said, we want to end this thing off on the right foot. We have 20 something seniors on this team, guys that I played here with forever, so trying to send those guys out on the right foot. And the underclassmen understand that, they know that, so we're just trying to go into Cal and have one last hoorah together on the field, so.

Strange that the big emotional USC game isn't last and that you have another game to play?

Uh, no, not really. I mean, like I said, I love football, I love every opportunity I get. Like I said, I only get so many more now, it's only coming down to one last regular season game. So for me, I'm taking advantage of every opportunity I get. Just love going out there with the boys and going out there, running around playing football, just enjoying every moment, so I think that's where I'm at right now.

How do you see football fitting into your life post-UCLA?

Mmhmm. Um, obviously, attacking the NFL as best I can, trying to make that a very successful and ongoing career there and trying to play as long as I can. But other than that, I'm trying to use my platform and my status that I have to give back to the communities that gave back to me, especially my family and all the football organizations and people back home that have helped me so much. So I think that's where I'll start, just trying to give back to as many people as I can and using my platform that way, so.

What did you see from the USC tape? Reads you would like to have back?

Yeah, for sure. Um, obviously the turnovers speak for themselves, some of them were miscommunications, some were just plain old bad reads, should've just thrown the ball away. Um, but that's what you love about football, that's the one thing you love about getting to play on Friday this week. You get another opportunity to correct it and fix it and put it behind you, so I think that's the one thing I'm really looking forward to this weekend is being able to get to celebrate on every touchdown and being able to celebrate my team and the successes we get on defense this week and, you know, really get after the Cal Bears this week. So I think that's the one thing I'm really excited about for this week.

A motivating factor to go out and correct your mistakes?

I'd say for me personally, yes. Um, obviously I've grown every year and that's part of the reason why I've grown so much, me being able to be self aware of what I do on a day-to-day basis and trying to find little nuances here and there. And obviously with football, it's really easy for me cause everything's so exact when it comes to the quarterback position and 'Did you make the read?' or 'Did you make it on time or not?' It's always a yes or no, so I think it's really easy for me and it makes my job a lot easier. So yeah, for sure, I think all that stuff goes hand-in-hand together, for sure.

What makes Cal a challenge?

Yeah, big, big front seven. Middle linebacker No. 10 is like, 255, so that's a really big middle linebacker. And then the front four, big bodies. Obviously Odua who was here, I know him very well, he was a close friend of mine here. So he goes in on their speed packages on third downs and stuff, so gotta be aware of all that stuff. They do a lot of different fronts on third downs, so stuff that we've been seeing over the past couple weeks that's been giving us a little bit of trouble, so just making sure we're cleaning up the twist looks up front on the offensive line. And then they've got some good secondary players, obviously we played against Daniel, No. 32 at safety, over the past couple years and he's done a really good job for them leading that group. So we've definitely got our hands cut out for us, for sure.

Talked to Odua? Send you any texts about seeing you in the backfield?

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, he's locked in over there, he's always been like that. He's always been great about just focusing on what he's gotta focus on, so.

What's the best part of this season's offensive line?

Woo, that's a very good question. Um, I think the togetherness, everybody's playing as one. I think there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to who's fault it was on each individual play, everybody's always kinda looking like 'Oh, I could've done something better.' And I think that's really helped us a bunch on offense, especially on the offensive line. They all five are one, they all take the blame for it when somebody messes up and I think that really helps. And in terms of encouragement as well, it's just overall leadership and being able to be on the same page, so.

How does that help you mentally when you take a lot of credit for the loss to USC?

Yeah, luckily for me, I've been in the spotlight early. I've gotten the hatred and all the stuff that comes with being a quarterback early. So for me, I'm focused on my teammates and I turn my notifications off on my phone and I don't even worry about it. So I'm here, out here enjoying Westwood, enjoying my time as a Bruin and just trying to love on my teammates just like how I said when I first got here, just trying to get to know them as much as I can before I leave.

If Twitter goes down, what's your preferred social media and way to communicate with the fans?

Ooo, probably YouTube, probably YouTube. I honestly, I really do enjoy creating videos and content, especially ones that are over a minute long instead of doing Instagram reels or whatever. So yeah, definitely YouTube for sure, just being able to do that face-to-face interaction kind of talking.

Not TikTok?

Nah, definitely not. Everybody's like 'You're a TikTok guy cause you have so many followers on TikTok.' I don't even know how I got that many followers on TikTok, I barely post on there. So I'm not really much of a TikTok guy actually.

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