WATCH: A new mindset and new confidence for Mississippi State receiver Jordan Mosley

Injuries and staff changes have hampered Mississippi State receiver Jordan Mosley thus far in his college career. But these days, the rising junior has a new-found confidence and outlook about his Bulldog tenure.

Since the spring, coaches and his fellow teammates have complimented Mosley for his play on the practice fields. Following Friday’s training camp session, the Alabama native met with media to share his thoughts on camp and the upcoming season:

Q: How was your day?
Mosley: I just think we came out with great energy. That makes the day more fun, more enjoyable to be around. Out there competing with our guys and I see a lot of young guys coming along. So that makes me happy, as well. We got Kelly (Akharaiyi) and Kevin (Coleman) and all those guys out there, too. It’s been fun playing with those guys and learning from each other.

Q: With spots open, what’s that competition been like so far?
Mosley: Oh man, it’s been crazy but fun, though. I will say there’s a lot of spots and we have a lot of guys that can play for us, for a fact. Every single one of us have strengths and weaknesses. It’s just about finding the right guys and hit the road for that particular strength. Mario (Craver) is fast, Stonka (Burnside) is strong, JJ (Harrell) is coming along and he had a good day today. Then you have myself and Kelly and Kevin and (Trent) Hudson and Creed, as well. We’ve got a solid group.

Q: Your thoughts on Blake Shapen?
Mosley: Blake’s my dog. I think Blake is a hell of a quarterback and he’s a heck of a quarterback. He can definitely throw the pill, read the defenses, scrappy and not afraid to get dirty when he has to. That’s everything you want in a quarterback.

Q: How’s that confidence within the offense right now?
Mosley: I don’t really know how everyone else thinks. But as far as the receivers, we call ourselves the ‘Concrete Boys’ because we think we’re the hardest group in the nation. We all think we are really good and I think that’s the best part of our team. I think we have a very confident team. Everybody thinks they are the best at their position so that creates a lot of back and forth. But it also brings a lot of competitiveness. It’s just fun, it’s just competitive.

Q: Some of you guys stayed over the summer to work with Blake Shapen. How important is it to have that kind of leadership?
Mosley: To be honest, I never take breaks and I haven’t since I’ve been in college. I just always think there’s somebody else doing it. It’s another group out there running routes with their quarterback so why would I take a day off? I try to pride myself coming out here every single day and pulling people along. I think that’s the biggest step I’ve taken so far this year, just becoming a leader and helping everybody and pulling people along with me. As long as I’m doing that I think I’m headed in the right direction.

Q: Jeff Lebby and Chad Bumphis have talked well of you this offseason. What’s different for you now?
Mosley: My mind. My mind and my confidence. I changed my mind. Last year was horrible. I don’t even remember how many games we won or lost. I really can’t tell you. But it was a bad year. I don’t like losing and I don’t like being at the bottom of anything. So coming into this winter I told myself to do everything as fast as you can, as hard as you can. That carried over to the spring and I think I had a pretty good spring. I am just trying to pick up where I left off.

Q: With last year’s bad year, what’s been different about this year’s group this time around?
Mosley: Honestly, I think it starts with the coaches that we have in the building. We have a lot of good energy, a lot of people that want to be here. We have a lot of people in this building reporting to us every single day. There’s not a lot of complaining or getting onto people. That’s coaching. That’s the main thing and it’s enjoyable to be around. The guys that we brought in that have come along with Coach Lebby and his staff, they are extremely fun to be around. The coaches love to do this. It makes it just more enjoyable.

Last year was difficult and a lot of people didn’t want to be in the building. Coach Lebby prides us to be in the building as long as possible. A lot of guys are here to 7,8,9 o’clock. So it’s not just me or a couple of guys. It’s a lot of guys and that’s where it starts. We got a lot of leaders pulling people along with them.

Q: How much can the receivers help to raise the game of Shapen and the quarterbacks?
Mosley: I think it goes hand in hand. You can’t have good receivers without a good quarterback and you can’t have a good quarterback without a couple of good receivers. So it goes hand in hand. I’m consistently asking Blake where can I get better at or if I’m in a route and I didn’t get out of my break as sharp as I should or I wasn’t where he thought I would be. So just coming back to the sideline and talking about it and after practice watching film, taking notes on your own, getting with coaches and asking questions with them. Just elevating your game every single day.

Q: You mention competitiveness. How much of an advantage is it to have other good guys around you?
Mosley: I think it makes everything. I think we had a good room last year but we were missing that competitiveness. So each and every one of us have that mindset to compete. What comes from that is guys giving everything they’ve got and makes everyone around them more polished. They know, especially heading into fall camp, everything is limited. Getting reps is limited. If you’re not making plays is when you get less and less reps. So having that competitive spirit makes us good and makes us what we are.

Q: Who has stood out to you in the secondary so far?
Mosley: I love Isaac (Smith). I think he has great IQ. Tre (Wright) and Kelley Jones. I think Kelley is the fastest on the team so it is hard to beat him deep. He probably runs a 4.2, legitimately. Tre just has a knack for getting the ball and Brice (Pollock), too. Brice is big, strong, talented freshman going into his sophomore season. I think those three guys and then we added some guys like Brylan (Lanier), who plays extremely hard and he is coming off a great spring. I think them gelling together and coming together helps us, as well.