Kenyan Drake – July 26, 2018
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Thursday, July 26, 2018
RB Kenyan Drake
(Do you feel an added sense of responsibility in terms of you and RB Frank Gore are the main guys this year. Last year you were uncertain about how much you’d even play.) – “I feel like everybody has to take accountability for their role, no matter what it is. If you’re on offense or if you’re on special teams, it’s the next man up. That’s the type of attitude we have this year, just to go out there and win a lot more games than we did last year.”
(There’s a big experience factor with this offensive line this year. How much do you think it will help?) – “I feel like … Like I said, if everybody takes care of their 1/11th and go out there and take care of their responsibilities. This year (Head Coach Adam) Gase has an added sense of team when it comes to going out there and taking care of your responsibility. Once one guy takes care of his responsibility, then the team as a whole will be successful.”
(Was there a different sense of excitement for you coming into camp after the success you had late last season?) – “Yes, I kind of wish I had a couple more games to get under my belt last year; but I’m just going to use that as a stepping stone for this year. As I said, (I want to) help this team win a lot more games this year and continue to build on that success.”
(When we talked to you in the spring, you talked about wanting to gain weight and strength. How did you go about doing that and what was the result?) – “I just wanted to make sure I took the right steps in the offseason to take care of my training and take care of my diet. As a professional athlete, I understand that my body is my number one priority in this game. I felt like I did a good job. It was hot today but it could’ve been a lot worse if I didn’t take care of my body.”
(So what did you do? Did you put on weight?) – “I came in last year about the same that I am now. It’s really about having the right diet to sustain it. I know with how much water you lose out here, it’s about staying hydrated and making sure you get the carbs in your body, things of that sort. I have the added sense of responsibility knowing I have to take care of my body.”
(What’s it like to have RB Frank Gore, an experienced back like him, with you and working with you, learning from him and that kind of thing? What’s that been like?) – “It’s real cool just seeing him out here running around. He always has an extra gear, even at his age, and seeing how he takes care of his body, especially as a running back where the shelf-life isn’t really that high. It’s cool having him out here and seeing that face to face.”
(What weight do you want to play at?) – “As long as I keep my speed, I don’t really care. I feel like it’s more about the added grind, bumping and grinding for 16 games; but I could be 195 (pounds) as long as I have the capability to run between the tackles. It doesn’t really matter.”
(So the weight was more about handling more of the workload?) – “Not necessarily. I just didn’t get the work load when I was at a lower weight. It doesn’t mean necessarily that I needed the weight. As long as I have the speed, that’s all they care about.”
(What did you take out or add to your diet to change?) – “I love chips. (laughter) Chips is something that’s not really a gain from a nutritional aspect. I’m just really supplementing that with healthier snacks like fruits and things like that to kind of go straight into my energy and last longer. (I’m trying to) put more greens in my diet. I don’t necessarily like eating a lot of greens, so smoothies that are greener-ish, that’s definitely a plus. You just make sure you supplement that type of stuff into your diet.”
(With all of the receptions this offseason, are you looking forward to filling that role a little more in the backfield as a pass catcher?) – “Yes. Whatever (Adam) Gase has drawn up, that’s the role I’m willing to take on. I pride myself on being versatile, so at the end of the day, when I go out there, I just want to make plays however I can.”
(How would you describe the vibe of the team as you stepped onto the field this morning?) – “Very excited. I feel like … We don’t necessarily have a chip on our shoulder, but we’re not being talked about. That’s what we love. We don’t want anybody talking about us because we just go out there and play football. We don’t have any expectations of anything. We just want to go out there do what we do to win games and make these fans happy.”
(I saw that you made a veiled reference to that on Twitter. Do you feel like this is sort of a blank slate for this team and this is a chance to write a legacy?) – “For sure. I feel like everybody has the same goals and aspirations at the beginning of the season. Other people might be talking more because of what they did last year and things of that sort. If you look at our schedule this year, we have all 1 o’clock games. That shows that the league doesn’t see us as a prime time match up for anybody.”
(Is that disrespectful, do you think?) – “Not necessarily. I love it. We go out there and take care of business early, go home, rest up and do the same thing the next week. We just take it one game at a time.”
