Everything From Tennessee TE Miles Kitselman During His Press Conference

Tennesee veteran TE Miles Kitselman talked to the media after having a geat performance in Week 1 agaisnt Syracuse. Kitselman finished with a receiving touchdown and was critical for the Vols in the redzone. Here is everything he had to say.

On his pregame with Joey Aguilar…

“Yeah, I remember my first game, and I don't play quarterback. I know they have a lot on their minds, a lot on their plate. He's a naturally confident guy, and I know that. Just going up to him, letting him know I have his back. I'll be there for him and just go out there and make plays. You know, you're a ball player. There's a reason why you're here. Afterwards, our families were up there and just having a little bit of fun with it. I'm a naturally loose guy pregame, and so is he. That loose confidence to us, but just making sure that he knows, like, hey, everything's going to be all right. We're going to go out there and make plays, and I'll be there for you.”

On how important the mindset of Aguilar is to the offense…

“You know, everybody's going to try to find a negative about something, no matter who it is, and just staying off social media, staying in this building, and you know, knowing what we have, knowing what we have to get better at. Yeah, really just staying off social media.”

On how good it felt to score 45 points and have nearly 500 yards of offense…

“Yeah, it felt really good. You know, we had a David Sanders go down Thursday or Friday, and not really knowing if he was going to go or not. And you know, we had a couple of guys step up and they played really well. We just had a lot of fun out there. Um, and I really love that. I love this group, but we were all together. Uh, you know, but at the same time, we had that poise to us. You know, the tape talks for itself. We played really physical. The O-line was awesome, giving up zero sacks. I just feel like we were all on the same page. We went out there and played really physical, and that opens up the passing game, and I was just really excited about that.”

On what it is like seeing Braylon Staley or Mike Matthew move into a bigger role on the team…

“Yeah, it's awesome. You know, I get to see eight months of offseason. I get to see eight months of those guys putting in work, and you know, not a whole lot of other people get to see that. Just to be able to see those guys go out there and execute and have success means a lot to me.”

On why the team is able to cope with injuries and play at a high level…

“Yeah, I think it's eight months of offseason coming together as a team. Those bonding moments that I've talked about, you know, off the field, just knowing that we're going to be all right. All we got is all we need. Um, if you're strong, I'm strong. Next play, next man up, uh, plug and play.

On how impressed he was that Aguilar executed the offense…

“I was impressed, obviously, but I've seen him do it in practice. I've seen him make those plays in practice. I've seen his poise at practice, even when we're going up against the best defense in the nation in practice. I don't know if impressed is the right word, but just being able to go out there and do his job. It's like this is the Joey I've seen in practice, and I was just really glad that he went out there and played how I know he can play.

On if the bond the team has allowed them to answer Syracuse…

“ Yeah, no doubt. When you come up on the sideline and, you know, Syracuse goes out and scores, Syracuse goes out and does whatever. To be able to just grab your brothers and say, "Hey man, like let's go out there and do it again." Um, and everybody responds the exact same way. You know, I've talked about it before with you guys. Those off-the-field relationships that you have, being able to call your brother out, be able to call them up to the standard to be able to say, "Hey, everybody bring it up, man, like they just got one on us. Let's go punch them in the mouth." Everybody is able to surround themselves in the same way. I attribute that to those off-the-field relationships.”

On how he feels about his game….

“I got a lot of stuff to clean up. You know, obviously, with a pec injury, not being able to go in the spring and not really been able to go in fall camp a whole lot. Just feeling space in the run game. I wasn't really satisfied with how I played inside the box. I have a lot of stuff to clean up, but I'm really excited, you know, for this week and just knowing what I have to clean up and being able to look in the mirror and say, "All right, this is what I got to do to make us a better team."

On when he had the surgery, if there was any worry, he would be back in time for the start of the season…

“Yeah, no doubt. My pec minor definitely helped my timeline. Whenever I first had surgery, we were aiming for Georgia week three, week four. So to be able to come back and play this first game, you know, against a very good Syracuse team to prepare us for the rest of the season  was really good for me.”

On what he saw from tight end Ethan Davis….

“Ethan played really physical. I was really excited for him, you know, in the offseason saying, "Hey, man, like if we can get a little bit better in the box and we're playing 12 personnel, 60% of the snaps and man, he was really physical and I was just really excited that he took that step in the offseason and he handled it really well."

On the top goal to get ready for ETSU….

“Personally, I got to get back into playing shape. Being out for a while, but man, just feeling space in the box. You know, I'd say that's one of the hardest things, being out for a while. Just reading space in the box and just trying to be the best blocking tight end.”

On if it is ideal to block for 250 yards rushing and catch a touchdown at the end…

“No, I don't think you can ask for much more.”

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On how he excited he is for his final first year home game and playing on Saturday…

“Stepping off that bus in Atlanta and seeing how many fans traveled, I just want to let you guys know, like we never take that for granted. You know, it's been eight months, nine months. I've had the itch to see the Vol walk, and it was just awesome. Getting a glimpse of it in Atlanta and just knowing how awesome it's going to be um you know, here coming up Saturday. So, I'm really excited.”

On his thoughts of the running backs….

“They ran really physical and were super excited for those guys. You know, obviously, Star had that scrambled play. That was an unbelievable field play by him. I'm really excited to see what those guys can do this year.”