PINEHURST, N.C. — Eric Mac Lain looked one reporter in the eye on Monday and told him, “I’m not Deshaun Watson. He did not want to talk with you guys. That’s why he sent me … No, I’m just kidding, go ahead.”

That was the kind of day it was for Clemson’s starting left guard at the ACC’s Annual Football Kickoff in Pinehurst, N.C. Mac Lain answered one Deshaun Watson question after another, but he did it with a great sense of humor and class that made him the star of the event.

The question session with Mac Lain started like this.

Mac Lain: “Hey, my name is Eric Mac Lain. I have been here all day.”

Media: “Will you be here all week?”

Mac Lain: “Yeah, maybe. I might hit some nine irons or something, whatever they say in golf.”

Media: “How about we start off with a Deshaun Watson question?”

Mac Lain: “That would be the greatest question you could ask. Come on.”

But there was a lot of seriousness to Mac Lain as well, as he answered all the questions his star quarterback was not here to answer. Questions about Watson’s knee, or will he practice in camp? How good has Watson looked in summer drills and about his maturity?

“I definitely think he has matured into a leader. That is fair to say,” Mac Lain said. “He is obviously a great athlete and just to watch him progress and get better each and every day, whether in the training room, the weight room or in the field, he is greatly progressing and you will really see that to start the season.”

Mac Lain said he wasn’t surprised Watson did not want to come to the ACC Kickoff, though he and Florida State’s Everett Golson were the only two notable quarterbacks not to attend this year’s event. The other’s, Miami’s Brad Kaaya, Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas, North Carolina’s Marquise Williams and NC State’s Jacoby Brissett, were all here.

“I feel like he did not want to talk about himself so he sent me instead,” Mac Lain said. “A young guy like that might be a little overwhelmed with all these people.”

Mac Lain wasn’t overwhelmed, nor has he been with his new role as a leader on the offensive line. He, along with center Ryan Norton and right tackle Joe Gore, represent the Tigers only three seniors on the offensive line.

“It has really been a different role,” he said. “I have stepped into more of a vocal role. When you are deemed a senior, more responsibilities come along with that. We have worked hard in the weight room all season. Honestly, we are just ready to go.”

And that includes Mitch Hyatt. Mac Lain says the true freshman is ready to assume his role as the starting left tackle. Hyatt took over there after Isaiah Battle departed from the team to enter the NFL’s Supplemental Draft.

“He has been working his tail off. He is a five-star tackle for a reason and now he has to go out there and prove it.”

But in the end, it came full circle. The next question was about Deshaun Watson, and like he did all the others, Mac Lain answered it with class.

“His whole life he has had that pressure of being great. Obviously, since his early high school days, he has been an amazing athlete,” Mac Lain said. “He has not even taken a step down at all, if not a step up to where we can count on him to be the guy. He is going to be the star and everyone knows it, but good luck stopping him.”