Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was asked Tuesday about Auburn linebacker Demarcus Riddick before the Iron Bowl.
Auburn freshman linebacker Demarcus Riddick on Monday made headlines with a series of bulletin-board statements on Alabama, including quarterback Jalen Milroe and wide receiver Ryan Williams, before Saturday’s Iron Bowl.
On Tuesday, Alabama held its regularly-scheduled media availability with five players. Milroe was among the players made available, and was asked about Riddick’s declaration that he is faster than Milroe and the Tide quarterback will “not get out of that box this week.”
Responded Milroe: “I don’t know who that is. Let him talk. It’s a part of it. It’s all about just executing what we need to do, so we can be our best us this weekend.”
Riddick, from Chilton County (Ala.) High School, also declared he will not lose to Alabama during his time at Auburn, and found Alabama to be “beatable” when watching its 24-3 loss at Oklahoma.
“It don’t surprise me,” Alabama fifth-year safety, from Trussville (Ala.) High School, said Tuesday. “They gonna do stuff to put it out there and try to hype the game up. But the game is already hype. It’s the Iron Bowl. Can’t get no bigger than this. We gonna see Saturday.”
Riddick also said Alabama star freshman receiver Ryan Williams is “electric” but added, “He ain’t really nobody to me. Ryan Williams is himself, he ain’t no big-time player to me.”
Alabama fourth-year defensive lineman Tim Keenan, from Ramsay High School in Birmingham, smiled Tuesday when asked if he thought Williams was a big-time player.
“I definitely think Ryan Williams is a big-time player,” Keenan said. “I think that’s the best 17-year old I’ve ever seen. I’m a big fan of Ryan Williams.”
Keenan said Auburn is a “good team” and another defensive lineman, Jah-Marien Latham, brushed off the pregame chatter.
“I feel like every week somebody on the opposing team has something to say that blows up in the media,” said Latham, who played at Pickens County (Ala.) High School. “That’s something that we can’t worry about. Our job is come out here and put in the work so on Saturday we’re able to go out and play. That’s just an external factor and things we don’t need to feed into.
“Me personally, I have never been a trash-talk type of guy. Even on the field, I rarely talk trash. I line up, do my job, get to the ball. I feel like it doesn’t help you out any way, talking trash on the field. It might give you a sense of excitement, personally, but for me, I just think my job is to line up and go ahead and execute this play.”