Q. Keldric, you're the first sophomore ever selected for SEC Media Days by Auburn. What kind of honor is that, and what does it mean to be up there representing your team?
KELDRIC FAULK: It means a lot. It shows that I'm becoming a leader on my team, and I'm leading the right way on my team.
Q. We have spoken to a lot of players from other schools about how tough it is to play at Jordan-Hare. What do you think makes it such an intense environment for road teams?
KELDRIC FAULK: I think it's the hardest place in college football to play. You have the fans on the sideline all against you. The energy from our fans and from our players on the sideline is different from anywhere else in college ball.
Q. Oklahoma comes to town for their first-ever road SEC contest. How do you think Jordan-Hare is going to welcome them to the SEC? What kind of environment are you expecting for that game?
KELDRIC FAULK: We're going to welcome them like any other team. We're going to show them that it's the toughest place to play in college ball. It's not going to be an easy game that you can come in and just walk all over us. No, it's not going to be that. It's going to be something you have to fight for.
Q. What does it take to go from being a true freshman to a guy that plays every single game and becomes what you've become? What kind of mental fortitude does that take and physically what's required?
KELDRIC FAULK: Mentally a lot is required. You're going out there every Saturday playing against some of the best players in college ball. A lot of people say the SEC is like the mini-NFL. You have so many NFL Draft picks and NFL prospects you're playing against every week, have you to play with your A-game. You have to practice like it's your last. Mentally it takes a lot out of you, and physically probably even more.
Q. Marcus Harris moving on to the NFL after an outstanding Auburn career, you got to play with him your first year, work alongside him. What did you learn and what did you see working with Marcus?
KELDRIC FAULK: I learned how to work like a pro athlete. Marcus Harris was one of the hardest workers on our team. I also learned how to lead like a leader should. He was one of our vocal leaders. He was also a leader by example.
So every day I try to mimic that and perfect it to the best of my ability.
Q. What has it been like working with DJ Durkin and how has your relationship been with him?
KELDRIC FAULK: It's been energized. He brings the energy every day. He expects perfection, which that's what we strive for. We strive for perfection every day.
He expects the best out of us, and whenever we step on that field, he's dialed in, he's bringing the energy, and keeping us active and in the scheme at all times.
Q. A lot of new faces on the defensive line, some incoming transfers, some freshmen. What can you say about the rest of the group on the Auburn defensive line, and who has really stepped it up this offseason?
KELDRIC FAULK: I would say Keyron Crawford and Jalen McLeod are two guys on the edge that are really stepping up. They're not vocal leaders, per se, but they are more, we're going to show you, like, this is how it's supposed to be done type of leaders. They're example leaders.
You have Philip Blidi. I think he came from Indiana. He is one of those guys, another guy. He leads by example. He is one of the hardest workers on the team. He attacks every workout, every practice, every run like it's his last.
Q. Cam Coleman has gotten a bunch of attention this offseason. What have you seen from him? Do you guys have to try to keep his head on his shoulders a little bit?
KELDRIC FAULK: Cam Coleman, he's been phenomenal in the spring. You could tell from when he first came, being five-star or not, it didn't really matter to him.
He came in with his head down. He was ready to work as soon as he stepped on campus. You could tell from the first practice to the end of spring how developed his game was.
He was already a pretty good player, but by the end of the spring he looked really good.
Q. You are one of several Hugh Freeze recruits from the immediate area. JC is from nearby. Cam Coleman. A lot of guys. Is it more special playing for a school really close to where you grew up and sort of something that feels like home?
KELDRIC FAULK: Yeah, it's pretty special because you get to represent where you from. Then also you have your hometown, like, not too far down the road. They're behind you ten toes. You representing them and representing your home state. It's a pretty big deal to me.
Q. A lot of other teams that have come through here have talked about the difficulty of playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium. What's the experience been like for you, and what do you think is the real edge of playing there?
KELDRIC FAULK: The real edge is the intensity that Jordan-Hare brings. Like, it's not easy to play in there. I can speak for it on the defensive side of the ball.
When we're out there on defense, you can barely hear anything. You can rarely make checks on the field. So you can imagine how it is for the offense on the other side.
Q. You talk about the Auburn Tigers having 6 of 7 seasons back-to-back years. How have you been able to do away with those two seasons and really look forward to this season, and what can we expect on the field this season?
KELDRIC FAULK: You really just build off of what you had last season. It was Coach Freeze's first year last year, assembling the team in the time that he had as far as recruits and then getting guys out of the transfer portal. Looking back on that, you got a lot to build off of.
With the players on the team now, what we had last year, we're excited even more for this year.
Q. You got on the field a lot as a true freshman. There are true freshman that want to play a lot. What's your advice, and what are the important things they need to do if they want to contribute as true freshmen?
KELDRIC FAULK: My advice is it can be done. It's not nothing that is impossible to do. Yeah, it's going to be hard because you coming from playing high school ball where you're better than most everybody on the field. Now you're playing against people that are better or as good as you.
Now you just have to work ten times harder to become that player you want to be. Once you become that player, you get seen, and now you stepping on the field.
Q. I want to ask you about the young wide receivers and the transfer from Penn State. What's your opinion of them, and what can they bring to the team?
KELDRIC FAULK: Yeah, that's a good question. As far as the freshmen, I mean, the freshmen are hungry. They came in. They were ready to go to work. They were ready to play.
But as far as the transfers, like KeAndre Lambert, as far as I can tell -- we don't see him as much, but as far as I can tell, he is trying to become a leader in his own right now. He's been working his tail off in the weight room, in our team runs, whenever we condition.
So the freshmen guys are getting the knowledge from him and other guys like Kam Brown, guys that already been through it, have really helped them too.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports