In His Own Words: Eli Stove

[aubiefifty 18,231]

247sports.com

In His Own Words: Auburn wide receiver Eli Stove

ByPhillip Marshall

8-11 minutes

 

Manage

AUBURN, Alabama – Senior wide receiver Eli Stove met with reporters via Zoom on Thursday. He and his teammates have missed the past two days of practice but are expected to return Friday. Following is what he had to say.

WR Eli Stove talks with reporters Thursday.

ON WIDE RECEIVERS BEING EXCITED

“We’re very excited. We have a lot of explosive plays. Coach (Chad) Morris is bringing in a lot of good plays and deep balls and intermediate plays to get everybody open. We’re really excited in the receiver room right now.”

ON FRESHMAN WIDE RECEIVERS

“Really, they’re all explosive. They’ve all got good hands. They’re all talented receivers. They’re all going to be great receivers. Everybody just needs to develop. That’s just being a freshman. They all have something they have to work on, but I think they’re all going to be great.”

ON HOW MANY FRESHMEN WR WILL PLAY THIS SEASON

“I think all of them. Coach (Kodi) Burns is doing a good job getting all of them ready. With all of the stuff going on, it’s the next man up.”

ON CHAD MORRIS’ OFFENSE

“I would say his plays just get people open a lot more. We’re going to have more explosive plays down the field, of course. We’re going to be throwing the ball a little bit more. I think everybody does (like the offense). We’re doing well in practice. We’re learning.”

ON QUARTERBACK BO NIX

“He’s always been vocal, but he’s done a better job of being a leader on the team. He’s saying everything he’s got to say for offense and defense. He’s doing a better job of that. He’s been a great player. He has to step up his game because everybody has to develop in something. I think he’s done pretty well.”

ON GOALS FOR WIDE RECEIVERS

“Well, for me, everybody’s goal is to get to the league, the NFL. I’m playing more special teams this year. I’m playing a bigger role on offense, of course. And as the team, as receivers, I want us to be the best in the country, so whatever we have to do.”

ON HOW HIS SKILLS FIT MORRIS’ OFFENSE

“You know he likes speed, so that’s the biggest thing. I guess everybody, including myself, needs to work on down-the-field balls, because that’s what we’re going to be doing a lot.”

ON MORRIS ON AND OFF THE FIELD

“He’s the same dude. He’s a good coach. He’s always going to be interacting with us. He’s going to let us know if we mess up. He’s AUBUnot going to bash us or anything. He’s going to say what he has to say and you’re going to go to the next play. He always says, ‘Don’t make the same mistake twice.’ I think that’s what everybody has to really focus on, because you can’t make the same mistake twice. In a game you’re only going to get that one play.

ON NEW FACES IN THE SECONDARY

“Safety-wise, it’d be Jamien (Sherwood) and Smoke (Monday). Then you’ve got little Nehemiah (Pritchett). He’s doing his thing. He’s becoming a good player. Then you’ve got the guy that transferred in, (Marco) Domio. He’s going to be a solid corner. Really, just working with them. We also have Tutt, we have Jordyn Peters. A lot of defensive players have been doing well, showing out.”

ON PASSES TO TIGHT ENDS

“Coach Morris always uses tight ends, so they’ve been used a lot. They’ve been going for deep balls, blocking, more versatile tight ends. Really, all the tight ends have been getting in, so they’ve been doing well.”

ON WR SETH WILLIAMS

“I told him before when he was a freshman if he could lose weight he could be way faster. He's doing well. He's probably doing the best out of all the receivers. I like the way he's focused this year. He's ready to ball. He's going to just keep improving every day.”

ON CAYLIN NEWTON’S TRANSITION TO WIDE RECEIVER

“Caylin's doing well. He has great hands. I talked to him before he started practicing, and he said he wanted to improve on his route running. But I think he's doing pretty well route running, too. You know, Matthew, he's doing well on defense. He's getting better every day.”

ON RECEIVERS ADDING DEEPER ROUTES

“Everybody's going to have more opportunities to go down the field and catch some. I think that that's what everybody has to improve on and make sure and constantly be a thing.”

ON 300-POUND TIGHT END J.J. PEGUES

“I promise you, he's probably not going to get tackled multiple times. He's big. He can catch the ball. He's got good hands. He can run routes, as well. All the weight - you know, he might have to lose a little bit of pounds, a little bit, but he's going to be good. He doesn't need to lose too much.”

ON PROTESTS

“We walked downtown before and we’re going to keep talking about it. We’re going to have a meeting today as a group. We’re going to do something about the movement. There’s a lot of stuff going on, so we want to be involved as much as we can.”

">247Sports