By William Qualkinbush.

In football, there are certain conversations both media and fans come to expect. A sit-down with Kalon Davis does not fit any of those popular conceptions.

Davis spent a good deal of his summer in Japan as a part of his coursework as a Japanese major. The news first reached the press corps during last season, when Davis mentioned it in a mid-week interview. There was some anxiety from the coaching staff about Davis’ physical conditioning, but the offensive lineman has come back stateside as good as ever.

“I worked with a football team,” Davis said of his summer workout regimen. “I’ve been doing skills and drills basically the whole time.”

The skepticism of the staff makes sense because of the way in which the Tigers conduct preseason workouts. Letting a critical offensive lineman go unsupervised for the summer is risky, but it seems to have worked in Davis’ case. His August work includes some repetitions at right tackle, a position that has become more comfortable to him with each passing day.

“All of the cross-training we did is starting to pay off,” Davis said. “We started it in the spring, but at the start of that, you’re doing it and not understanding what you’re doing. As Coach Caldwell says, you’ve got to understand the why.”

Both Dabo Swinney and Robbie Caldwell have been encouraged by the versatility Davis has shown, even if they were initially doubtful that his plan would work.

“I don’t think they really took that seriously,” Davis said with a grin about his coaches’ reactions to his plan for Japan. “I think they thought I was playing flag football or something.”

No harm in hoops. When people have talked about Isaiah Battle and basketball in the offseason, it has typically been with a negative connotation. Indeed, the projected starter at left tackle has found it difficult to gain weight throughout his Clemson career. The issue has been primarily blamed on his eating habits and his affinity for hoops.

But Battle sees some positives in his basketball background, especially one lesson he learned on the hardwood that has helped him block explosive edge rushers like Vic Beasley.

“In basketball, you learn how to look at the hips,” Battle said. “Everywhere his hips are going to go, he’s going to go.”

Battle has learned to block out the criticism. He is currently under 280 pounds, which is about ten pounds lighter than the staff would like for him to be. The long term goal is 315 pounds, but Battle is perfectly fine with his current status for the moment.

“I’m not worried,” he said. “I’m going to keep playing my game, developing my game, doing whatever I can to help the team, and keep progressing.”

Backfield brotherhood. There are four returners—and two newcomers—battling in a wide-open scramble for carries at running back. Senior D.J. Howard is the elder statesman, as well as the incumbent starter as of the end of spring practice.

Howard is saying similar things to what Roderick McDowell was saying last season. He has a sense of urgency about him that is driving his competitiveness in a tight battle, but he also says there is a balance among the group that allows them to have a close bond with each other.

“It’s a brotherhood, but we also understand that once you strap on that helmet, it’s every man for themselves,” Howard said. “I’m not going to deter them from working hard. I’m going to get on them to push him to be the starter, while at the same time, they’re going to push me to maintain my position as the starter.”