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Pos-practice Q&A with David Shaw and Shannon Turley

Stanford's training camp started Tuesday and it got off to a spirited start. In fact, head coach David Shaw said the physicality had to be dialed back.

"Like a lot of day ones it starts fast and guys have a lot energy, everyone is playing really well and using their hands. You get toward the end of practice and you get a little bit too physical. We had to back off a little bit to keep ourselves healthy. The shoulder pads are not on, yet. We have to through alignment, assignment, move fast, stay off the ground, and we made that point today. We have to do better from there."

Injury Update: Center Jesse Burkett is out and Stanford will see how he progresses during the next couple weeks. Linebackers Sean Barton and Joey Alfieri are full go and "looking great". Alijah Holder is splitting time in the practice right now but is practicing.

How does KJ Costello look?

"He looks great. I don’t think he’s 100 percent but he looks great. He could have fooled me today. I would guess he’s 85 to 90 percent. He was outstanding today."

Have you been able to talk to the older players about which of the young guys had good summers?

“The comments from most of the guys were about the whole group. The maturity of the entire group -- that they worked extremely hard. None of them fell behind in the workouts. None of them fell behind academically. As a unit they’re pretty tight already. They’re already integrating with the entire team. The consensus I got from the older players is they were impressed with the entire group’s maturity and readiness to compete.”

What is the agenda for those guys and what is the window for them to maybe push for a spot?

“The great thing about the rule change is the window is all year long. That’s the important thing about it. We no longer have a group of guys we’re redshirting and a group of guys we’re playing. Now we’re treating them all the same. A guy may play early in the year, may play in the middle of the year or may not play until the end of the year. We’re going to prepare them all to play.

"What I expressed to them this morning in our team meeting is that it’s not a guarantee. You have to earn your way onto the field. Just because the rule is there doesn’t mean we’re going to use it. For a young guy to get onto the field they have to beat out an older guy. We’re still going to compete.”

How does Bryce get better from last year?

“First of all we wanted him to get stronger and he wanted to get stronger. He weighed in the other day more than 200 pounds, whereas last year he played in the low 190s. He has gotten stronger and a couple plays today you saw the juice, which all we want him to have is to be a little bit stronger and have that same juice.”

How Bryce can handle comparisons to what he did last year:

“You can’t compare yourself to ghosts because last season is over. But the big preparation is to be ready for everyone else: ‘Last year you rushed for a 1,000 yards in five games. This year you’re behind that pace, what’s wrong?’

"The plan hopefully is for him to be a little more versatile. He doesn’t have to have 30 carries in a game. But to be in the 20s and overall maybe have overall 30 touches with some catches and things we want to do with him to add to his versatility.”

You have said Jovan Swann is one of the players who was under the radar. What have you seen from him?

“The biggest thing I’m seeing from him is maturity and leadership. He has kind of taken the whole group under his wings even though he’s not the oldest guy in the group. He has been the leader. He has worked extremely hard. He has got his body in great shape.

"I started hear from some guys who aren’t here anymore that he was reaching out and asking questions about leadership, workouts and different plays and techniques. That’s a sign of maturity to say I don’t know everything. I want to get knowledge from other people -- guys who are in the NFL, guys who are out of the NFL. That’s awesome. That’s someone who is thirsty for knowledge and to grow. I’m excited for him to make a big jump this year.”

Shannon Turley

What are your biggest takeaways from this summer?

“It was a positive summer. The guys have grown a lot. It was a helpful time for the leadership to emerge. We had great leadership from guys that we needed it from. Our best players are our hardest workers and they’re demanding greatness from their teammates. I think all championship contenders have that quality and it’s something we’re excited to see emerge from the team this year that we didn’t have as much of as we needed last year.

"It was great to see guys like Bryce Love, Bobby Okereke, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Alameen Murphy -- guys who have credibility on the field and the work ethic in the weight room and out here in summer conditioning. They take hold of the leadership of the team and demand more from their teammates.”

Did anyone surprise you in that way? Maybe someone you didn’t list?

“For some of those guys they’re stepping up and answering the call that’s coming from the coaching staff to accept that responsibility and recognize the need for it. It may not be something natural within their personality but they recognize it’s a way to contribute in a greater manner for the team. It’s a difficult challenge. It puts you under the scrutiny of your teammates. You have to set an example that’s greater than other guys.”

In terms of the physical work, did anyone stand out to you?

“We had development out of our young players … the guys who finished their first full year. We tell them after spring ball that the spring and summer that we have for mandatory training is the most important window for the physical development and more importantly for their habits. Understand the work it’s going to take in the weight room, with their diet, lifestyle, recovery habits and everything they do they can set the tone for the remainder of their career with those habits. They can achieve great progress.

"We had a lot of guys take advantage of that. Colby Parkinson is a guy who really stands out in that group. Houston Heimuli, Gabe Reid, Paulson Adebo -- there are more I could name but that freshmen class did great. You see it from Walker Little and Foster Sarell. Some talented guys who either played or redshirted and made great progress at a critical time for their development. Hopefully we see that progress on the field this fall.”

How did it work with the approach to Costello?

“The priority was the rehab. You have to first be able to get yourself back and at the same time we want to see that physical development overall. You get a chance to take people back to basics when you’re in a rehab mode. That was a really positive experience for KJ because we got to analyze a lot of factors in his process that improve his durability.

“He has to do enough work to make sure he has a durable platform for himself so that he can repetitively go out here and do the same thing over and over. That’s what each skill position does. He doesn’t throw left handed. He’s a right handed quarterback. He is taking drops, rotating to his right and doing things constantly. Football is repetitious overuse skill development. There are things he has to work to make sure it doesn’t become a chronic issue. He has developed great habits and gotten great results in that regard.”

What is different about what you guys do to create an edge?

“I don’t know what other places are doing to try to create an edge. That doesn’t really matter to us. We know what works for us. We have to place a priority on our execution. Everybody works hard. Everybody is going to want to pay the price in the summer to be prepared for fall camp and carry that momentum throughout the season. We’re no different in that regard, so we have to place a high premium on execution.

"We want to create difficult challenges that inspire a lot of adversity. We need to train the team how to respond to that. That’s an important standard we try to set. There are a lot of situations we’ll face on our schedule where factors beyond our control are going to create a challenge. What are we going to do about it when that comes? That’s something we try to replicate for them in the summer.

“We want to be very specific in our training. It’s very metabolically specific to the needs that they have as a football player. It’s very individually specific to their injury history. As you mentioned with a guy like KJ in rehab. And there is a predisposition to chronic overuse because of the position they play.

"So, for example if you’re Walker Little as the left tackle (Turley gets into the stance of a left tackle) you’re in this stance all day. His right patella tendon is going to get a lot of stress that his left is not. His left hip external rotator is going to get a lot of stress that his right is not. I know that and I can teach him that. I can demand that he’s going to do the work that’s appropriate to ensure that those don’t become deficiencies and later potentially liabilities. It’s helping guys understand all those factors that will play into their success during fall camp and the season.”

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