Lawrance Toafili and Derrick McLendon talk bye week, improvements after Tuesday practice

The Florida State Seminoles are coming off a bye week and headed into a Saturday matchup against Georgia Tech at home inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

Running back Lawrance Toafilli and defensive end Derrick McLendon spoke with the media after practice to detail their upcoming game and team and personal improvements. The bye week should help to get some injured players back into the rotation as the ‘Noles enter the second half of the season.

Lawrance Toafili

Toafili has seen a lot of personal and physical growth this year and has really shined when given the opportunity. When asked about his time in the weight room, he said:

“I mean definitely a lot since I've been here, I mean, y’all probably wouldn't be able to understand, I can push some weight now but when I first got here, it was woof, it was bad.” adding that, “Honestly, its the weight that I've been lifting. Now it might not even look like I’m as strong as I really am because I feel like my body is a little different, but I feel like way stronger than I am since I first got here.”

Picking up blitzes is part of the running back position, and Toafili said that's been a main focus for the team.

“It was something that I had trouble with in high school it was definitely one of my weaknesses. Ever since I got here, we been focusing on getting weight and just technique and learning how to take on blocks and different ways of doing things. I feel like I’m improving definitely.“

Toafili goes over the return of teammates from injury, the Clemson defensive front, and more in his full interview below.

Derrick McLendon

McLendon spoke on the bye week and what it did for the team, saying that they got a good practice in and everyone was rejuvenated.

“Definitely, just when you say rejuvenated, uh, everybody ready to get back to work. Those three days off they were needed, so I mean we got those three days off, we got our mental back, so everybody was flying around offense was flying around, defense was flying around, everybody looked ready for Saturday.”

McLendon's message to the team is a simple one, and that's staying focused on the task ahead and keeping everyone together.

“Staying tight through adversity, through, uh, through the good times as well, so tightening that brotherhood.” He also added that they weren't thinking about the Miami game and that their focus was this weekend.

McClendon’s full interview can be seen below.

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