Quarterback Jaylen Henderson says his heart has 'embraced' Aggieland

After transferring from Fresno State and beginning the season as a third-stringer, Jaylen Henderson got his chance late in the year and made the most of it. In an exclusive interview, the quarterback spoke about his whirlwind season that isn't over yet.

Key notes from Jaylen Henderson interview

• We still have a bowl game, so I haven’t reflected much on the season. It was a blessing how everything happened. It was a blessing to have my family there for the Mississippi State game to see my first touchdown. We still have a game left, so we’re back to work.
   
• Those guys are hard workers, so I wanted to be with those guys from day one. I was always working out during the summer with them. Ainias Smith is a leader of our team, so he embraced me. Other guys embraced me as well. It was a smooth transition.
   
• Against Arkansas, I didn’t know what was happening or if Max Johnson was hurt or not. I just wanted to be prepared. When he went down in that game, I was just warming up to be ready if it was indeed that time.
   
• From the beginning of the season, I was locked in. You never know. Both of your quarterbacks could get hurt in game one. You never want to see your brothers get hurt. Those guys work hard. When I had to step in, I had to do what I had to do.
   
• I would have been ready if my time had come earlier. I came here ready. I feel like that’s why they brought me here, and I’m blessed that Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino brought me here. I feel like they saw something that a lot of other schools didn’t.
   
• We were surprised when Fisher got fired. We had just won by 40 points and played great as a team, but you wake up the next morning and see on ESPN that your coach is getting fired. We had a team meeting.
   
• Texas A&M is a great school. I love Bobby Petrino, but A&M is a prestigious school, both academically and football-wise. You’ve got the 12th Man behind you. I couldn’t leave. My heart has embraced it, and I love it here. My family loves it too.
   
• You know about the Heisman stuff before the game, but that wasn’t my focus against LSU because I don’t play defense. I had faith in my defense. I couldn’t control what Jayden Daniels did, and he’s a great player. I was just locked into what we needed to do on offense.
   
• Daniels is a great player, so we didn’t want to give him the ball. We were trying to have a larger time of possession. On third downs, we were just able to keep the chains moving.
   
• It’s a blessing to go into Death Valley for my first away start. It was a fun experience, but obviously, we wanted to win. We have to find a way to win. Most of the games we lost, we were in them. Once we figure out how to finish, we could be a completely different team.
   
• Bowl practices have been fun. It’s good to play football again, and it’s exciting. It has been a good experience. The coaches are making it enjoyable, and the players are locked in, too, as we get ready for Oklahoma State.
   
• Conner Weigman has been a big help. He has been supportive throughout the season. That shows our brotherhood in the quarterback room. Whoever was playing, the other guys always had support for him. I appreciate him.
   
• I’m excited about Collin Klein. We had a meeting that went well. I like how he runs his offenses. It’s exciting and keeps defenses off balance. It should be a fun spring and fall camp.
   
• Oklahoma State is the Big 12 runner-up for a reason. They’re a good team. Their defense runs, but I feel like we match up well against them. We still have guys around who can play.
   
• I am always going to bet on myself. I didn’t come here to be a third-string, but that’s what happened. I supported those guys in front of me until my time came. It was a fun experience.
   
• I can be a leader. We have Layden Robinson, Max Wright and Ainias Smith leaving. We’re losing some guys, so I feel like I can step up and fill that role. There will be others who step up as well.
   
• Micah Tease has a great opportunity to come into this bowl game, and there are some guys on the offensive line to watch too. Defensively, there will be some guys who can make plays too.