Notes: Njongmeta and Grass stepping up, next growth for young players

Following the seventh practice of spring camp, inside linebackers coach Bob Bostad and five of his players spoke to the media.

Maema Njongmeta and Tatum Grass received praise throughout the session for their growth, several players touched on different areas where they want to take their game, and some interesting quotes from the session are included below.

At inside linebacker, the position will once again be patrolled by junior Leo Chenal and senior Jack Sanborn. But when you look past the pair, there isn’t much clarity regarding the next group behind them.

“There is a huge push for me about who is the next group. Who are going to be the guys? So that’s what weighs on my mind the most,” Bostad said. “Who is the next group of guys and how are we going to get them ready? And getting them ready means reps, so being creative and finding ways to get them reps, and even that group behind them.”

Halfway through spring practices, Njongmeta, who battled a number of health scares a season ago, and Grass have stood out. A walk-on, Grass managed to work his way up from special teams to the two-deep by the end of last season.

“No. 1 is he’s available, so halfway through camp he’s doing some really good things. Kind of the things we saw when he was a high school player," Bostad said about Njongmeta. "Things we saw him do that we really, really liked and he’s starting to do those things. Started to feel more comfortable.

"I would say he’s definitely one of those guys that I was hinting about and is having a good camp. He’s a good guy that, as we have more of this camp and get into pre-fall, I would feel good about him being in that spot.”

Sanborn, in his third year as a starter, can’t help but marvel at Njongmeta’s physical traits.

“I would say they’re all doing something good - just progressing - but I think a couple of them that have stood out, one is Maema," Sanborn said. "Last year just dealing with different things and not being able to get a ton of reps and now you see him really being able to get that grasp of the playbook. And not only that, but just playing football. He’s got an ability to slip his way through traffic, which is sometimes insane.”

As for Grass, teammates have recognized a new found confidence from the young linebacker. The physical tools have always been there for Grass, but now he’s putting it together and finding his voice on the unit.

“Tate’s a guy that has a lot of higher-level physical traits," Bostad said. "Really liked that part about him, so it was just putting it all together. Being able to understand what we’re doing out there on the field. If you’re going to be an inside linebacker, you’re going to have to be vocal. You make a lot of calls, you make a lot of adjustments. He’s gained my trust by doing those things. That’s the starting point and then after that, he’s started to be more productive out on the field. He’s playing more physical, he’s playing more confident. He’s been a real positive in this camp so far.”

Grass has noticed that jump as well, and that’s something he attributed to a greater grasp of the playbook, which included some looks that were foreign to him.

“I think it’s confidence. That’s what I’ve struggled with coming in," Grass said. "Gaining that mental confidence with the playbook, that was something that I’d never seen before. So really just transitioning into that college football defensive system and learning that playbook, I think I’ve come a long way and just gained that confidence."

Mike Maskalunas: "I think the one thing I’ve really been trying to hone in is just increasing my production and playmaking ability. I think I’ve gotten to the point where I have a really strong grasp of the playbook in terms of paper football and knowing the Xs and Os of everything. But the thing I’ve really been striving to work on is making those exciting plays. Where you’re getting interceptions, making big-time sacks, getting into the backfield for big-time tackles for loss, so that’s the thing I’ve been trying to elevate my game."

Leo Chenal: "I know our defense, I know our scheme. There’s always that next step of, now I want to figure out the offense and now I want to be a mastermind of what the offense is doing. I think the next step is just studying the film. Not only studying the defensive plays but knowing what the offense is going to do based on a certain look.

"Pointing out what they're going to do and communication is another thing. Just communicating on another level. Just being confident and loud with your teammates and that’s ultimately going to help everyone on the team."

Jack Sanborn: "I think there’s a lot of areas and one of them I’ve been trying to focus on a lot is just my pass coverage. I think my pass coverage has been pretty decent since I’ve been here, but just taking my pass coverage to another level where I can make plays on the ball and create game-changing plays like interceptions.

"I saw a few plays from last year in the shortened season where if I’d gotten a better break, had better eyes or did something better or saw a certain receiver then I know something might be coming behind me. Stuff like that, I know I can get better and I think that’s an area where I can get better in order to help our defense even more."

Leo Chenal:

“I really love the confidence in Jake (Chaney), it’s kind of unique. It reminds me of a Chris Orr character, to be honest. He’s always making jokes. Leading conversations, he’s good at communicating. Compared to how I was when I got here, I’m really impressed with him. His overall just twitchiness, he’s really quick in that sense. He can really move around in a side-to-side type of way. But most of all, he’s really picked up on the playbook very well, especially compared to me. I see that confidence in him and he continues to get better.”

Jack Sanborn:

“I wouldn’t really say I was exhausted out there a lot. Maybe Wake Forest the first two drives we were a little exhausted. I think that just speaks to Coach Bostad and he wants us to be in the best shape that we can. He’ll have us do extra sprints. Our warm ups are no joke. We start practice with the legs feeling a little tired. Body is feeling a little tired and that helps us going into the games. Last year we had a good understanding that we’d be out there for a while, but also felt that we were both well conditioned to do it.”

Leo Chenal:

"I think during Wake Forest I was pretty gassed. Whatever the reason was, I was pretty gassed. All you can do is give it your best effort."