Mizzou Football Fall Camp Press Release: 08-13-2024

With fall camp for Mizzou football winding down, a trio of Tigers took the stage to answer questions from reporters on Tuesday. Here's what Marvin Burks Jr., Jamal Roberts and Marquis Gracial had to say.

Marvin Burks Jr. | Defensive Back

On the differences between American football in high school and college: Very different from high school. It's much faster, bigger. The most important thing for me…everyone is from here to now [referring to height]Everyone is big, everyone is fast…Everyone has the same mindset and the same information.

On the effect of a massive increase in competition from high school to college football: I think it just makes you a better player. We love to compete, I love to compete, it makes me a better player every day. Going out there, competing with the offense, competing with the defensive guys when we were in indy [individual periods]so it makes you a better player overall because that's what you're going to see on Saturday.

On what he learned from Jaylon Carlies: Communication. JC was a real verbal guy, he understood the defense well… because he understood the defense so well, I think he was able to look at the offense and initiate movements and understand the offense better.

About his extensive role within the secondary: I'm really excited to embrace that role. That's something that keeps me so focused and grounded and humble and just competitive. Every day I go out there and I'm like, hey, I've got a lot of shoes to fill from last year with JC… The type of player that I am, I just want to be the best that I can be on the field to help my team win.

On Luther Burden III's 2022 commitment to Mizzou and how it has impacted recruiting in the St. Louis area: I feel like it affected everybody… I feel like it affected the whole country. This is a guy that's coming to Mizzou that a lot of people didn't expect to come to Mizzou. I feel like it affected my recruitment a little bit because they take such good care of you and they just have a home feel. I'm a family guy and it just didn't feel the same anywhere else.

On the Future of the STL-Mizzou Football Pipeline: I feel like it’s going to continue to grow, just because when someone from St. Louis comes here, we all feel the same way and we’re all striving for the same thing. I think that’s what our city has. Everyone wants the same goal, everyone’s on the same page for the most part. I think this is the best place for us.

When backpedaling: I still did reps returning kickoffs.

About burden: He always has that look in his eye. Every time you get the ball to him, I feel like he can catch it for a touchdown. I don't see any other look in his eye. It's the same look I've seen for the last 10 years. It's just killer.

About how he is different from this time last year: My understanding of the game. My knowledge of the game has grown. As a freshman, like I said, I was just trying to learn, not make mistakes. Now I'm challenging myself, going out there and challenging routes, challenging receivers, just trying to get the most reps on NWO game day [Nasty Wideouts] because those guys have great receivers. So I just try to compete every day and get better with those guys.

Whether he prefers a certain safe place: I don't have a preference, but yeah, we always just try to learn our whole defense. That way we can play faster… We pride ourselves on being versatile in our defense at the back.

On how the team blocks out outside noise: We just have a mentality that it's just ours. So if it's not within our circle, we don't really worry about it. I think we do a good job of not getting too caught up in the noise from outside.

Why he chose Mizzou: This was a family feeling. I just wanted to be close to home, I just wanted my family to come and see me play and just play for this community and just be close to home.

Whether the team gets extra motivation from being ranked outside the Top 10 in the AP poll for the season: That's outside noise. That's a great achievement, but we're still going for our main goal, and we know what our main goal is, so we've focused on that. We're not going to let pre-season get to us too much, because it's not about pre-season, it's about what you're going to do in post-season.

About the team's main goal: Win the natty. Go 1-0 every week.

About Daylan Carnell: DC taught me a lot. We have a great connection. He was like JC last year, just someone I could go to and feel like a little brother to me. I still feel like a little brother to him my sophomore year. I feel like he just gives me a lot of good tools and helps me understand the game. He’s really talkative, he communicates with me a lot on the court. Off the court we hang out. It’s great.

About Caleb Flagg: I don't think it was a surprise. When he first came in, I knew he was a great player. He brings a lot of versatility, a lot of excitement. We call him the fire starter. I think he's one of those guys that every time he steps on the field, he lights a fire in our defense. I love to compete, he loves to compete. We go out there every day and compete, just to let each other know that this is positive competitiveness… We congratulate each other every day.

On Intercepting JJ McCarthy in High School: I remember it got really loud when I heard it… It was a surreal moment.

Jamal Roberts | Running Back

On how this off-season was compared to last year: I'm just trying to keep the same mentality as last offseason. I had a good fall camp last year. I'm just trying to improve a lot more.

On specific improvements he made over the course of the past season: I improved my pre-snap reads, picked up protections, ran the ball a lot more and understood the gap schemes.

On the way to getting possession this season: Just be consistent.

About Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll: Those guys played a lot with balls, so I learned a lot from them.

Learning from Cody Schrader: I did a lot of mental reps, physical reps. When Cody was here, he was definitely a great role model for me… Like Marcus and Nate, he's been playing ball for a long time. They let me know what to do, and once I do it, they encourage me, calm me down, keep me moving.

About having patience: I've just embraced my role within the team and do what I can to help the team in whatever way I can.

On how Kirby Moore's offense fits his playing style: We do a lot of downhill run plays. North-south running is very unique to me.

I'd rather run someone over or just run past them.

Based on St. Louis' connection to Mizzou football: It’s very close. Us St. Louis boys, we played with each other from all over. Even the Missouri boys, it’s one united team. The brotherhoods are very strong.

On what he wants to improve by the end of the season: Just developing more, just developing as a running back at the highest level. I just want to improve, like I said, pre-snap reads and picking up protections and making sure our quarterbacks are safe in the pocket. A lot of people don't take pride in it. I take pride in protecting the quarterback.

On the Increasing Difficulty of Finding Defenders from High School to College Football: I picked it up pretty quick. It wasn’t that hard for me. Cody was a good teammate, he helped me with some things that I could eliminate, some things that I didn’t have to look at. I picked it up quick… The running back room as a whole, really, it wasn’t just Cody. The guy that people don’t talk about, Chris Kreh. Chris Kreh really took me under his wing last year and definitely brought me together.

Marquis Gracial | Defensive Line Player

On the biggest difference in his game since arriving at Mizzou: I'm older now, so I'm gaining a little more experience with the program and how we do things.

On whether anything has changed for him now that he is fighting for a starting spot: Not much has changed really. Now that the older guys are gone, my mindset has changed a bit. Now there is no senior who can say oh, I'm not going to play… the leagues are wide open.

Why He Stayed at Mizzou: I love what we do here. I love Mizzou. I'm close to home. But especially the coaching staff, really good people, and I've seen what they've done with other players. I just trust the coaches and the things they do, and I think it'll work out.

About Corey Batoon: Coach Batoon is a really good guy. He told us from day one what it was really all about, laid it out like, look, this is what we were going to do, this is how we were going to do it. We all agreed. He has some good things for us, so I think it's going to be good.

On the defense line: We're competing. We don't know where anyone is right now. We're going out there to compete. There's no starter right now. It's definitely tough. It's a challenge. There's six guys competing for a spot.

On competing with Jalen Marshall: Things are going well. Jalens has worked very hard to get where he wants to be, and I am working very hard too.

Learning from Kristian Williams: I learned a lot from him. He’s a really good guy. Probably one of the most consistent guys I know. I’ve told him that before. Kristian is a very consistent person. That’s helped me a lot. It’s flipped the switch for me. He’s helped me a lot in terms of maturing, just how I approach things. He’s a really nice person to be around, and he’s very helpful.

About the lessons we learned from Darius Robinson: How he went about his day. He was also very consistent. He and Kristian were always just very consistent people. He always did what he had to do. He went the extra mile, day in and day out. He's someone I looked up to.

About goals for the 2024 season: I don't have an individual goal, but the goal as a d-lineman is to be the best. We want to be the best. For me, it's just playing my role the best I can, doing what I can for the team, helping the team win.

About the battle against the inner attack line: It's been good. Really good o-lineman there. They're doing their business the right way.

Why he wears number 33: I wore it in high school, so I brought it here. It might change, I don't know.

About his role: My main thing is, if we win, that's really the main thing I care about. Whatever my role is, if we're successful, I'm happy. If I don't play much and we win, I'm happy. If I play a lot and we win, I'm happy. I just want to win.