Texas A&M is working its way through the first week of Fall Camp in preparation for the August 29 season opener.
As practices began, Will Johnson visited with quarterback Kellen Mond about his expectations for camp and for 2019.
Coverage of fall camp is brought to the 12th Man all August long by Academy Sports + Outdoors.
WJ: You've been through the summer, the events, SEC media days…is it time to get down to business?
"It definitely is. We're all excited. We're back in football season. It seems like it just ended, but we worked so hard this offseason and we're ready to get back into the grind."
WJ: You're not in competition this go-round, this August camp. It's your offense. It's your team. Do you feel like that's the case, the leadership role, no competition, now that you're a junior…is it your team in a sense?
"Yeah, it definitely is. It's something that I've always wanted and something I've always worked for. Obviously it takes a great leader and a bunch of leaders around him to have a successful team. Not only me, but everybody else, everybody in the receiver room, we're all ready to embrace the grind and see what we can do this year."
WJ: What's the next step for the offense in year two of the Jimbo Fisher system?
"I feel like just a whole other year under coach fisher's belt, learning the system, learning adjustments…the sky's the limit for us. We're only expecting greatness out of every single position on the offense, and same way for the defense. We're really excited. We put in a lot of work this offseason and we're ready to go."
WJ: Offensively, you're back, all the receivers are back, some good experience on the offensive line too, but you lose Trayveon Williams. Tell me about the stable behind you at running back, because that run game has to be as good as it was last year as you ran it pretty efficiently.
"Yeah, Trayveon did a phenomenal job last year. With Jashaun (Corbin) coming back with a little bit of experience last year behind Trayveon, I thought his freshman year was really good—just taking a whole year to learn under Trayveon while getting some experience. Everybody knows that in Coach Fisher's offense the run game is something that is going to be very critical, so with Jashaun Corbin and the rest of the guys behind him we're going to depend on them a lot. But they put in the work this offseason so I know they're going to do a great job."
WJ: How quickly do those young tight ends need to get up to speed since they'll be a big part of the offense too?
"They definitely will. All of them are freshmen with little playing experience, but we all know that in Coach Fisher's offense the tight ends, just like the running backs, are really key. We knew that with Jace (Sternberger) last year. The young tight ends have worked really hard this offseason, making sure their bodies are right and also mentally getting right. I'm looking for them to have a really good season."
As practices began, Will Johnson visited with quarterback Kellen Mond about his expectations for camp and for 2019.
Coverage of fall camp is brought to the 12th Man all August long by Academy Sports + Outdoors.
WJ: You've been through the summer, the events, SEC media days…is it time to get down to business?
"It definitely is. We're all excited. We're back in football season. It seems like it just ended, but we worked so hard this offseason and we're ready to get back into the grind."
WJ: You're not in competition this go-round, this August camp. It's your offense. It's your team. Do you feel like that's the case, the leadership role, no competition, now that you're a junior…is it your team in a sense?
"Yeah, it definitely is. It's something that I've always wanted and something I've always worked for. Obviously it takes a great leader and a bunch of leaders around him to have a successful team. Not only me, but everybody else, everybody in the receiver room, we're all ready to embrace the grind and see what we can do this year."
WJ: What's the next step for the offense in year two of the Jimbo Fisher system?
"I feel like just a whole other year under coach fisher's belt, learning the system, learning adjustments…the sky's the limit for us. We're only expecting greatness out of every single position on the offense, and same way for the defense. We're really excited. We put in a lot of work this offseason and we're ready to go."
WJ: Offensively, you're back, all the receivers are back, some good experience on the offensive line too, but you lose Trayveon Williams. Tell me about the stable behind you at running back, because that run game has to be as good as it was last year as you ran it pretty efficiently.
"Yeah, Trayveon did a phenomenal job last year. With Jashaun (Corbin) coming back with a little bit of experience last year behind Trayveon, I thought his freshman year was really good—just taking a whole year to learn under Trayveon while getting some experience. Everybody knows that in Coach Fisher's offense the run game is something that is going to be very critical, so with Jashaun Corbin and the rest of the guys behind him we're going to depend on them a lot. But they put in the work this offseason so I know they're going to do a great job."
WJ: How quickly do those young tight ends need to get up to speed since they'll be a big part of the offense too?
"They definitely will. All of them are freshmen with little playing experience, but we all know that in Coach Fisher's offense the tight ends, just like the running backs, are really key. We knew that with Jace (Sternberger) last year. The young tight ends have worked really hard this offseason, making sure their bodies are right and also mentally getting right. I'm looking for them to have a really good season."