It was trial by fire for Michael Thomas last year. He walked into to training camp a true freshman and ended up playing in game number one. Thomas mostly played in the nickel situations on defense, but he also saw time on offense at quarterback in a few wildcat formations.
As Thomas enters his second season, he is in a battle for a starting position at the cornerback position. Win or lose, expect to see a lot of Thomas on the field this year. I had a quick chat between autographs with Thomas at the fan’s meet and greet on Saturday.
Q How are things going?
Things are going great, I am just trying to finish up finals and then come back to football
Q This was your first year, what was that like?
It has been crazy. First I was just trying to get started and find an identity, and once I got on the defense and playing cornerback just trying to figure out the scheme and the system. But I feel like I am getting more comfortable with it now.
Q: You plan on playing a bigger role this year maybe even some more on offense?
We are still planning to expand on the wildcat offense. Coach experimented with it last year. I did pretty well, but I think I am going to play a bigger role. I am probably going to play a lot more corner rather than just nickel this year. It is a tough competition between me, Corey Gatewood and Richard Sherman, that is what I am really concentrating on, but anytime I can get my hands on the ball that would be great.
Q: What about on defense, trial by fire going in as a freshman last year, what did you learn what are you working on?
The emotional part is what I had to learn first. Making mistakes and learning how to bounce back from it. As I progressed and actually learned what I was doing playing defense, now it is about executing every play by assignment and by leverage and just taking it one play at a time and making plays
Q: What about wrapping up your first year and taking finals, what is it like by a Stanford student?
It has been tough, this is Stanford University, I knew what I was getting into when I came here, but teammates and coaches have been helping me and the rest of the freshman adjust to it really well. I think I made a great adjustment to it and now I am ready to get on to next year.
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