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Kliff Kingsbury and several Texas Tech football players met with the media following the team's Tuesday practice. Here are the latest notes, quotes and takeaways from the day's action.

- Kingbsury and the program's training staff rested a number of players - either veterans or players suffering from minor nicks and bruises - on Tuesday, holding them out of most of the practice. That group included running back Justin Stockton, wide receiver T.J. Vasher, running back Corey Dauphine, nose tackle Ondre Pipkens, rush end Jacarthy Mack and a few others.

- Kingsbury and the staff are approaching the end of camp much like NFL teams handle the preseason - ramping down the workload for their veterans as camp winds down. The Red Raiders played all of their starters and veterans in the team's scrimmage on Saturday and are now taking it easier with that group this week.

- Kingsbury said the team will begin to work some on Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday.

- It seems as if defensive coordinator David Gibbs' two-deep is still fairly fluid, as quite a few players at each level ran a few plays with both the first and second unit during Tuesday's early 11-on-11 period. Most notably, true freshmen linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Brayden Stringer, true freshmen defensive backs Desmon Smith and Douglas Coleman, and rush end Kris Williams got some run with the starting defensive unit. And again, they were rotating in and out with expected starters such as linebackers Malik Jenkins and D'Vonta Hinton, cornerbacks Paul Banks and D.J. Polite-Bray and rush end Gary Moore, respectively.

- It's also worth noting that both Smith and Coleman were getting run at cornerback. Kingsbury spoke specifically about Smith following practice and noted that the former three-star prospect is getting to the point where he is game ready at corner: "I'd say more game ready at corner because he's long, physical, and can get his hands on people. We'll do some things to help him out of he has to play safety and try to keep him in situations where he keeps comfortable, but at corner he can use his instincts and be a good athlete and be physical."

- Kingsbury also touched on the development of true freshmen linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Brayden Stringer: "We're throwing them in there. Both really have a nose for the football. You want guys that can see and chase the ball, and they both can see it quickly and aren't afraid to stick their nose in their. They're gonna play a bunch, they'll have a prominent role on special teams, and then find their way into that linebacker rotation."

- As for Brooks, Kingsbury feels like the true freshman could emerge as a starter at some point this season: "He can. "I'm not sure that he will, but I would not bet against it, particularly as the season goes on. He's got that type of ability."

- Much has been made of the recent shuffling of Texas Tech's starting offensive line, and it seems that the Red Raiders have started working with another combination. Terence Steele started at left tackle and seems to have locked in at the position, with Baylen Brown at left guard, Paul Stawarz at center, Justin Murphy at right guard and Madison Akamnonu at right tackle.

-According to Kingsbury, Stawarz has been working at center for nearly a week now, noting that Stawarz played the position in both high school and junior college, so it's not a completely new spot for him.

- Another player that seems to have come to the forefront is true freshman tackle Travis Bruffy. He's been running with both the first and second team at right tackle at times. Bruffy has impressed Kingsbury with his ability to quickly pickup and process information: "He's been great. Very skilled offensive lineman. He was a pitcher in high school. The last real baseball pitcher type of guy I was around was Luke Joeckel at A&M. He was a big athlete, big baseball player, and that's who Travis reminds me of. He's got to get stronger, but things come to him very easily as far as pass setting and moving around, so he's got a chance to be a pretty good player. He'll play. He's not going to redshirt."

- Kingsbury said that he wasn't sure if any of the team's true freshmen offensive linemen were going to redshirt this season. In fact, they're going to try and play them all since the program has such a big group of offensive linemen expected to enroll early and join the program in January.

-As for center Tony Morales, Kingsbury noted that the sixth-year senior has been banged up a bit through camp. Morales seems to be back and healthy for right now, but he's running at second-team center as they get him back into game shape.

- Kingsbury noted that he thought jack-of-all-trades tailback Quinton White might be the player that's really helped himself the most over the last few practices. He's catching the ball well and has really seemed to find a niche as a utility player they can count on as a fullback, wing, running back or wherever they need to place him.

- Kingsbury was asked about H-receiver De'Quan Bowman. The head coach noted that the former JUCO transfer has looked good in the punt return game but still has quite a ways to go as far as learning the offense.

- X-receiver Derrick Willies spoke with the media for the first time since he's been on campus today. When asked about his competition with Devin Lauderdale at X: "The competition has been great. We're gonna push each other, and I think that's how we're going to get the best out of each other."

- Willies on if there was a big adjustment period or not coming in: "I wouldn't say there was too much adjusting since I've been at a Division I college before. It was more just getting back into the groove of things."

- Willies on his relationships with the quarterbacks: "Me and Pat (Mahomes) are real close. We hang out pretty much every day," he said. "(Nic Shimonek) is my roommate. I'm always with him. He's like my brother. I'm real close with his family and stuff."

- Linebacker Malik Jenkins felt like the scrimmage on Saturday went really well for the defense: "I think it's always good when the defense scores on turnovers. I think the energy is getting better and better each week, so I'm pretty proud of the group both offensively and defensively. We had an awesome scrimmage, in my opinion. We were out there tackling, and we just try to get better on something. Coach Spav always emphasizing to try and fix two things every day, and I think tackling as a whole defensive whole is awesome. I think we have a lot of things to get better at, but I think we are taking a step forward every day and every week, at least we try to, so I think that's the one big positive thing as the whole defense takes the field."

- The defense had a strip fumble recovery and pick-six in the scrimmage on Saturday. Walk-on R.J. Hester got the pick-six at the end of the scrimmage.

- Again, Jenkins made note of just how different he feels after going through Rusty Whitt's offseason program: "Just me gaining about 20 pounds, I can take on linemen way longer than I ever could compared to last year. I can run more reps, and I'm just ready. Coach Whitt, he builds tough people, both mentally and physically."

- Now, Jenkins feels like the team looks the part and will play the part late in games: "We're going to be, if not bigger than everybody else, we're going to be up to par. I feel like we're going to be ready. Come fourth quarter and overtime, we're going to be ready."

- When asked if he felt the team was undersized as compared to some of the teams they played last year, Jenkins said this: "Yes. Me, for sure. Me playing linebacker, I just felt like I wasn't linebacker size. I feel like after getting with coach Whitt and his staff, all the linebackers are over 220, and we're ready to go."

- Defensive lineman Talor Nunez noted that he's been playing at defensive tackle, defensive end and rush end in fall camp. He's just playing wherever they need him right now.

- Many member of the defensive line, when asked, have said they felt like this unit is much closer than it's been in the past. I asked Nunez simply what he thought the biggest difference he saw in this defensive line as opposed to last year's, and he said this: "I would say the camaraderie. We're a family now. We take care of each other, we go hang out together. I think that's the biggest thing, cause when we're out there on the field, it's tough out there, and us knowing that we're a family and there for each other, knowing that we're in our gaps, that makes a big difference because we know we can trust those guys next to us."

- Nunez was also very complimentary of Texas Tech assistant strength and conditioning coach Scott Salwasser, who focuses on speed and power development within the offseason program: "I would call him like a genius when it comes to speed training."

- Y-receiver Ian Sadler acknowledged to the media on Tuesday night that Jonathan Giles is now the starter at the position. On the competition, and their relationship, Sadler said this: "We have a great relationship. He's like my little brother, best friend type of thing. The competition is great. We're always pushing each other to the limits, out there on the field and the relationship."

- So, why does Sadler think Giles has made that jump? He put it simply: "He's fast. He's gotten a lot better. Y'all will see when Saturdays come around."

- Sadler noted that he has been missing some time trying to make sure his knee stays healthy, but he's been going every day as of late.

- When asked about the improvement of the defense, Sadler said this: "This camp they've looked really good. It's the best I've seen them since I've been here, so I'm really excited to get into the season."

- When asked, like Jenkins, if he thought the team was undersized last year: "For the most part, yes. Going into a couple of games, there were teams that were a lot bigger than us. Now, I feel like we matchup as well as anybody."