HOOVER, Ala. -- South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney can hold reporters as captive as he can quarterbacks. Here's a sampling of some of the junior's best responses during his media session:
On star Tennessee left tackle Antonio "Tiny" Richardson:
"I was hurt that game. I had a foot injury. That whole week I sat out of practice. I knew I was going to play, but I'm looking forward to it. I told him, 'We'll be back next year, and I'll be 100 percent when we come back, so be ready.' He is the best at holding and getting away with it. But he does a good job with it. If you don't get called for it, it's not a hold, so I respect it 100 percent. He did pretty good against me, and I told him that. I said, 'You're a good offensive lineman, keep doing what you're doing, it's going to pay off.' I said, 'I see you're getting a lot of hype about how you blocked me for that game, but you can't hold me for four quarters."
On his offseason eating habits:
"I'm like 265, 266. I'll be 270 or 275 by the time the season starts. I picked up six pounds in two days the other day, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all day. It was killing my throat, I had to drink a lot of water. But I ate about six peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and dinner. I was like, 'I'm going to eat these all day and gain some weight back.' Because I got down to 256, and was like, 'No, I can't deal with this.'"
On Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd:
"You can see in his eyes that he's scared of our D-line. He is scared every time we play them. I know he's listening to this right now, but I'm telling the truth."
On the new "targeting" rule prohibiting hits above the shoulders:
"I really don't like that rule. I'm 6-6. Half the guys I tackle are like 6-3, or 6-foot. It's pretty hard for me to get low enough not to hit above the shoulders. That's football, though. I have to learn to work around it."
On the constantly-replayed, helmet-removing hit he put on Michigan's Vincent Smith:
"People are always coming up to me and telling me about that hit. I just get a laugh out of it now. The next day, it was on ESPN over, and over. And over. I was like, 'Well, I know it's a big hit now.'"
On his Heisman candidacy:
"It's not really a goal for me. The goal for me is to win the SEC. That's our biggest goal right now. If the Heisman comes, it will be there for me. If it happens, if I'm in New York, I'll be excited about it."
On how he stays out of trouble:
"I just stay out of bars, and stay off Twitter."
On whether he has what it takes to turn pro early next year:
"Yes, sir."
On his injury insurance policy:
"I didn't want to take it out, really. They were like, 'You need to take it out.' I was like, 'Man, it's football, and I've been doing it for awhile. I can get hurt anywhere.' It's not a big deal to me."
On Tennessee returning five (starting) offensive linemen:
"We're returning four defensive linemen."
On Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel:
"I would love to play against Johnny Manziel. I think our D-line is built for quarterbacks who like to run around in the pocket. We're good at containing fast quarterbacks. He would have to change his game by throwing the ball a lot."
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
