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UCLA QB Josh Rosen wants to put the focus back on football

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Finebaum believes Rosen has a right to say what he did (3:03)

Paul Finebaum joins OTL to defend UCLA QB Josh Rosen's comments that school and football do not go together. (3:03)

UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen wants the focus back on football.

Speaking publicly for the first time since his comments about the difficult relationship between college football players and academics were published last week, Rosen had no interest in rehashing the interview he gave to Bleacher Report or the reaction to it.

“I mean, Coach [Jim] Mora kind of addressed the whole thing,” Rosen said, “but at this point I’m kind of just talking about camp.”

In the wide-ranging interview with Bleacher Report conducted in the spring, Rosen touched on several topics, but what he said about academics drew national attention.

"Look, football and school don't go together," Rosen said. "They just don't. Trying to do both is like trying to do two full-time jobs."

"Human beings don't belong in school with our schedules," he continued. "No one in their right mind should have a football player's schedule and go to school. It's not that some players shouldn't be in school; it's just that universities should help them more -- instead of just finding ways to keep them eligible."

Asked Tuesday if he had any solutions to help solve the perceived incompatibility between football players and their academic pursuits, Rosen said, “We’ll see.”

In his two-plus years at UCLA, Rosen has earned a reputation for being willing to speak his mind. Two subjects he has addressed in the past: then-presidential candidate Donald Trump (Rosen said it was “cowardly to run a campaign based on demagoguery and bigotry”) and UCLA’s $280 million apparel deal with Under Armour ("We're still amateurs though...” he wrote on Instagram).

Those topics intersected Monday when Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank announced he would leave President Trump’s manufacturing council.

With an Under Armour logo next to a UCLA logo behind him, Rosen was asked about Plank’s decision.

“I mean, it’s his decision, and hopefully I’ll be in a position like him to make some significant decisions,” Rosen said. “Mr. Plank does what Mr. Plank wants to do.”