Texas A&M Football Weekly Press Conference - TEXAS A&M OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Texas A&M Football Weekly Press Conference

Nov. 2, 2009

COLLEGE STATION, Texas--Head Coach Mike Sherman and players of the team meet with members of the press to talk about the upcoming game against Colorado.

A full transcript of Coach Sherman's press conference, along with selected quotes from players, will be available soon. Audio clips are available in MP3 format to the right.

Michael Shumard [mp3]

Kevin Matthews [mp3]

HEAD COACH Mike Sherman TRANSCRIPT

As far as the thin air is concerned, when you were in the pros did any of the teams do anything special when they went out to Denver?

"Well, the usual school of thought is either you go out there real early and acclimate yourself, or you get there as late as possible. I don't think a 24-hour time difference makes a big deal. If you're out there and play the game within 24 hours I don't think it's going to be a problem."

You got on Howard Morrow pretty good on the 15-yard celebration penalty when he scored the touchdown. What does it say about either what the rule says or how they are enforced that a kid can't make a salute gesture on Military Appreciation Day without getting flagged 15 yards?

"Well, my felling on that, with the utmost respect to the men and women of our service, is that there's lot of ways to respect them. (You can) stay after the game, go shake their hands, tell them how much you appreciate them. In that moment, I think you disrespect your teammates because you give a 15-yard penalty. That was my reaction to that. As far as the rule itself is concerned, we have to play by the rules, whichever ones they give us. That's one of the rules, and we know what the rules are. I'm sure that official didn't want to do that, but that is one of the rules. Until the rule is changed that's how we have to play the game."

Would you like to see them changed?

"No, because I think once you open up that can of worms, something else happens, and all of a sudden it goes the other way. Do I think what he did was atrocious? Absolutely not, but at the same time, once you open up a can of worms like that, before long we've got guys with sharpies out there signing autographs and what not (laughter). That's what happens. Was that offensive? Absolutely not. On that particular day, it was not. But it was against the rules and the rules apply to everybody."

Have you been surprised how quickly Patrick Lewis has come on?

"I knew Patrick would be a good player. He comes out of a great high school program in East St. John, coached by Larry Dauterive. He's just a tough, hard-nosed kid coming out of high school. He played a lot of different positions in the offensive line, a very smart kid. But I'm really not that surprised. I actually thought it would happen sooner. I thought he would have been a starter the first week. But not having gone through spring ball certainly slowed down that process a little bit. He's a very powerful young man. A tough kid. He'll be leader on that offensive line for quite some time I believe. That's a big plus for us. I thought that this was his best game, his most consistent game. He really made some nice blocks and displaced people at the line of scrimmage. This was his first really good complete game."

What has caused the dramatic change in the offensive line over the last few weeks?

"I don't want to take anything away from them. They've worked extremely hard. They're playing with better pad level. Their techniques are better. I've simplified the run game a little bit so they are having a lot more reps in what we're doing. Matchups play a part in that too. Certain ones you match up well, and others you don't. You have to look at the whole ball of wax. We're still a work in progress. I don't think after two ballgames we're the old Washington Redskins offensive line back there years ago. But we're making progress and getting better. We still have a ways to go."

When you say you've simplified the running game what do you mean?

"Have few more repeat runs in the game plan, and we cut down on the number of runs that we're actually working in the context of the game."

What would becoming bowl eligible in your second year mean in terms of progress of the program?

"It's something that obviously is hanging out there, but at the same time we'll worry about that once that happens, or if that happens. If we take care of business I think we'll have a chance. I haven't thought that far ahead, actually, what the implications may be."

It's one game ahead, potentially...

"Yeah...and once that happens you can ask me that question and I'll tell you how I feel (laughter). I know it's a cliché, but I truthfully...when we were getting ready to play last week, I wasn't sure who we had the next week. I don't ever look very far ahead. It's important to stay in the present in this business and take care of what you take care of right today, have a great practice today. This is what the kids hear from me all the time. I think you do the very best job you can every single day, every time you go out on that field, whether it's practice or a game. You plow your way through the season that way, and whatever happens, happens. You do your very best. If that happens or when it happens I'll definitely answer that question for you."

Could you talk about (quarterbacks) Coach (Tom) Rossley and how he's progressing?

"Coach Rossley, as many of you may or may not know, had surgery to reconstruct his jaw. Earlier in the season they went in and there was a tumor in his jaw they had to take out. That process, well I'm sure it was to him, but it wasn't too difficult at the time. But then there were other issues, and they had to go back in there and make his jaw more substantial and reconstruct some things. The possibility of infection plays a part of it and different things, and he is on antibiotics and has his jaw wired shut. He's kind of been missing in action for a couple of weeks now. He was at game up in the press box on Saturday, and the kids saw him on the field for the first time in quite some time. He's slowly getting his strength back. He was in this morning, had to go back and take his medication and will probably be back this afternoon. I think pretty soon he'll be back in full force but he'll still have his jaw wired shut. I said to him, `This is the best it's ever been on the headphones (laughing). It's nice and quiet, I love it', because he and I usually argue back and forth, having been together for quite some time. Anyways, he's doing well. As of right now we're planning on him coming to Colorado. He didn't come to K-State with us, but he'll come to Colorado more than likely."

Are you able to understand him, or how much can you hear?

"As much as I care to (laughing). If he agrees with me, I understand him pretty good. If he disagrees, then it's `Hey, Tom? I don't know what you're saying.' But no, it happens all the time to athletes, they break their jaw and get it shut, and you can still communicate."

There were a lot of good drives last weekend, but does the one right after Iowa State scored stick out to you because you answered what they did?

""Yeah, anytime you can answer a touchdown with a touchdown or a drive like that, that shows a sense of maturity in my mind as opposed a sense of panic, and `Oh boy, here we go'. We've done that a couple of times this year. So I think we're making progress. I don't recall us begin very good at that a year ago. The attitude of getting back on the field, and the confidence factor that those guys have, getting on the field and getting the job done, I thought in the game was very good, as it's been most of the year."

In talking with Lee Grimes in the offseason, was some of the conversation about his health and whether or not he should play this season?

"We talked about his health and his future and the sacrifices he's made for this program. He's given up some body parts. At the end of last season I didn't know where he was going to be. I thought he just played his best ballgame the other day. He really looked as healthy as I've seen him. So that's exciting. But I wasn't 100 percent confident that he'd be able to play this year when we talked back in late December or early January. It's good to see him out there and doing what he's doing. He's slowly but surely becoming more healthy, which for him has really never been the case since we've been here. It made a difference in the game, because he probably was our best offensive lineman of the game the other day."

What is Ricky Cavanaugh's status?

"Ricky right now is coming off an injury. He has missed quite a bit of time and hasn't been 100 percent. We're probably going to end up redshirting Ricky at this point."

Colorado is a team that's been on a roller coaster this year. How do you prepare for a team like that?

"Well, you just have to look at last season. We were fortunate to win that ballgame. We played a terrible first half, particularly on offense. We got lucky in the third quarter. We played one good quarter of football against them last year. So we're not sitting here with any illusions about what to expect. They do a great job. They're a good third-down team on defense. They play a lot of different coverages. They can give you some problems. I have a lot of respect for what they do and how they do it. They are a good coaching staff. We prepare for this game like we do every other game."

Talk about your offense in general, and the evolution from the start of the season to where it is now...

"A lot of it has to do with Jerrod's ability to manage the game. He's improved dramatically there. He's making better decisions. He's getting us into good runs based on his look at the defense and makes good decisions there. The receivers are more confident. When we first got here, we struggled catching football, and they catch the ball pretty well. We don't drop the football in practice or games, we just don't drop the ball. We're adamant about that. The guys have bought into that. I don't think there's a situation that comes up on field where they feel overwhelmed, whether it's a 4th-and-7 or a 3rd-and-12, they feel like they can get it. They probably have pretty good confidence in themselves to a degree. We still have a lot of football left to play and a lot of good teams left to play. The true test will be as we wind out the month of November."

How close is Jeff Fuller to being 100 percent and what has his return to the field meant?

"It's nice. We've been playing with two freshmen over there, Kenric McNeal and Brandal Jackson. It's been great because they've gotten a lot of work in practice and really come on and done a nice job. But having him come back, obviously there's a comfort level between he and our quarterback. That helps tremendously. We ran a slant and go on 3rd-and-2 the other day, and it looked like two guys that had worked together a number of times. It wasn't the easiest pass. I thought even though he was open, (Jerrod) had to get the ball down--the safety was coming over the top and we had made a move on the corner and he bit on the slant--but I think Jerrod knew how that was going to be played out based on fact that it was Jeff. One of the younger kids, I'm not so sure he would have had the confidence, because he hadn't played enough with them or done that route enough with them, to know exactly how it would have played out. There's a great example. Even though he didn't play a whole lot, the plays he does play bring a certain amount of confidence to our quarterback because he knows what (Jeff) is going to do."

Are you worried about the inconsistent play on special teams, especially on kickoff coverage?

"I am. We spend a lot of time as a staff looking at it. We have bunch of young kids running down there. I think talent wise we're fine, it's just guys trying to run around people rather than through people sometimes. They're not trusting their technique of sticking a guy and coming around tight. I thought we covered pretty well on three of them and then we had a couple that got out on us. I think we are getting better, but we just got done looking at it again this morning to make sure we make the necessary corrections. Yeah, it does concern me. Particularly because last year, of the three units--offense, defense and special teams--I thought special teams was, in the second half of the season, our strongest unit as far as making progress."

In the first half you had a fourth-down play, and Jerrod came up to the line and threw a pass to the right sideline to Ryan Tannehill...was that a play that was called or was that an audible called at the line of scrimmage?

"We had the option of running a quarterback sneak. He saw that he had Tannehill. They were stacked up pretty good inside. We've thrown that play in practice quite a bit and he felt confident with it. That was him making a great decision. We probably still could have gotten the sneak, but he felt they were stacked up there a little bit. As long as it worked I have no problem (laughter)."

Does EZ (Uzoma Nwachukwu) have any lingering effects from the hit he took during the game?

"Mild effects. I don't think it's going hold him out of this game. It'll probably hold him out of some contact this week in practice. But I don't think it'll hold him out of the game."

Your defense and the way they've been playing with the turnovers, does that just make life a whole lot easier?

"Defensively we have given up some yardage, but we have been very opportunistic in regards to creating takeaways at some pretty great times in the ballgame. The greatest takeaway you can have defensively is in the red zone, and we've had two in the last two weeks--Terrence Frederick had one up in Lubbock, and Justin McQueen had one on Saturday--so you're basically taking points off the board. Then if the offense can turn around and score, that's even better. It could actually be a 14-point differential. You're definitely taking three points off the board, maybe seven. So yeah, I think we're playing opportunistic football with our guys. There are some things we need to fit up better on the run game, and not let it get all the way down there. But I think they've stepped up and made big plays that we maybe hadn't made a whole lot of last year or early this year."

What's caused the turnaround there?

"I think the guys are really studying the routes. I know McQueen kind of knew a progression they went through with their routes and kind of had an idea of what was coming next, and jumped that route. The same thing with Jordan Pugh, he just had seen that route before. He studied and spent a lot of time looking at tape and he kind of knew what they were going to do, read the quarterback's eyes and jumped that route. I would say it's a credit to our coaches for putting them in that position and teaching them what could possibly happen. But also they spent some time studying and getting ready and recognized what was going to happen."

Is Von Miller having an All-American season?

"Well, that's another thing we'll have to make that analysis at the end of year. He's playing well. He's playing the run better than he has."

A big picture question, can you talk about the way the team responded after the Kansas State game with the two impressive wins? Teams can go any number of directions after that but your guys responded positively...

"I've got to be honest with you, after the Arkansas game and after the Oklahoma State game, I wasn't...I thought we played well in those ballgames, with the exception of the Arkansas second quarter (which) was horrendous. We were terrible. I thought we played three pretty decent quarters of football (against Arkansas). We made some mistakes but I thought they fought and did some good things. I'm disappointed we didn't win that game, up 10-0. But it was a learning experience. I don't think we could handle our own success at that time. And then the Oklahoma State game came down to one play. We missed a field goal, we missed a touchdown pass in the end zone. I thought we played well. I don't dictate how I handle the team based on whether we win or lose. I base it on how we play. They played well. We stayed pretty positive.

"Then the K-State game we didn't play well, that was very evident. We were kind of shell shocked by what happened to us early in the ballgame and never really ever recovered. I don't think we competed. I don't think we quit or anything, but we just didn't compete. Everybody was just worried about their job and wasn't trying to win the game. I treat the losses and the wins the same way in regards to how you analyze the game. I'm probably harder after a win than a loss. But we went in there, looked at everything, talked about what went wrong and how it went wrong and how we have to fix it. I know people outside might have been panicking, but I don't think that's how you fix things. You have to fix them by being honest and accountable, and they were. And we were as coaches as well, with the things that we didn't do well.

"Then I say okay, just like I'll do today, once we get to the afternoon, it's over and we don't talk about it again. It's done. You can't fix it. It's in the books, it's already marked as an `L'. You can't fix that but we can fix next week. So we start focusing on next week and taking care of business. Now we did reference a couple of times how we'd handle the adversity and the lingering emotional effects of this thing, and how you have to put it aside and you can't carry it with you. So we spent a lot of time with some psychoanalysis in regards to guys hanging on to it and not getting over it. They handled the week real well. Going out to Tech, I felt very confident about that ballgame. I gave them an award before the ballgame. I said, `I might as well give it to you now because we're going to go play and we're going to go win this football game,' and we did. We had these little carabiners that we pass out when we win a game, and they did, they did a great job. This week as well. But I guess to answer your question, whether we win or lose, we handle it the same way. We don't get all high when we win and we don't get all panicky when we lose. We try to play the best ball we can that day and if we didn't, what went wrong and how can we fix it?"

What did you see in that week of practice before Texas Tech that inspired you so much?

"I don't know if it was anything I saw in practice necessarily. I felt the team had a lot of character. My experience has been that when your back is against the wall, which it was, that we would come out swinging. We spent a lot of time talking about that. Good things happen when you just keep swinging, and they promised me they would. It wasn't so much what they did in practice. We actually had better practices against K-State. That Monday practice, we were kind of flat in getting ready for Tech. I just thought we were backed into a corner. Anytime I've been in situations with a good group of guys and my back's against the wall, we have always come out on top. I referenced some times in my career where we have, and I said, `You guys are no different than that. There's no reason we can't come out and take care of business and do what we have to do.'"

You passed out carabiners? What's the significance of that?

"It's just something I pass out through the course of the year. You hitch up to your teammate, and you get so many...every time we do something I pass them out, and they have them on their lockers. It's a little thing to remind them that we're climbing a mountain, this analogy I use in the preseason about climbing a mountain, and so forth."

Speaking of mountains, there will be some altitude. Was that an issue with any of your teams in the past in the NFL?

"Well, Lubbock is a pretty good altitude up there. There's a lot of hot air up there too, that affects that (laughter). So we had to deal with that. I know Boulder is a high city. But I've never had a problem with that before, no."

How much easier does it make it for you guys and for Jerrod when you have such balance in your offense?

"The bottom line is the running game. When you can run the football you can pick and choose what you can do. When you can't run the football it gets very hard. Fortunately the last couple of weeks we've been able to run the football. Does that mean we'll be able to do it this week? I don't know. I hope so. If you can run the football it's easy living, because you have balance. I don't care what your stats are, when you're one-dimensional...throwing for 400 is a lot different than running for 200 and throwing for 200. If you run for 200 and throw for 200, you're probably going to win the game. If you just threw for 400, you're probably not going to win the game. I'm a firm believer in balance. We haven't necessarily had great balance."

Are you more confident in Jamie McCoy's running abilities after Saturday?

"I've always been comfortable. I know he turned the ball over but that doesn't have anything to do with his running. I've always been comfortable with him. He's proven in practice a number of times that he can make some cuts, and he really showed a burst the other day actually. He did a nice job. I was pretty excited to watch him run the football the other day. Even Kenny Brown got a run in there too. When you can have a multi-dimensional attack, where they are defending the tailback so much and we can have a quick-hitter like that, it helps a little bit. By the time the linemen get off the blocks the back is already by them. So it kind of helps."

What did Evan Eike do to get in the starting lineup and what do you think of his play since?

"Evan has always been a guy that I've had a lot of confidence in. Evan has to play the game a certain way. He's not the biggest, strongest, or most athletic guy. He has to play with his heart and his head, and play with great technique. My conversation with him is that he has to become excellent technician and stay on his feet. I thought earlier in the season he wasn't on his feet enough. He was on ground a little bit too much. If he's cutting someone it doesn't bother me, but just going out there and flopping around...but he took it to heart and did a much better job. He really has come on. He's done a nice job of pulling and creating space for run game when he does pull. I'm pretty pleased with Evan. He brings a certain amount of toughness to that group as well. He's a good kid."

Did you have a chance to watch any of the Green Bay/Minnesota game yesterday, and if so were you surprised by the somewhat harsh reception Brett Favre got in Green Bay?

"I was. I actually talked to him last night. I was surprised. I thought he would be applauded, and he will be when this is all done. It's still Packers versus Vikings. There's a tremendous rivalry between the two organizations and states. It's just part of living up there. It makes it neat in many ways. But trust me, when it's all said and done, and the dust settles and he does retire--if he does--if we're still alive (laughter)--then I think bygones will be bygones, all will be forgotten and the prodigal son will come home. That's just a fact. That will happen."

He'll go in the Hall of Fame as a Packer, though, right?

"Unless he plays 17 years for the Vikings."

ADDITIONAL QUOTES

ASST HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Joe Kines

on Colorado's front five and the Buff offense... "I keep thinking that these offensive linemen at some point in time are going to get smaller, but in fact this week may be one of the best offensive lines that we've faced all year. 6'9, 305. 6'8, 295. 6'2, 300. Across the board there, great length. They do a nice job of pulling, they do a nice job with protection stuff. A really fine offensive line. They've played a couple of quarterbacks, and seemed to have settled down a little bit now.

on his team's focus... "It's our deal to go to practice today and see if we can't improve this football team. We've improved for the last two weeks. Good work during the week has transferred over to good play. There's a direct correlation there. What we need to do is just take care of our business today and see if we can't get ready to play a really fine Colorado football team."

SENIOR DB Jordan Pugh

on the sudden surge in interceptions... "I don't think it's been a big difference, because we continue to fly to the ball and be aggressive and make plays. But now I guess you can say we're starting to see the fruits of our labor. Guys just kept playing and kept trying to force turnovers. And now, they're coming to us. In the secondary, before we played Tech, we didn't have any interceptions. All we needed was one. T-Fred (Terrence Frederick) sparked that one that we needed. Now it's coming to us. It's been good on defense. The aggressiveness that we've played with has been carried over into the game."

on getting a sixth win... "The biggest thing about that is it's a win, and that's what you want. To be bowl eligible, you've got to win. And this would be just our sixth win. We're looking to finish out at 9-3. That's what we want. But we've got to take it step by step, like Coach is always saying. To get that win would be huge, to be bowl eligible, yes. But we want to win out the rest of the season."

SOPHOMORE OL Evan Eike

on the change in the o-line the last few weeks... "Really, we just pulled together as a unit. We're playing with confidence right now. We've done well, we've stacked practices, stacked games. After that game a couple of weeks ago, we really pulled together and we know we've got to put this thing on our shoulders and offensively we've got to have that run game. Once we get the run game going, it really opens up our pass game and our offense as a whole. We just pulled together and we know we've got to get this thing right and keep getting better each week."

JUNIOR QB Jerrod Johnson

on the play of the offensive line... "I've always had a lot of confidence in those guys. It just comes down to execution. They all have the talent to do it, they just have to execute and get the job done. That's not just the offensive line, that's for all positions. I think that was finally one of the games that we executed from all levels from every position. It just showed what our offense can do if we all execute."

on getting a sixth win... "That was one of our goals, to be bowl eligible. Of course, our ultimate goal is to win a championship, but at the same time you want to get those six wins and get to a bowl game, to have some extracurricular activities after the regular season I guess. But, a bowl game is definitely in our sights, it's one thing we have really tried to stress."

SENIOR OL Michael Shumard

on the play of the offensive line... "A lot of the media and a lot of the fans turned their back on us and it was just kind of us together. We just had to band together and stick together and fight. We came out and fought hard and we won and we turned it around. We have to remember that yeah, our fans are going to be there for us. There are some fans that are going to live for us and die for us, but you've got to realize that our brothers in that locker room are our brothers whether we win or lose. That kind of brought us together."

SENIOR OL Kevin Matthews

on the play of the offensive line... "After the Kansas State game, we knew we needed to change something. We just came into practice that week with a different mindset I guess. We knew we had to change it up, had to get the run game established. Coach Sherman was working with us a whole lot and it was just something that came together. We got our offensive line set now with Patrick Lewis at right guard and Evan Eike at left guard. I don't know what it was, but everything just started working well together. We had a good week of practice and it just carried over into the Texas Tech game."

JUNIOR JACK Von Miller

on the strong play of the defense... "Everybody on our team is stepping up their play. We have freshman linebackers with Jonathan Stewart making plays. I really don't pay attention to it, I just take it play by play really. Our goal as a defense is to get pressure against the quarterback and I think we do that pretty well."

on trying to get to six wins... "We really don't talk about bowl games, we all know that we need to get six wins to go to a bowl game. With the freshmen, like I said before, they really don't have the mindset of freshman. I really don't talk to them as freshmen at all. And they all know that we don't just want to go to a mediocre bowl game. We want to go to a big bowl, the best bowl that you can possibly get. With those standards, we just want to keep winning it and take it one step at a time."

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