Jan Johnson | Linebacker | Gr./Jr.
Q. What does it mean to you to be in this position having family members be on the team at Penn State in the past and how does it feel to earn this spot, be a starting linebacker?
JJ: Ever since I was little, I was a Penn State fan, growing up, since my mom and dad obviously went here. They both played sports here. My aunt and uncle also played sports here. I had another aunt that went here.
Growing up, a big Penn State fan, all I ever wanted to do was come here and play football. I remember when I was in middle school or something, I remember coming to a game here against Michigan and was sitting in like the top end of the bleachers and I could feel the stadium shaking. I was like, 'wow, I don't know how you could top this.'
It means a lot because it was my childhood dream to come here and play here. It's awesome to be fulfilling that right now.
Q. What's the most impressive thing you've seen Micah Parsons do so far and what do you see being his ceiling?
JJ: Well, I don't know if I can narrow it down to one thing. I think he plays incredibly fast. He's super strong. He's an incredible blitzer. His ceiling, I couldn't -- I don't know what his ceiling is.
I mean, he's only 18 years old maybe. His body is still growing. He's still growing mentally. He's just going to get more physical. He's going to be faster and he's going to know the defense better, and I don't know what his ceiling would be.
Q. What are some of the benefits and challenges; you guys have used a lot of linebackers the first couple weeks. Does that make it more difficult when you're coming out there and every drive, seemingly there's some rotations or is that a benefit?
JJ: I think it's a benefit because it helps the linebacker core as a group. It helps us all know how to work with each other and know what our strengths and weaknesses are together.
You know when you go out there with Koa [Farmer] and Cam [Brown], everybody knows -- you know how they're going to play and you know out there with Micah, you know it's different. In practice, we get those reps, and it helps, but in the game, it's a game-time thing.
I don't think it really hurts us. It helps us grow depth at the position and it's helping everyone get used to playing with each other, so I think it only can be beneficial.
Q. What have you seen from Jarvis Miller and what does he bring as a guy that's a converted safety to linebacker?
JJ: I think when Jarvis first came to linebacker, as most DBs, they are not sure how to play into the box. It's so much different. There's not a lot of space.
I think Jarvis has shown he's become a lot more physical since he first became a Sam. His blitzing has been a lot better and he's able to come in and hit somebody, instead of just laying his hands on people.
Q. What's the emotional roller coaster that you go through in that Michigan game? Everybody's hurt and then you're hurt, and then like one more injury away from me playing. How was that day for you?
JJ: I think leading up to it would be better. I remember, just going into practice, I was on the scout team field and then they called me over saying, 'hey' -- this was a week or two before, 'you're going to have to start, like really taking it really seriously.'
I was kind of prepared that if I do go in, I don't want to mess up. I don't want to be the one that everyone is looking like, 'all right, this is the reason why.'
So I think going into that game, I was prepared. I was taking all the reps with the two. B Smith was taking the first team reps going into that and then he got that targeting penalty and then it was just like, you're in, this is real. It's happening.
So I don't think that it -- I was kind of nervous because I practiced it. I knew what I had to do when I got out there. So it wasn't like I was, 'you know, crap, I'm going to mess up or something.' It was all right.
Q. Talk about the opponent this week, Kent State and what they pose as a threat.
JJ: Yeah, their tempo is extremely quick. They like to spread you out. They will spread you out, run the ball and if you're not out there to cover the receivers, they will throw the ball.
I think that we have to make sure that everyone is communicating, knows the call and is hurrying back to get set because they will snap it right away. But we also have to be able to play with some disguise so they don't exactly know what we're in and just be composed.
You know, quickly, you start getting tired, you start not thinking about what you're supposed to do on every play and that's how they burn you real easily.
Q. When was the first moment where you felt that you could start here; that you had kind of earned your spot? Was it as soon as you had gotten here? Did it take some time? How did that play out?
JJ: It took some time. You know, when I first got here, I had not played a lot of linebacker in high school. I mainly played safety. I played a little bit of linebacker my freshman year but that was years ago.
Then of course I went and wrestled for a little bit, so I was away from football for a little bit. I came back in that spring and I ended up playing a lot during the spring with people hurt and people leaving, all the freshmen had not come in yet for the next year.
I would say once my redshirt freshman year started going, I started doing all right and I wasn't making those same mistakes and stuff. It was just a growing process. I think my sophomore year, I got real comfortable saying, I can play here. I didn't come here to just be a scout team player. That wasn't the goal. That's not why I'm here. It's here to play and participate and help be a factor for the defense.
Q. You said you grew up a Penn State fan. Who was your favorite Penn State player growing up?
JJ: It's kind of weird because Michael Mauti was just here but I liked watching him play linebacker when he was here when everything was going on. I liked how he was a strong player and he was physical and determined and he knew what he was doing when he was out there.
Q. How are Cael Sanderson and James Franklin alike and maybe different?
JJ: They both don't have hair, so that's kind of a similarity. (Laughter)
They both are strong leaders. You know what you're getting from both of them. You know what the expectations are, what they want you to do and how they want you to do it.
The difference is, you know, they are two completely different sports. Wrestling is both team and individualistic, but football is more of a team sport.
Coach Cael, I would say, you know, he's more silent. You know what he's done in the past, and you know that he knows what he's talking about to get there, and you kind of know what the expectation is when you're working with him.
Coach Franklin is more: He's going to tell you what to do. You know, you're going to do it. He's going to be more enthusiastic and he's going to be there in your ear yelling and cheering you on the whole way while you're doing it.
Q. Linebackers Jesse Luketa and Ellis Brooks, how have you seen them develop? How have you seen them push you?
JJ: Well, they are both great players. I think Ellis has done a great job. He's worked on -- he's more of -- like when I go out there, I'm more like, I'm going to hit you, try to hit you, and he's more creative finding his way to slip blocks or get himself to the wall.
In watching spring ball he was always around the ball and is that way now. He's got a nose to know where to go and he's going to find a different route to get there.
I think Jesse is still growing. It was great to see him get the reps and feel him get comfortable playing the Mike linebacker and commanding the defense, and being out there, his first real college game. I think Jesse, to be able to come in as a true freshman, he came in in the winter, I guess, but to be able to know and understand the defense shows how smart he is as a player and as a person.
Q. I know when Carl Nassib was here, he took a lot of pride in being a walk on and would go over to the other walk-ons and use it as a rallying point. Do you do that with other guys who are maybe in similar situations that you were? Telling them to keep working their way up; that maybe they, too, could play themselves into a starting role, kind of thing.
JJ: I think generally for most of the walk-ons, they want to play. They have had opportunities to go to a smaller school and stuff, or maybe they didn't get recruited as they thought they should have, so they come here to prove themselves.
I think as a mentality, as a walk-on, you're trying to prove yourself all the time. So I think that you don't need -- well, you shouldn't have anybody else even that needs to come and tell you, you know, keep working hard, you can do this. It's kind of like yourself, you already know this is what you're here to do. You're here to work hard and prove that you can play at this level.
Q. From your vantage point, having [defensive tackle Kevin] Givens back in the lineup, week two, what does that do to free you up at the heart of the defense, and the whole linebacker group, the back seven in general?
JJ: Finding someone to try to block Kevin is pretty difficult. He's huge, but he's also fast and quick and he can easily shoot a gap and get into the backfield.
So that helps, having the offensive linemen have to focus on actually blocking him before they can just, you know, scrape up to a linebacker or something, which gives us more time to be free and read the play and see what's happening.
Also, even I guess the safeties, they come down and play in the box, too, for us and that helps them there. And also, puts the offense has to focus more on trying to block him, with his quickness and his speed and less trying to block us, I guess.
Q. The group of linebackers haven't really played together on the field and are still figuring out how to share these reps. What's the level of accountability among your group versus where it was, say, the final week of August? Now that you've been through a couple games, made mistakes together, bounced back, where is that right now?
JJ: I think we're in a room where we want to limit the mental mistakes that we have, fitting in the right gaps and stuff.
I think everyone is going to have a physical mistake every once in a while but I think as a group when we go in on Sunday and Monday and watch the film from the game before, that we understand what we did wrong and everyone is there correcting, you know, what happened and then people are offering advice on what they would do different and how this would change.
So I think that we're just trying to grow together as a unit.
Brandon Polk | Wide Receiver | Sr./Jr.
Q. KJ [Hamler] kind of stole your jet sweep from you this weekend. What's it like being on a team with a bunch of guys, that you were the fastest guy for a long time and now you're not the only one out there with that speed?
BP: Great recruiting from Coach [James] Franklin, getting a lot of guys in here that have a unique talent and when they go out there, and use it, it kind of shows, I'm happy, I'd still say I'm faster than KJ. It's fun going out there seeing guys use their talent to help the team.
Q. Year four for you on campus, making impact week one, week two, you're listed as a co-starter on the depth chart now. Can you describe what you've proven to yourself through the first two games of the season?
BP: At least for me, I can go out there and do what the coaches kind of believe that I can do and for myself, as well, going out there and proving to myself, like confidence, going out there and just making plays when they come to me.
Q. I couldn't help but hear you say that you're the fastest. Because we talked to KJ [Hamler] a little while ago and he said he's the fastest. How much of a point of contention is this, you guys joking about who is the fastest in this receiving corps?
BP: We're just trying to go out there, we're competitors, so we're going to compete in everything we do. It's one of our core values. KJ can say he's faster than me. Doesn't matter. We're going to go out there and compete. KJ and I, we always joke around about it, but I'm still faster than him.
Q. Which receiver thinks they are the fastest?
BP: Me.
Q. At what point did you realize what sort of quarterback Trace McSorley was? Because you obviously go way back. Was there a time that it clicked for you? It took the rest of the world much longer to figure it out.
BP: I would say for me it was my freshman year because I played at a school called Freedom High School, and I remember all week, they were talking about Trace McSorley, Trace McSorley. I had heard of him because my dad and his dad were really close friends, and they came and they killed us and that's kind of when I knew about Trace McSorley and the things that he could do.
So then when I went to Briar Woods, my sophomore year, kind of everything clicked. He kind of, made me, I would say, like kind of the competitor and the person I am today with the energy that he brought to the team and it's just very infectious. So that's kind of when I knew.
Q. How much has he changed?
BP: I would say he's pretty much the same person ever since high school. The other thing I would say is he's gotten taller, stronger; the knowledge of the game, he understands that a lot better. Basically from energy, that standpoint, he's been basically the same person.
Q. Watching the previous match against Kent State and knowing your specific strengths, what are some things you notice from their defense on film that will play into your strengths?
BP: I will just say Kent State, they are a really good team. They had a really good season-opening game against Illinois.
My speed, kind of the ability to change directions, I feel like that's going to help me out. My route running, as well as anyone else who is out there, I feel like the people that Coach Franklin has here, the receiving cops and even the running backs, whatever, that they are going to go out there and do the best of their ability.
Q. The fourth down catch against App State, where does that rank among your most important moments here?
BP: I guess the top one for me, because it was kind of -- the way I looked at it, when I kind of saw their defense and when I saw the DB back up a little bit, it's kind of what -- at least for me, my progression as a wide receiver, understanding the defenses, rather than just going out there and running a route.
So I kind of had an idea that the ball was going to come to me when he started to bail. So I went out there and ran my route and when I seen the ball, I knew that the depth of the route was six yards, around there, five, six yards, and it was fourth and two, so I knew that I had the first down.
And my next thing to do was to get out of bounds under two minutes, so that was kind of a proud moment I guess for me.
Q. Talking about that play, you were so open, and that ball was coming to you, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone concentrate so hard on not dropping a pass. What is going through your head?
BP: I just go out there -- my objective in my head, wasn't, don't drop the ball. It was catch the ball first, and then go. So I wasn't thinking negatively, like if I drop this ball, this is what's going to happen. I was just making a play when a ball came to me and I feel like I did everything in my ability to make sure I got it done.
Q. What's it like grinding through four years on this roster, staying engaged in a way that gives you this opportunity and not maybe just saying, 'you know, it's just not going to work or what not?'
BP: I would just say, like kind of with all the guys before me, I still talk to DaeSean [Hamilton] and all them today. They just kind of helped me get through the process, as well as my family. Going in there and not giving up.
My dad always told me: Quitters never win. So it's not something that I kind of want to do. I was never in my mind, like, I don't want to be here anymore because this is not going anyway. I just thought for me, the best thing for me is put my head down and keep working and when my opportunity comes, just make sure I take advantage of it.
Q. Drops have been an issue for some other players. In general as a receiver, is that something mental and how do you overcome that? Is it just repetition or how do you get past that?
BP: I would say it's more repetition, as well as like the next-play mentality. Like let's say you drop a football, and then that's the only thing on your mind, you're going to keep dropping the football and keep dropping it. I feel like, if you drop the football, okay, move on to the next play; so it doesn't happen again because if you're thinking negatively, that's what's going to happen.
Also, I mean with the JUGS machines and different things. I've been like YouTube. I look on there and see some of the drills that NFL teams are using to help me personally, whether it's contesting catches, or see what they are doing to kind of use for my game.
Q. What are you looking at on YouTube?
BP: Most of the receiver stuff I get from Coach [David] Corley but when I was trying to work on my contested catches, I kind of needed someone else to kind of help me with that because I can't run around and catch the ball with no one there.
Looked up some stuff on YouTube and saw a distraction drill where they are shooting the JUGS and someone is shooting their hands and stuff. I feel that's what's kind of helped me, things like that.
Q. When Trace [McSorley] beat you freshman year (of high school), what do you remember about the game? Was there a specific play that he made that stands out or anything like that?
BP: I don't remember the specific play. But I just remember the score of the game, like 50-something to three. I don't remember an exact play, but I just remember it wasn't fun.
Q. Could Sean Clifford have thrown a better ball (on the touchdown pass at Pitt)?
BP: No. That was probably one of the best balls that he's thrown. I mean, that was perfect. It was right there. I didn't have to do anything, fell right into my hands. That was a really good ball by Cliff. Really proud of him, he went out there and showed what he can do.
Q. At that moment you catch that, you go up by so much. What's the feeling like at that point?
BP: At that point, I mean, every touchdown for me is pretty much the same, whether it's the first touchdown or the last touchdown.
We all work so hard. I know getting in the end zone isn't easy. Might have looked easy, but it's not easy to get in the end zone and to score.
So I mean, every time I get in there or whoever else, you always see me, I'm always there celebrating with them because I know all the hard work that we put in.
Q. Did that game freshman year have anything to do with you ultimately transferring?
BP: No, it was between like Briar Woods or Westfield, which is another school in that area, but the difference was [Westfield] woke up, or they were getting up at 7 a.m., and I was used to getting up at 9 a.m. and I didn't want to do that.
Q. At this point when you go back home, how relevant is Trace McSorley all the time? Are people talking about him all the time? What about back home?
BP: Trace is still the talk of the town, even in Briar Woods. He's a great guy. Everyone's talking about him. Doesn't matter where I'm going because sometimes I'll go to different games, see one of my brother's friends play in high school and they are talking about Trace and stuff like that and how it's been playing with him since basically high school till now.
He's just a great guy and you know, every time I go home, someone says something nice about him. It's honestly true. He's just a nice person.
Q. It was a long wait from when you were playing together (with Trace McSorley) in high school to when you were playing in games together here, for you. What did he have to say to you after the App State game, maybe after your touchdown against Pitt?
BP: He was out there when I caught that, even the fourth down pass. Kind of went over there and he kind of went up to me and was like, "good job."
As I was running across, I hear that. And I talk to him every day, kind of get the knowledge of what he's thinking in certain situations and even the touchdown at Pitt. He's always in my area telling me, 'look, we need this, we need that.'
And just like being a person that you can go to at any time at any point in the game. I remember on that play where I got called for blocking in the back versus Pitt, he came up to me like, 'it's good, next play. We need you, you can't be somewhere else. We need you right here.' That was good for me and reassuring that everything was good.
Q. We have heard Trace described as a "Steady Eddie." What's the guy that we don't see off the field?
BP: He's a good guy. Just away from the field, he's basically the same person. I mean, if we're playing, sometimes I'll play Fortnight with him and stuff like that, and he's still trying to be the best he can be in whatever it is. He's just a great person you can talk to about literally anything.
Even like some questions -- we won't be at practice or watching film but I may ask him something about football and he'll be able to tell me, like right then and there, and he knows basically everything.
Q. Can't help but hear you mention Fortnight. Who is your ideal squad, if you were to pick three guys from the team?
BP: Jan [Johnson] would be one of them. Jan is pretty good. Me, of course, probably the best one. John Reid, and there's like a toss-up, maybe like Amani [Oruwariye], Koa [Farmer], Coop [Jake Cooper], some people like that. One of those would be the last one. But definitely Jan and John Reid.
Q. Favorite place to drop?
BP: Tilted Towers. You have to. There's a lot of people there. You have to go there.
Q. With this young group of receivers that has been talked about so much, how did that kind of push you to make sure that you made the most and carved out a role for yourself this year because obviously if those guys jump you, could be tough to get ahead. How have they motivated you and the other veterans in the receiver room?
BP: We all motivate each other. My thought process was not like, these guys are coming, I have to make sure. I was doing the best I can do, just knowing the offense and running many I routes a lot better.
We are always going in there and helping each other out. It's not like, this person behind me, I can't help them out because I don't want them to jump me, no.
If they need help or if I see them doing something wrong or something they can do better, I'll help them out and they will do the same thing for me. I always ask them, like when I'm running routs or like in practice, I'll ask, is my foot turned here; am I doing this right. And they tell me no; okay, I'll make sure next time I'm running that route, I'm more focused on that.
We all help each other out and making sure that we're all at our best.
Q. With a change in the depth chart like yesterday, do you have to clear the air with DeAndre, like? Hey, we are now "or" status at the No. 1 spot? Did you address it in any way?
BP: We kind went up to each other, he said: 'Good job, you know, you did what you had to do.'
But he said: 'No, I'm going to get it back.'
I looked at him, said: 'No, I'm going to keep this.'
It's kind of like a competitiveness in the room that we all want to be at our best and he even told me, like when I'm running routes out there or I'm going against a defender on the sideline, look, this is what this person -- and I do the same thing for him to make sure when we both go out there, we are both at our best.
