CLEMSON – Clemson offensive lineman Brayden Jacobs explains how he has the next man up mentality and how his confidence has soared in the last few weeks.
Jacobs, a true freshman, played a season-high 65 snaps in last week’s win at Boston College. Some wonder if he could start this Saturday against SMU, especially with starting left tackle Tristan Leigh banged up and nursing an ankle injury.
Question: Dabo [Swinney] was saying maybe earlier in the year you were in kind of in your own head. Maybe thinking too much, but you were playing more confidently at Boston College. Would you say that’s accurate?
Jacobs: “Yeah, I would say that’s pretty accurate. It feels like Coach Swinney knows me better than me sometimes. After I had the struggles with the Troy game, he was just telling me how I can be a great player for him and just focus on being me.”
Question: What do you remember from that Troy game? Just moving too fast? What was it?
Jacobs: “I let the game speed me up. Coach Swinney always says you can’t let the game speed you up. And that’s exactly what I did, which is why I had the errors that I had.”
Question: Your dad’s a former NFL guy. Did he have any words of wisdom for you after that?
Jacobs: “He definitely did. He was telling me everybody has to get thrown in the fire at least once to see what it’s like. He was just telling me basically what Coach Swinney said about not letting the game speed you up. Treat it like practice. He also told me to just breathe. Calm down, you know what you’re doing.”
Question: How much did the UNC game build your confidence?
Jacobs: “The UNC game definitely boosted my confidence. Coach [Matt] Luke definitely gave me the opportunity to get in at the fourth quarter, just to give me the opportunity to play more football, more game reps. It helped me build confidence for the Boston College game just to be the next guy up.”
Question: Did you have any sense going into that game with Tristan still dealing with the ankle that could be your time to get meaningful snaps?
Jacobs: “I mean I always have the mentality going into any game that I can always be the next guy up and to be ready for whatever because anything can happen.”
–photo by Eric Canha / Imagn Images