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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina junior defensive lineman Jahvaree Ritzie met with the media following practice Wednesday afternoon at the Kenan Football Center.

Ritzie and the Tar Heels completed their twelfth practice of fall camp before he fielded questions, are several days from ending camp and getting into more of an in-season practice mode.

UNC opens the season September 2 versus South Carolina in Charlotte.

Among the things Ritzie spoke about were the defense being faster off the snap this season, increased hitting in practice, his take on how the offensive line has improved, and much more.

Full video of Ritzie’s Q&A session is above and some tidbits are below:

*Ritzie says fall camp this month has been “a lot more physical” than it was this time a year ago. He attributes some of that to the players being more experienced, so there’s less explanation and more getting after it.

*Ritzie also said hitting more and being more physical has been more emphasized. UNC Coach Mack Brown as said he wants his team to shed the “soft narrative” about them, though Ritzie said that specifically isn’t pushed, but the defense has a chip on its shoulders for many reasons.

An example of this is that the Tar Heels had a 75-play scrimmage this past Saturday, but instead of taking the next day off to recover and review, the team had another hard, physical practice. Brown said the staff wanted to see who would handle it well. Ritzie said he thinks the team handled it well.

“We’re all trying to be disciplined and know that each day is something new and you never know what you’re going to expect. So you just come into Fridays with the mindset of attacking the ball, being hard physical, and knowing that you’ve got to do your job regardless of what day it is.”

*Defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said all forms of assignment discipline was one of the points of emphasis on that side of the ball, and that if executed properly, would lead to more sacks and TFLs. So far, that has been the case this month. Brown noted Tuesday the defensive front is getting to the QB more and registering more TFLs than a year ago.

Ritzie said trusting one another can and will exercise their role is happening.

“Playing off of each other and know what each other has to do jobs-wise and play-wise, I think that’s been our best thing because everyone knows, if he doesn’t know the play, you gotta let him know the play. And once you know that, you just (ball).”