Whop Philyor is really, really excited to play football in less than 2 weeks

The last time we heard from Whop Philyor it was early August, Fall Camp Version 1.0 was just underway, and the gregarious Indiana receiver was bubbling with enthusiasm for his senior season.

A lot has changed in the meantime, but Philyor’s excitement for the upcoming campaign certainly hasn’t. Philyor met with reporters on Tuesday and, as usual, he was great.

Here are some of the highlights from his time in front of the mic:

On making sure teammates follow protocols so as not to jeopardize the season:

“Man, I always let the boys know that it’s bigger than us. What’s life without football? I told them, ‘Y’all seen how it was without football. We didn’t have nothing to do.’ I told them we have to be smart. If we’re out, make sure we wear our masks. We’re all college students at the end of the day. I’m never going to tell nobody not to be a college student. I’m never going to tell nobody not to do something that they want to do. But I tell them, make sure you be cautious. Wear your mask. If you’re going to the bars, wear your mask. If you’re doing this, wear your mask. Six feet apart. I just always let them know. I’m always in their ear about the smallest things. Wear your mask, six feet apart — just the small things like that. It got us good. Nobody has no positives, so I’m telling them it’s working right now.”

On playing against Penn State after getting injured and missing part of last season’s game:

“It adds a little bit of motivation. I tell the boys all the time like, man, them boys knocked me out. So I’m gonna need y’all boys to bring that dog (mentality), too. Because you already know I’m gonna bring that dog with me. I tell them all the time, this game is real personal to me. So I need y’all boys to get a little extra personal, too. I always say little things about them so I can keep the boys on their toes and stuff. But we’re ready. You know how we’re coming. We’re ready. We ain’t playing. We’re on a mission this year.”

On his excitement for the season opener:

“Man, I ain’t even gonna lie. I’m so excited. I know the team’s excited. That’s all we talk about right now. ‘Man, I can’t wait til we get on the field.’ We can’t wait to get on the field. I ain’t gonna lie, we’re getting tired of playing against each other. Defense, they’re tired of going against us. We’re tired of going against them. So we’re always out there getting chippy and stuff, because we’re tired of playing against each other. It’s getting a little chippy out there. But they ain’t doing nothing but making us better. We’re just ready now. We’re ready for whoever. Whoever is set on the plate, we’re ready to eat them up.”

On maintaining on-field chemistry with Michael Penix through all the starts and stops of the offseason:

“It hasn’t really been that bad because we always found time for us to get a little bit of work in, get us somewhere so we can throw so we all can create chemistry. Not just with Mike. With Dexter (Williams), as well. Jack Tuttle, as well. We find time all the time so we all can get chemistry down. You never know. Mike went down last year (and) God forbid that happens again, but the next guy has to come up. I might go down. (Ty Fryfogle) might go down. Everybody has to be ready, so we’re all getting that collective chemistry together. That’s really the biggest thing, just being together.”