Georgia Bulldogs QB JT Daniels Talks About His Close Relationship with James Cook
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ATLANTA - Everything UGA QB JT Daniels said after the Bulldogs' come-from-behind win over No. 8 Cincinnati.
Q. JT, can you kind of walk me through the emotions of James and his father passing away. What was the significance of those tributes? Do you feel like you guys kind of won this game in honor of him, his family?
JT DANIELS: James and I have been very close since I got here. I remember when I posted my commitment to Georgia, Cook hit me right away. I got in contact with him. He was one of the first people I buddied up with. He's been like a brother to me since I got here. As soon as I heard, I hit him, made sure he's doing good.
He's a leader, he's a worker. You never hear him complain. He's always doing the right thing. When something bad happens to someone good like that, it sits with you. It was something that us as a team, we all thought about it. You saw Coach Dell with the 4 jersey. That's how much Cook means to us, how much we're there for him when he needs it. We know he'd be there for us if we need him.
Q. JT, wondering, going through the emotions of this football game, the field goal, what goes through a guy's mind? Were you watching the play?
JT DANIELS: There were definitely a lot of emotions. It was a field goal to win from 53. I trust in Pod about as much as I can. I felt no pressure to try and make a play I didn't need to when we were on the 35. That's what Pod does. We see it every day in practice. He's always on time, always doing his job. Monday through Friday you see him hitting all his kicks.
I definitely say I had trust in Pod. Last second, yeah, I was saying some prayers right there.
Q. JT, you're still new to this program relatively. What has this ride the last two months been like since you became the starter? What does it say to you about this Georgia team and program?
JT DANIELS: At this point I feel like I've been here for years. Instantly when I came in I felt a connection with the team, a connection with the way this program is run is the way I would say it. We're all about ball. It's something you can say about pretty much the whole team, is that everyone just loves football. We're here to do our thing and be the best players we can be. Every single day, every single practice, Malik Herring, Zeus, George, everyone goes out and practices to their best ability every single day with a focus on getting better.
Over the last two and a half months, I've really just enjoyed the time of being with like-minded guys that are all about work, all about ball, all about competing.
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