On a meaner Logan Thomas in the offseason: "I wouldn't say meaner. He just definitely stepped into the leadership role of the team. He wants to hold himself as well as the younger guys accountable. He doesn't want guys running wrong routes, if they mess up he's not going to let it slide. He'll correct that, just to make sure everybody understands that we're all out here to get better."
On whether he's different than in the past: "I think he's grinding really hard in the offseason, and it shows. Since Coach Loeffler got here he's been working on his throwing motion, his drops...he's got me up at 5 o'clock in the morning sometimes to just go throw, and different things like that. He's been grinding, I definitely think it's been showing. He lost some weight, he's really strict on what he wants to do workout plan wise, throwing wise. He knows when he can take shots down the field. He kind of knows the whole of the offense and how to play it."
On whether McCray and Thomas are on the same page since they're cousins: "I guess. We grew up together playing catch in the backyard. I played tight end in high school and he played quarterback."
On his goals for the rest of the season: "Alabama or not, our first goal, I think everybody has the same goal here, is to compete for the National Championship. You've got to take it one week at a time. If you lose, you have to set your goal for an ACC Championship. Just continue to get better and take it one week at a time."
On how he's improved since camp opened: "Trying to be more coachable. Taking criticism. If coach says I need to work on this, or tells me I'm not doing well in this, just going from there daily and trying to make sure I get better."
On whether it was easier to make the transition to tight end since Bryan Stinespring was his recruiting coach: "Definitely. Me and Stiney definitely go way back. He started recruiting me pretty early on. I've known him for awhile. He's one of the guys, regardless of how good or bad things are going, I've always stopped in his office to sit down and talk to him. Making the move, just having Stiney there has been good. He's one of those guys I can talk to about anything. On the field he's going to push me to be my best. It's definitely been a lot easier having him as the coach, having him walk me through things."