Tight end Coby Fleener had two receptions for 20-yards in Stanford's 39-13 win over Washington State in week one. The redshirt sophomore has been working hard on his game to take it up to the next level. I caught up with Fleener after practice on Wednesday.
Q: Game one, what did you think?
I think there is always room for improvement. Obviously we are happy to have won the game but as of right now that is in the past and this is the only game that matters.
Q: Before we put it completely in the past, give me a grade on your performance. You had a couple of catches, one that went off your fingers that was a very tough catch, how do you think you did?
That is a tough question. B-, C+. Overall as a team I think we played well enough to win but big improvements are needed if we are going to reach our goals and me especially. High expectations I set for myself and set by the coaches, and I don’t think I have lived up to those at all, in that game at least. We move forward and hopefully the future will bring better things.
Q: A couple of weeks ago we talked about your consistency and trying to be more consistent. How is that going for you?
It is going well. It is more of a mental thing than a physical thing. Physically I can perform on a pretty high level so I think getting more confidence, Actually Owen (Marecic) talked about it today in his wise words (after practice a player or guest is called up to address the team and offer their inspiration or motivation through “wise words”), preparation is confidence and more and more preparation and I think I am gaining more confidence. So throughout the season I hope to get better each week.
Q: As we look ahead to Wake Forest, Coach always says the biggest improvement is from week one to week two. Where do you see the improvements needed?
In every facet of the game. I agree 100% that from week one to week two is a huge improvement. Just getting guys game experience, you can’t tell guys what it is like to be out on the field, they just need to experience that for themselves in game on is almost a sense of pressure relief. When the young guys go out there they will be more used to it now.
Q: I am sure you have spent hours in the film room now studying Wake Forest, what do you see from there defense?
Speed! They are really well trained especially on the defensive line and linebackers so we really need to make sure that technique is emphasized this week, especially from the tight end position.
Q; A lot has been made about historically west coast teams going to the east coast and playing early does not work out so well, I know you are getting up early every day, what is the mental part of the game that you are working on for that?
We need to prepare each day as if it were a game. So we are taking this as a challenge. Last year we went to TCU with the time change and got our butts kicked. So this year we have a plan put in place to take care of that. We are preparing in the best way we know how and we are going to work our butts off.
Q: How is it getting up so early? Are you a morning or night guy?
Personally I would not mind sleeping in, but I actually do like coming out here fresh in the morning. It is nice to have the high school allow us to use their field so we can practice on the field turf in the morning as well.
Q: How big a difference is field turf to playing on grass?
You notice it in your cut. It is a lot easier to make a lot of cuts on this. Your foot sticks a lot better. It is a little more springy. Outside that of that, football is football regardless of what you are playing on. The techniques stay the same.
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2009 STANFORD TIGHT END PREVIEW
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