CHAPEL HILL – Kobe Paysour met with the media Tuesday for the first time in more than a year.

His most recent interview session came before he broke a foot last October, then he broke the other foot in December once he was ready to return for the bowl game, had another procedure in the spring, and requests to speak with Paysour were put on hold when fall camp started so he could work his way back without having to publicly discuss it.

So, Paysour fielding questions at the Kenan Football Center was a bit of a triumph for him, and for the media, given that he’s one of North Carolina’s top wide receivers with perhaps the most explosiveness in that position group.

“It was hard, but at the same time, I feel like I needed that because I needed to get better like with off the field stuff like academics and being a student of the game. That’s pretty much it.”

Losing football for an extended period of time forced Paysour to look at other things in his life and purpose for being at UNC. It also made him appreciate football more as well.

“Also coming back to what Coach (Mack) Brown says, it made me think of the 40-year decision that he always preaches.”

Paysour has shown flashes at times of a player who could play at the next level, but even if he does, NFL careers don’t last long and plenty of guys in the league make the minimum salary. So, the injury, time away from football, and Brown’s message finally resonating got the junior from Kings Mountain, NC, thinking very long term about his life and what he can get out of the Carolina experience.

“I was young still,” Paysour said, referring to his mindset before the injuries. I was just sophomore and just wanted to play ball. You can grow a lot in a year.”

At 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Paysour is sixth on the team with 12 receptions for 217 yards and no scores. But his snap numbers were limited earlier in the season because he was still slowly returning to action. In fact, 134 of his 249 snaps this season have come in the last two games as have 10 of his 22 targets.

Right below is video of Paysour’s Q&A session Tuesday followed by some notes from what he had to say:

*Paysour said he started feeling “like my normal self around the sixth practice” of fall camp.

*He also said he may have rushed coming back too soon last December. Paysour missed the final seven games of the regular season and really wanted to be back in the flow before the offseason arrived.

*The problem in the spring was due to a pin in his foot that, as he said, “wasn’t cooperating.”

*In addition, Paysour also discussed having three different starting QBs this season and how adjusting has gone; more about his personal game and trusting his feet; and also quite a bit about Tylee Craft, to whom Paysour grew close the last few years. In fact, our request to speak with Paysour two weeks ago was granted, but he chose not to so he could spend meaningful time with Craft. That was four days before his friend passed away.