Q: How are things going so far?
Terrelle Pryor: I feel great. I missed about three or four balls today. The biggest thing to me, I know I missed one bad, which was all about my feet. The biggest thing today, when I did miss was if the ball got tipped was that I was going to the right spot and I didn't turn the ball over. It's a process, but the main thing to me was when I messed up a pass today, and I'm very happy with myself, I'm glad that I did mess up passes because I could get that strength to move on to the next play. It's something that I've been working on a good bit by myself and with my quarterback's trainer back in Southern California. I'm glad, I'm glad I missed passes today, because I can see my reaction and it was a good reaction to me to get to the next play.
Q: How is your confidence coming into camp? Do you feel like you're getting a fair shot? And do you feel like whatever happens it is going to be on you?
Pryor: I think that at then end of the day that's what it is. Who can be a leader, who can lead the team up and down the field, and that's the main thing. We are talking who can score points and that's up to me, Matt [Flynn], Tyler [Wilson], and [Matt] McGloin – who can be the best. I believe if you show us what you got and who can lead the team, I believe that is what the choice is. You can see it nice and clear. That's on us.
Q: Last year you spoke so glowingly of Carson [Palmer], and his influence on you and what you were learning from him. Is it going to be hard for you not to have him around? Or do you feel like you are ready to take the next step without that kind of mentor?
Pryor: Absolutely, because I'm a sponge. I love taking in info, and I love to learn. If it's not about getting better then I'm not really interested. Speaking about that is just every single day when I wake up I'm on top of my game and I'm trying to get better. Every pass may not be perfect but my thing is just getting to the next play and that's another thing that he would always preach to me and that stays with me as well.
Q: This is a team, clearly in transition and last year was a disappointment and they hope to improve next year. Do you feel like you deserve a shot in this process? I mean you're young, you're talented…
Pryor: I believe they're giving me a shot right now, just by letting me on the team. I'm very appreciative of that. I don't want to take for granted that they are out here letting me take the second team reps. No one has to give Matt [Flynn] the first team reps, no one has to give me the second team reps. It's all what you earn and at the end of the day after we talk after the preseason games whether I have it or not, I'm going to give you the honest truth. Hey, I got beat out or hey I wasn't accurate enough. I'm going to be honest and real. It's all about being a leader and being consistent with that and consistent on the field.
Q: When a team acquires a quarterback and it's paying a certain salary, there is an assumption that maybe your competition may not be wide open. Money might dictate who is going to get the best shot at the starting job.
Pryor: That's a good one to sponge me in on but there's a lot of scenarios that go down. You know last year there are some teams where some quarterbacks that are getting paid and some young guys took over. It happens. At the end of the day, it's that best man wins. If I deserve it at the end, then I deserve it. If Matt [Flynn] deserves it, then he deserves it. Either way I'm going to be here and make the team better every single day because this is a we thing. Not I, not him, not me, or anything. It's a "we" thing. Everything that we are doing is for the team and like you said we didn't have a great year last year so that's our main focus. Everyone should be saying, "We, we, we." What did we do wrong here? What do we got to do to get better? I think that's the main thing.
Q: Was there any particular part of your game during the offseason that you worked on and that right now you feel is tangibly better.
Pryor: Absolutely. I went and worked out with a guy named Tom House. He's [Tom] Brady and [Drew] Brees'… I'm sure you guys have heard of him, he's a baseball pitcher. He's a throwing mechanic freak. He breaks everything down scientifically, and I found out that I was leaving my chest open a lot so it was making me late. So when I was coming down to throw with my left arm, my right arm was saying it's time to go, the timing wasn't right. He kind of helped me with that. It's definitely helping shoot the ball a lot more and better. My thing looking in the mirror last year was I need to be more accurate. That's what it is and somewhere I have got to get there, and I will get there, and I'm getting close I can feel it.
Q: Do you feel like you are more accurate than you were four or five months ago? And do you feel like you will be more accurate in four weeks?
Pryor: Oh absolutely. I'm more accurate than I've ever been. I feel very confident about it.
Q: Does looking at the league last year, and [Colin] Kaepernick, and [Robert Griffin III], kind of an evolution in quarterbacks, give you hope that maybe there is going to be, you know have a lot of skills and obviously accuracy is improving, do you feel like you have things you can bring that maybe are more open to now?
Pryor: I'm under the assumption myself that on a personal level that when I get on the field I'm the best on the field. Being able to run and throw the ball, it's a big thing because you put a lot of pressure on defenses by being able to run, so it's definitely a new thing but you also have your still traditional guys like [Tom] Brady. I put [Aaron] Rodgers in there too, because Rodgers can also take off and get some yards too. I think the main thing is you can run the ball, but you must be accurate.
Q: Did you get to know [Kaepernick] at all?
Pryor: Yeah, that's one of my good friends.
Q: You must take encouragement from that. A guy who a lot of guys said, "Eh maybe he doesn't have the exact right throwing motion and skill set to make it in this league." And all of a sudden, he's the hottest thing in football.
Pryor: I think that at the end of the day, it's can you get the ball to where it is supposed to be, at the right time, in the right spot, and that's what it is. It doesn't matter about the arm, or the way you throw, it's can you get the ball in the right spot at the right time.
