Oklahoma WR Elijah Thomas Post-Practice Availability Thursday. Aug. 25
Oklahoma wide receiver Elijah Thomas on his growth, and the state of the receiver room and offense as a whole.
Video Transcript
Of your improvement so far, um, big development developmental period for me and my whole team, you know, um, going through it together, it really made it very easy, um, gaining that trust from my coaches and my teammates.
And I can trust them as much as they can trust me.
What's the biggest difference in your game now versus, you know, at the end of last season?
Uh, massive maturation, a lot of maturation in my process.
Um, I changed my process up.
My mindset is all different.
Uh, I'm coming from, that's it.
How valuable was it for you to have the, the big role on special teams that you had last season?
They created a lot of trust, uh, for my coaches, and coming into the next year, I know they could, um, trust me in the receiver role.
Let's talk about that maturation, just earning the coaches's trust.
Who are some of those guys that helped you with that process and, and getting where you need to be?
Uh, one main, one main player that helped me, Keontis Lewis, you know, he was a route technician, so everything he did, I, I studied it as much as I could, and I, I still study it to this day.
Um , he's very detailed and everything he does, studying, taking notes, uh, taking it to the field, it's just everything he does is consistent.
What did you feel like going into this camp this year that you had to improve on or show to the coaches that you could get on the field as a receiver?
I had to show them, um, I know my plays and I can make my plays.
Was there any effort like on your part to like match up with Eli, match up with Cortland, you know, kind of prove yourself against those guys?
Um, I'd say it's iron sharpen the iron every day, you know, it's fifty-fifty.
It's never somebody with another person.
It's just good on good.
Elijah, when you say that learning the plays and things like that, the mental part of the game, how difficult is that coming from high school to Oklahoma and learning a complex offense?
Like how difficult is that process of learning just to play well?
I wouldn't say difficult.
I say it takes, it takes a lot of maturity, um, coming from high school, you didn't really have to worry about much, um, and coming here you're gonna have to worry about a little bit more than you did in high school.
So when you talk about maturity, who are some of the people maybe on staff, and I know you mentioned Konte Lewis, but who's maybe helped you this offseason in taking that step mentally?
Emmett Jones, he owe me 24/7.
Uh, Coach V only me 24/7.
Even the assistant coaches, we set a high standard here.
Uh, we expect every player to live up to it.
What about someone like John Matter too?
How has he maybe helped you with the offense and just building chemistry, uh, watching film every day after spring, uh, fall camp, just after practice, watching what we can correct and what we can become better on.
The battle against what is considered a great secondary here every day at practice, how much is that developing you and the rest of the receivers?
Developing is crazy .
It, it, I mean, it, it's serious.
Like it's game, game mentality, game rep every single rep in practice.
Can't you can't take a playoff winning 50/50.
It's iron sharpen than iron.
I got valuable is it?
It means it means a lot more than, uh, some people, some people think, you know, I, uh, I take my game from him and Trey Harris, you know, I look up to them, they're like, they're like a big brother to me.
They, uh, show me the ropes and just take it and run with it from there.
How cool of a process was that last year knowing that physically you, you can't perform but just coming along on the maturity mental side?
Like how tough is that to balance?
Um, I mean it was tough, but I knew what, what I had in store, uh, the next year.
In the future You talk about Trell.
What, what stands out to you about the way he carries himself and his game?
Like I said, uh, Kontis, his route technician, the way he studies and everything, it's like.
He left and trail came in.
Nothing changed.
When you hear that, you know, there's coaches that have been saying you've taken a huge step, players, guys like Satania, come out and said you've been taking a huge step, what is that?
How do you, how do you take that personally and, uh, how excited are you for the season?
I take it as, uh, I can't let off.
I gotta keep going every single day.
I can't take a playoff or rip off.
I can't take a second off.
How have you seen the receiver room all this offseason crazy.
We I mean, we've done stuff a lot that we didn't do last year and I think that's why we've really taken that step.
How, how much of just kind of getting chemistry with John Matier has been a big part of this for you?
Um, that offseason really created a lot of that chemistry for me and a lot of the, a lot of the other receivers with him.
We don't just do things.
Oh, take one receiver, 3 receivers, we get the whole receiver corps.
We all do something.
Is it one of those things with him like he has to where you're going to be and you have to be there every time.
And was there a point in camp that you, you thought to yourself like, OK, we're getting this now?
Um, I knew that before camp.
We, since winter, we worked on timing and all that.
Is it just you two?
Is it just a comfortability with you guys?
Is that, how much has that played into the growth in the wider unit?
Oh yeah, the reps during offseason, summer, uh, this is what we prepare for, so that, that's what, uh, brings the confidence.
A couple more.
What, what should people be most excited about watching this offense this year?
Explosive plays.
Let's end on that.
