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INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 6, 2020

Michael Penix

Bloomington, Indiana

Q. What's been the process for you in terms of getting back to full strength and in particular just how much emphasis have you put on adding as much as you can, strength, weight, just size in general?
MICHAEL PENIX: Well, the main thing is Coach Allen, he came up to me and he told me he trusts me and trusts everything that I'm doing, and he challenged me to just work hard and continue to lead the team and make sure I can do anything in my power to help the team out, and one thing he said was to gain weight, and that's something that I've been making sure I push every single day and make sure that I'm in the weight room extremely hard and doing what's best for the team, and that's what I feel like is going to be good for this season.

Q. I think Coach Allen said you were about 220 pounds at one point. Where are you now, and do you have any goals for where you want to be when the season comes?
MICHAEL PENIX: Yeah, I'm still around there. The goals, we talked about 220, so I hit that pretty quick, but just wherever is comfortable and whatever is going to help the team, and as long as I still feel like I can move, I feel good.

Q. Just wanted to get your thoughts on Sampson James making the decision he definitely wants to come back. Your thoughts on what he could do to help you guys on offense this year?
MICHAEL PENIX: Yeah, he's a great back. He's one of the guys that works extremely hard. The team loves him, and we're glad that he chose to stay, and we're just going to continue to keep encouraging him, make sure he stays focused and just make sure that he knows the rest of the team loves him, and life is made of choices, and he made a choice, but he followed his heart and he came back, and we still accept him, and we appreciate him for that.

Q. You've probably been around Coach Sheridan more than anybody, going all the way back to Tennessee times. Can you talk about how much you're looking forward to working with him as the offensive coordinator and doing some big things with him?
MICHAEL PENIX: Yeah, I'm very excited. The whole team, the whole offense is excited. He's a great guy. He's always -- even last year he was with the tight ends, but he always was involved with all the other positions. He always brings a lot of humor and just continues to push us every single day, so the whole team, we all love him, and we know when he's in the building, so it's just a great presence, and I can't wait.

Q. In addition to adding the weight, have you evaluated last year how you took hits and how you took contact in terms of the injuries, and is it something that maybe you're going to be conscious of next season in terms of maybe avoiding injury?
MICHAEL PENIX: I mean, I wouldn't say I was evaluating it, but with the trainers, they always talked about like just making sure I protect myself as much as possible. I don't really look back on those times. I always try to keep my head forward and just work on what I can do next to help the team, and just coming back and just gaining weight and just working hard every single day to try to get back to where I need to be, that's all I've been focusing on.

Q. As far as making strides in your leadership, what specific things have you tried to do? What kind of challenges have been there, and also how much does it help that you're going into the spring kind of expected to be the starting quarterback?
MICHAEL PENIX: Well, just going in and working hard every single day, just coming in and pushing the team, as well, just pushing everybody in the weight room, even off the field in class, making sure everybody tries to get to class on time, get to class, just being able to just be that presence and be that person that guys come to talk to any time that they need it, if it's a good situation or bad, just being that leader and that player that the team looks up to and just trusts, basically.

Q. Whether it be in the season after you got hurt or after the season, after the bowl game, were there any specific difficulties that you faced in this rehab process?
MICHAEL PENIX: Well, with this one, no, not really. It was a quick process. It wasn't bad. Just I knew how bad I wanted to play, and I knew how bad I just wanted to be in this position. I never blinked, like Coach Allen said. I never blinked at all, and I was always focused on getting back and making sure that I could do whatever I can to make sure I don't have to go through that again.

Q. After having both those seasons cut short because of injuries, how determined are you to get through the entire season, and after seeing the success the team had last year, how much did that spur you to want to be a part of that?
MICHAEL PENIX: I'm very determined. As I said, I'm working hard every single day in the weight room and in rehab, just making sure that my body is healthy, and that's something that I don't look at. When I play, I just play to have fun and play for my brothers and just go out and compete. I don't think about injuries, I don't think about the past, I just want to go out there and have fun and get wins, and that's what it's all about.

Q. After the surgery, how soon after -- what week or month were you able to start throwing the ball again and where do you feel you are in terms of rhythm or rust with that?
MICHAEL PENIX: Right, it was about two months before I was able to throw, so mid-January maybe I started throwing, and just getting into rehab, with Jacob, he's one of our trainers, he works with me all the time. He pushes me every day. Some days you don't always want to do it, but he always just reminds me of what the end goal is and just making sure that I come in every single day with the positive mindset to make sure I want to come out here and compete and play hard for the team.

Q. I'm sure you guys have been going out and throwing, you with the receivers and stuff. Everybody knows about Whop and Ty Fryfogle. Are there some guys that maybe redshirted or young guys that you're kind of excited to work with this spring?
MICHAEL PENIX: Yeah, Jordan Jakes, he's been coming out and throwing with us, as well. He's been going extremely hard. I've seen him more focused than he's been since he's been here. I see him working hard every day. He doesn't miss any throwing sessions that we have, and that's something that impresses me. We also have Jacoby Hewitt coming off an ACL injury. He's coming back, and he's working hard, as well, and he's just making sure that he just puts in all the work. I'm one person that he talks to a lot, especially with the injury, because we had the same injury, so he's always just asking me have I ever felt this way, have I ever felt this way, so I always try to keep him level-headed and keep him positive and make sure that he's looking forward and not blinking. And then Miles Marshall, he had play time last year, as well. He made a lot of big plays for us, and we're looking forward to him making more of those plays this season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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