WATCH: Dorian Thompson-Robinson Talks Exit, UCLA-South Alabama
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UCLA football quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson spoke with the media following Monday morning's practice session. Thompson-Robinson talked about how he is feeling physically, why he left Saturday's game against Alabama State, his communication with backup Ethan Garbers, his pro comparison for Colson Yankoff and what he expects to see from South Alabama.
How are you feeling?
I feel great, I feel 100%, ready to go this week. It’s a new week, so guys are excited and we’re ready for the challenge.
What happened to you on your last play?
Garbs got his call, it was his time and so I just had to get out of the game and be the best teammate I can be.
No injury?
No injury, no injury.
What is it like to get taken out in the middle of a series?
The competitor in me is a little frustrated, but understandably so, we have a great backup as well as the rest of the guys in the quarterback room and I couldn’t be more happy with how those guys played and how they executed the offense on Saturday, for sure.
Practice the no-look shovel pass?
I have not. It’s just like the hurdle, it’s all instincts and I’m glad Keegan could do that and make a play for me.
How far in advance do you know if your playing time might be limited?
I have no clue. Again, I’m focused on the game and doing my thing on the field so when my number’s called or when Ethan’s number’s called, we have to be ready for it and that’s how it’s always been and I think that’s how it always will be here.
So was that communicated to you before the game?
Not at all. My whole mindset and goal was to play the whole game and so it didn’t work out that way, but I’m thinking I’m playing the whole game as far as pregame-wise.
Talk to Ethan on the sideline?
Yeah, for sure. There was one, I think it was a false start in there when Keegan false-started and Garbs fake-clapped his hands and I had to scream off the field from the sideline, ‘Stop clapping your hands!’ Just trying to coach him up that way, but he did a really good job out there leading the boys and making sure he was getting everybody lined up and everything, so I was super proud of him that way.
Phone call that Ethan took and handed toyou on the sidelines?
Yeah. I think it was more so just to give Justyn advice or whoever was going in next and just kind of make sure everybody was staying locked in and staying engaged with the game as well as myself too, so I think that’s what it was.
Nice to see guys who worked hard in practice get som playing time?
Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure, especially the guys like Ari, Deshun Murrell, Christian Grubb—guys who work hard every day and come here with the same attitude and just put the work in constantly, especially guys from scout team who finally get a chance to play, for their parents to see them play in the Rose Bowl, I know that was a special opportunity and we definitely mentioned that Sunday at our [inaudible], giving guys credit and letting them know their work is paying off.
Colson Yankoff making moves?
Yeah, everybody’s comparing him to Taysom Hill—I think he might be better than Taysom Hill, honestly. I would take Colson over a lot of people, so he’s definitely a hard worker, can play any position on the field with how athletic he is, I’m so super, super happy that he’s finally healthy and getting to show off his stuff but yeah, man, I’m super, super happy for Colson, for sure.
Tailback option in the works?
I hope so, don’t give Chip any ideas.
South Alabama looked good against Central Michigan?
For sure. That whole conference has been doing their thing this past week, so we know the challenge at hand. They’re a really good team, have a really good defense, a really good scheme on that side of the ball, so we have our [work] cut out for us, they run a lot of twist games up front, so the offensive line’s going to have to communicate really well and we’ve got our [work] cut out for us in the secondary for sure.
Big jump from game one to game two – where did you see the biggest jump and where is there still work to be done?
Yeah, I think the biggest takeaway was settling down early in that game, you know we were rolling pretty early in the pass game as well with the protection and all that stuff, so I think that was the biggest takeaway from the offensive side. I think the things we still have to clean up are the [inaudible] every once in while, being as consistent as possible on a drive-to-drive basis and being able to keep the ball consistently moving every time we touch the ball, whether it’s a field goal or a touchdown but primarily a touchdown, so we’ve got some things to clean up that way so we can finish the drives down in the red zone, for sure.
Fair to say you were available Saturday?
Yeah, yeah. You could say that. I was available.
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