CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina held its fourth football practice of fall camp Monday morning, and afterward four Tar Heels fielded questions from the media at the Koman Practice Complex.

The Tar Heels worked out wearing shoulder pads and helmets Monday. The team will not practice Tuesday, but they return Wednesday, and will be in full pads Thursday.

Monday’s interviews were very interesting, as sophomore running back Elijah Green met with the media for the first time in his UNC career, and junior running back D.J. Jones met with the media for one of his few appearances, as well. They spoke about the growth in their games – Green learning about being a part of the passing game, Jones dealing with a series of injuries – about the battles in the running backs room, and more.

Here are videos of both of their interviews along with some notes and pulled quotes from what they had to say:

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A 6-foot, 205-pound running back, Green hasn’t played much yet as he enters his third season at UNC. He ran the ball 11 times for 39 yards last season, and has played 26 snaps the last two seasons. Overall, Green has run the ball 21 times for 94 yards.

*One of the things Green had to learn when he arrived at UNC was to play in a pass-oriented offense, which wasn’t the case for him in high school at Blessed Trinity in Roswell, GA. Green says learning that part of the game was a challenge and took some time.

“It was a tough process, I’m not gonna lie,” he said, smiling. “Coming in from an I-formation offense in high school, I didn’t catch a ball all of high school, and then you get to college in this air raid different-type of offense, it was a big adjustment, and I was and skelly and everything.

“Honestly, I got a quarterback every single day after practice and I’m throwing, trying to catch a hundred balls, getting on the jugs every single day. I’m still doing that to this point. Just trying to better myself and work with (quarterbacks) Drake (Maye), Jacolby (Criswell), Conner (Harrell), Russell (Tabor) and (Jefferson) Boaz, trying to get with those guys.

“I’ve got to continue to work on it, I’m not there yet, so just to continue to get better and be the best player I can be.”

*What about the pass protection? That is a challenge for running backs that played in passing attacks in high school, but as Green said, he didn’t at all.

“Pass protection is a big adjustment as well, just learning the different schemes that we have in our offense,” he said. “And that’s another thing I didn’t do much of – blocking. So, just work with Coach (Larry) Porter every single day, and work with other running backs, learning from guys like British, who have that kind of experience.

“Watching film, and that’s the kind of thing you’ve got to do, especially as a younger guy trying to adjust to get low and block those guys.”

*The running back room might be the most interesting one over the next month, as six talented Tar Heels are battling for roles in the rotation. Green is one of those players, and says

“The competition has been great,” Green said. “We’re all working every single day, and the fact that we have so many good guys in the running back room, we get each other better every single day. You see a guy break out a run, and you say, ‘Man, I’ve got to do that.’ It’s gonna push me to go harder and push me to get better.

“Honestly, it’s really good that we have that competition and so many guys that can carry the ball. That’s what you want in the running back room.”

*Competition makes one better, all athletes say, but is it a bit tense or stressful jockeying for one of those spots in the rotation?

“Honestly, we’re all just trying to have fun with it,” Green said. “Just do everything that we can every single day, work hard. And whoever is that number one-two-three, that’s wat it is; those are the people that deserve to be in. We’re just trying to work every single day to separate ourselves and put ourselves in that position to be in that one-two-three.”

Staying healthy has been a problem for D.J. Jones. Multiple injuries have kept him out of action or slowed him for most of his first two seasons in Chapel Hill. Jones has played in 17 games as a Tar Heel, eight as a true freshman in 2020, and he would have started the Orange Bowl, but a broken foot kept him from playing.

Jones played in just nine games but had a much bigger role when healthy. Jones ran the ball 60 times for 253 yards (4.2 average) with a long of 29 yards, though he did not score a touchdown. Jones played 242 offensive snaps. In 2020, Jones carried the ball 11 times for 65 yards and scored the only touchdown of his Carolina career. He played 20 offensive snaps that season.

*Staying healthy is a primary focus for Jones, and has been for two years.

“Not anymore,” Jones replied, when asked if it still weighs on his mind. “I feel great now. I’m healthy. Last year, that was on my mind all year, and this year – past spring and the past couple of days in camp – I haven’t really thought about an injury because I’ve been feeling good and confident about everything. It hasn’t really crossed my mind lately.”

Note: Jones had a fractured ankle early on at UNC, then broke his foot late in the 2020 season, forcing him to miss the Orange Bowl. He has had two surgeries already.

*Jones hasn’t felt this good in quite a while. In fact, on a few occasions he’s done something on the field and was immediately reminded of what it used to feel like.

“Spring was the first time I got to feel (like) myself again, really since high school,” Jones said. “So now it’s just building days, day-by-day, getting consistent with everything, and when I do feel those feelings, it’s like, ‘Alright, I’ve got to be humble about it and make sure I keep adding and stacking those up.”

*Jones was also asked quite a few questions about the competition in the running backs room, one in particular question was phrased, “How crazy is it that two of you guys are going to end up on the scout team?”

“That’s what’s crazy because we have a deep room with six running backs,” Jones replied. “Everybody in the room is talented, and everybody has a different skillset, so it’s going to be fun to see who’s going to be able to compete the most every day, who’s going to be able to jell with the team the best, and that’s who’s going to come out on top to be on the blue team and be able to play in the first game.”

*The competition is intense, and the way this shakes out will includes some intangibles Jones laid out.

“One thing that we preach in our room is whoever has the best chemistry with the o-line and quarterbacks, because we’ve got a quarterback situation going on, so we’re trying to see who can make them feel the most comfortable, and whoever’s in has the offense run the smoothest.”