Nov. 10, 2008
MONDAY PRESS CONFERENCE COVERAGE All Access: Watch Monday’s Press Conference
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More Quotes: Players comment on Kentucky game
Head Coach Bobby Johnson
Quotes from Weekly Press Conference
Monday, November 10, 2008
Kentucky Game
Opening Statement:
“When coming off a tough loss, I think its important that our team learned a lot of things from it and starts working to improve those things. We have to put that game behind us and get back to work in practice this week. I think this week’s practice is going to be extremely important and we are looking forward to getting started tomorrow. We had a short practice on Sunday and will take today off before we work on Kentucky tomorrow.”
On if he has changed his routine at all:
“No. That’s what we do every week. We always have a short practice following Saturday’s game on Sunday. We give the team an off day on Monday, which allows them to focus on school and they are allowed to go to any labs or late classes that they might have.”
On if the poor tackling against Florida prompts the team to be more physical in practice this week:
“I don’t think so. I think we can do some drills where you can work on tackling and wrapping up, but I don’t think we will be more physical than we normally are. We’re in our 10th game of the year so we have a bunch of guys that are banged up. If we get someone hurt in a tackling drill in practice, we won’t be too happy. So I don’t think we are going to do that.”
On the team’s mentality right now:
“I think we are going to be ok. I think our guys realize that we have three tough games left but we’re looking at it as three opportunities. Our players worked hard in the weight room yesterday and they were attentive in their meetings, so they’re not going in a shell. They are ready to come out and work hard in practice this week to become a better football team.”
On the talent and speed of Florida:
“With as many athletes as they had, I think it gives them certain advantages in terms of special teams and overall depth over most other teams. In order for us to play with them, we have to manage the game much better than we did. We needed to be great on special teams and we needed to take care of the ball better. You have to do all those things in order to stay with them. We knew coming into the game that they had a great quarterback, great skill players and one of the best offensive lines in the country, so we knew we had a small margin of error. A team like Florida almost forces you to be good in all phases of the game and if you’re not, they will make you pay for it.”
On Mackenzi Adams status for Kentucky:
“As of right now, we don’t know. We won’t know until we see him out in practice running full speed. Hip pointers are an unpredictable injury and they are painful. Until we see him trying to run full speed in practice, we really don’t know.”
On Chris Nickson Performance Saturday:
“I think Chris (Nickson) was 5-1 as a starter, so he played pretty well the first half of the season. At this point, were not going back to look at the past, we are looking at this week only. We’re going to try to get our whole team ready for Kentucky and we are going to look at every position and see if we need to make changes.”
On using Adams and Nickson against Kentucky:
“We could do a possibility of things. I think both of them have the same kind of skill set so we’re not going to have a different game plan for both of them. Both of them will be ready to play against Kentucky, so it won’t be a problem to play both.”
On the versatility of Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb:
“Randall is a great athlete and he is one of those players that has the capability to play a lot of positions. He could be a defensive player, a quarterback and a receiver so he is versatile. He seems to be really calm out there for a freshman quarterback so he is a good football player. They have done a good job of designing some plays for him and he is real comfortable running them.”
On the challenges Cobb presents Vanderbilt’s defense:
“Obviously, he can run the ball well but he has also demonstrated that he can manage the game well. He made some huge plays against Georgia last Saturday and their offense put up a lot of points against a defense that doesn’t really allow a lot. He gives defenses all kinds of headaches because you have to take care of all those things.”
On George Smith’s injury status:
“I don’t think George (Smith) was full speed against Florida and I don’t think he will be this week quite yet. We need to test him to see if he can play at full speed in practice because if we can’t, we’ll have to keep him on the sideline and get somebody in there that is healthy.”
On Kentucky defensive back Trevard Lindley:
“Any defensive back in this league has to be a great athlete and have great reflexes. It’s not just running fast, its quickness and technique and Trevard (Lindley) does a great job of all those things. He can play on the ball and off the ball and he has a lot of experience against SEC receivers. Overall, he is a very good football player.”
On the big hit that Jared Hawkins took last year against Kentucky:
“Our coaching staff saw a tough, clean hit. It was on time and it was in bounds so we didn’t make anything of it.”
On Kentucky’s powerful offense:
“They have some good running backs and I think their offensive line has improved every year that we have played them. They have had some injuries at wide receiver, but players have stepped up and have done a good job of filling in. We expect this to be a four-quarter game and our offense, defense, and special teams need to improve. Our special teams need to get back to where it was before. It is definitely going to take that kind of effort to beat this team, especially up in Lexington.”
On the weather potentially being a factor in Lexington:
“The weather up there isn’t bad. It can be kind of damp and cold, but it is nothing severe. It’s not a spring day in Nashville, but it’s exactly what you expect when playing football in the middle of November.”