It’s a mild weekday afternoon in Flowery Branch, and after the players finish stretching, Matt Bryant walks over to one of the side fields and sets up his tee. Rap music is blasting from the speakers. Eric Weems is dancing on the sidelines. Coach Bryan Cox is giving one of his linemen a hard time and laughing heartily at his own jokes. The offensive linemen are bashing each other in the chest with red pads.
The atmosphere is loose, competitive, fun. Bryant, however, has removed himself from the present moment and crafted a different environment in his brain.