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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 30, 2019

Terence Steele

Lubbock, Texas

Q. Terence, I guess, when did you finally know you were going to come back, and what were your feelings?
TERENCE STEELE: I knew in the summer when I was coming back. We already had a plan in place. We have good depth at the offensive line position, so I was able to take those first two games off and really take my time and recover.

Q. Were you frustrated during that time in recovery, or did you kind of feel a little bit better knowing that that was part of the plan?
TERENCE STEELE: Definitely, I felt confident, from the very first day it happened. We have a great strength staff and sports medicine staff. So just the plan they had in place, I had full confidence in, and I knew I was going to get back on the field.

Q. How did you get hurt?
TERENCE STEELE: It was a freak accident that happened in the weight room.

Q. How would you rate the offensive line's play through this portion of the season?
TERENCE STEELE: It's definitely not where we want to be, but best believe every week we're working our tails off to be the O-line that we know we can be.

Q. Where do you feel the O-line can improve the most?
TERENCE STEELE: After watching the film this past game, it's pretty obvious to me to pass protect better. Need to be more consistent in the run game. I feel like we made strides in the run game, but like I said, we need to be more consistent with that.

Q. Terence, obviously, Oklahoma State's offense is going to get a lot of the headlines, but what stood out about their defense? I guess specifically about the defensive line.
TERENCE STEELE: They were always flying around to the ball. They gave great effort. They were relentless in their pursuit.

Q. How in are you guys to Jett now being the starter?
TERENCE STEELE: For the O-line, it doesn't matter who we put back there really. We've still got to do our job. We've still got to go out and perform and protect whoever it is back there. I'm kind of excited to have him back. He's a baller. He'll make plays, and dude's a competitive athlete. It will be exciting.

Q. Where have you seen -- has he kind of stepped up as a leader? Like more -- not even just Saturday, but after that?
TERENCE STEELE: Jett? Of course. That's the tough guy he is. Go in the locker room. He's always dabbing people up, making jokes, just talking to people. That's just the kind of person he is.

Q. Could you feel a different type of spark in the huddle or in the way that you all played as an offense when he came into the game?
TERENCE STEELE: Yeah, I could say so. That's just the kind of energy he brings to us. We kind of feed off his energy. I could definitely say we felt that spark.

Q. For you, are you, after a game like Oklahoma, where it was like 30 or 40, are you a kind of flush it guy, or do you let it motivate you?
TERENCE STEELE: I definitely let it motivate me. You kind of let it sink in, you know. For me, I went home, kind of remembered my why, why I pretty much play this game, and you pretty much learn from your mistakes and let them motivate you to be better next week.

Q. What is your why?
TERENCE STEELE: Me, I do it for my family. They've been through a lot. If you know about my -- just what they've been through, I just want to repay them for everything they did. Football is a means for me to do that.

Q. Terence, at any point, did you think you weren't going to come back from your injury? How tough was that -- like you said, if it's a freak injury, obviously, you're kind of a little bit upset.
TERENCE STEELE: There's always that small voice in the back of your head is that what if. I try to not let this come out as much. It's better to have a positive attitude. Your body responds to that. So I really pretty much kept a positive mindset. I told myself I was going to come back soon, and I did.

Q. Do you think the injury and then just the lack of consistency maybe along the line, the movement, constant movement, has been part of your issue as a team and that might be improving as you get more reps and more games under your belt?
TERENCE STEELE: Oh, for sure. That first game, I'll be the first to say it wasn't my best. I had to knock some of that rust off. This past game, I made improvements from the first game, but it still wasn't what my potential can be. Yeah, best believe I'm working my butt off every day to improve, be better for this team.

Q. So when you first got hurt, what were you told about when you were expected to return? Was it about the expected timeline?
TERENCE STEELE: I was definitely way ahead of schedule. When it first happened, it was about four to six months, just letting my body heal pretty much. But like I said, we've got a great strength staff and a sports medicine staff, and they got me back to being 100 percent pretty quick.

Q. I remember Coach Wells said at the start of summer. Was that like in June when you got hurt?
TERENCE STEELE: Yes, it was in June.

Q. How have you handled -- just with you and Travis going right or left, how have you handled being back? I guess where you are and where you were.
TERENCE STEELE: I think we both handled it pretty well. It's great draft stock to be able to switch from left to right. We practice left and right tackles -- you know, movements, every day in practice. So there was really nothing to be confused about.

Q. Do you do a little bit on the left side now when you practice?
TERENCE STEELE: Yeah, like I'll do drills. I'll get in my left type of stance and do some drills with that, and Bruffy will do the same thing with the right.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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