WATCH: Dorian Thompson-Robinson Talks Injury, Odua Isibor Examines Run Defense
The Bruins watched their quarterback go down late Saturday, only for him to return one play later.
UCLA football quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was back in practice Monday as well, and he talked to the media about what went down during the final minutes in Stanford regarding his health and last-minute heroics. Defensive lineman Odua Isibor also spoke to reporters Monday about the Bruins' improved run defense and how his fit has changed through different coaching staffs and formations over the years.
DORIAN THOMPSON-ROBINSON
What happened?
Yeah, I got nicked up a little bit in the game, but obviously I was able to push through it, it’s just obviously bigger than me, I’ve been preaching ‘We not me’ the whole time, so being able to go out there and play for my teammates knowing that they need me to finish the game was a proud moment for myself.
Connection with Philips?
Yeah, Kyle’s one of my good friends and you can definitely see it on the football field, I love that guy, he’s always open and you can always count on him, he’s definitely a team-first guy, I think you see him out there blocking and telling other guys their assignments and stuff like that, so he’s always trying to help everybody out, so I think that all just accumulates together and you can see it out on the field in the production that we’re having, so definitely it’s special right now, so.
Success against Arizona State in past?
I know they’ve got a new D coordinator and they’re running a lot more single-wide stuff, a lot more man and stuff like that, so they’ve got a good squad, some real solid players, some good linebackers, so it’s going to be a challenge like it is every week, we have to bring our ‘A’ game like we always have to, so they’re a good team, both on first and second downs so far, they’re tough to run through on those downs, so they’re a good team for sure.
Using running backs as receivers out of the backfield more?
Yeah, I think Chip does a great job of calling plays and when something works, we’re not going to shy away from it, so I think that’s what you saw on Saturday, they were leaving the flats wide open, so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right, so just keep taking it until they take it away.
Shoulder injury?
Um, it’s a, yeah, you could say that, it’s a shoulder-slash-arm-slash a whole bunch of things.
Throwing arm or off arm?
Off arm.
Guys say anything to you about being hurt in the huddle or just focusing on the play?
Just all about the play. If I'm gonna go in, I need to be able to execute, so I think that was the main thing making sure that if I’m going to be able to push through this, I have to make sure I can go full go, so I think that was the main thing, making sure we could execute and all that stuff.
ODUA ISIBOR
What's helped run defense step up?
Um, I would say our team motto right now, just play tough, fast and finish, so we put that into everything we do, we’ve been working hard since I got here, so everything that we’ve put in until now has been building up, so I think our performance now is what we should have done these past few years, so it’s been a long time coming but we’ve started to get to where we want to be. There’s still a lot more work to do, but this is just all of our work coming to fruition.
Different style of play? Swarming to the ball?
That’s kind of something that coach Azz has been emphasizing for the past few years, I think it’s just something that we’ve now started to really drill into our minds, just run to the ball on every play. Every Monday when we get back to practice, we start off with doing up-downs for people that didn’t run to the ball and there’s maybe one or two guys, but that’s the main emphasis of every practice. We record that, that’s something that’s looked at every practice, so I think that’s what makes us a different team than most of the other teams in the Pac-12 as well.
When did up-downs start?
That’s a good question. I think it might have been this year, maybe last year, I don’t know. It’s obviously not fun but it’s definitely something we need to do and we enjoy doing as a part of getting better and holding each other accountable, so we do them in front of the whole team and we do those up-downs to show that no one’s above putting in the work, no one’s above running to the ball.
Transition in preparation with dual-threat Jayden Daniels?
Just very typical collapsing the pocket, making sure that we're keeping our pass rush lanes secure, not flying by the quarterback, things like that. We just wanna make sure that we're acknowledging his ability to run the ball as well. But everything's the same, we're still working hard, we're still running to the ball, all things like that. We're not treating it too differently, we just put emphasis on his running ability as well.
Came in with last coaching staff, have you graduated?
Yeah, I'm in grad school right now. We have those little graduate patches on our jerseys, it's the coolest thing ever.
Graduates interact with younger guys? Lend itself to veteran leadership?
What I think is really interesting is – I don't like to compare the coaching staffs, but what's different about us is that there's not much of a disconnect between the older guys and younger guys. I still joke around with freshmen and we still hang out with each other. So we're actually able to provide leadership that way cause we're more of a community. I think it's really hard if older guys kind of just stay to themselves, it's hard for them to actually provide leadership if they don't actually talk to younger guys so I think our sense of community allows us to actually teach and groom younger guys to be better people and better football players. In terms of school, it's a very high academic school so we're able to teach people the ins and outs of going to school here. The classes are difficult, it's not a walk in the park so we're able to tell them to go to office hours, show them the ropes, stuff like that.
You do any up-downs?
There was actually, I think, two days where I had to do up-downs. I was actually very surprised and upset. But that's the thing, that's the thing, no one's above it. So yeah, I was surprised, I was upset, but that just means I need to work harder. And whether I believe that I didn't run to the ball or not, the coach said this, so clearly I didn't run hard enough so I just gotta get back to work, put my head down and work harder than I was before.
Everyone do up-downs? Anyone not do them yet?
I actually don't know. I don't know, it's not something I've kept track of. I don't know, that's a good question.
Second year with Norwood and 4-2-5, thoughts on Bo and Carl at the Bruin/Raider?
Wow, I love Bo and Carl. Carl's a dog, that's kinda an ongoing joke but those guys are insane, they're incredible, their work ethic is off the charts. Bo's a really smart guy, he knows all the plays in and out, he knows just football scheme in general, he has a really good understanding of football. So he's always a guy you could ask for tips, advice, especially in coverage and things like that. I play edge so I don't ask for coverage as much, but that's a really smart guy I can go to if I ever need anything, or anybody at all. Carl's another smart guy, he's got a lot of experience under his belt as well. He's a guy that always has a high motor, so it's really enjoyable watching him play. He had a play last week where he was spying the quarterback and he took him out, it was incredible to watch.
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