Kobe Savage Talks Short Game Weeks, Practice Intensity
Oregon Ducks safety Kobe Savage spoke with media Wednesday and addressed practice competition, short game weeks, and more. Below are the most notable questions and quotes from Savage’s availability as well as my thoughts at the end.
On getting under quarterback Dillon Gabriel‘s skin in practice:
“That’s my guy. That’s just two competitors and leaders but we definitely like to get after each other.”
“Just messing with him and saying we know the routes and schemes and stuff like that but I like to try to get in his head and bother him a little bit.”
On Illinois quarterback Luke Altmeyer‘s skillset:
“He’s a great quarterback. He has really good eyes and keys, knows where he wants to go with the ball.”
“Also really good in the run game so he’s a good veteran quarterback with good decision-making.”
On practice intensity following a shutout win:
“It’s the same every week just trying to get better and having a growth mindset. I feel like we’re bringing that every week.”
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On the benefits of having an extra day between games:
“Just being able to understand their offense a little more and get extra film and extra recovery in. Last week was a quick turnaround coming from a Saturday game into a Friday game but it’s really good to get back on a schedule.”
On what getting a good pass rush does for safeties:
“It’s amazing, it gets the quarterback out of the pocket and you have great quarterbacks (in the Big Ten) so getting them off their timing helps us a lot.”
Linden’s Take:
Savage has the competitor mindset that has become a hallmark of the Oregon program under coach Dan Lanning. I can only imagine that having a healthy back-and-forth between the Ducks’ defense and offense in practice every week helps create a game-like environment that serves the team well on Saturdays.
Savage has done an excellent job being versatile and helping out Oregon’s defense in a variety of ways, as he’s compiled 13 solo tackles in seven games thus far. As one of the more experiences players on the Ducks’ roster, he’ll need to continue playing at a high level for the team to reach its ceiling.
