🏈 CNS Press Conference, October 10, 2016

[Alabama17Tide]

TRANSCRIPT

OPENING STATEMENT
"I think we had some lapses in the game. I think we still are searching to be able to play a complete game. When we got ahead in the game, we sort of relaxed a little bit and didn't play with the same intensity. It really affected how we played in the second half. We didn't control the ball at all in the second half. We only had the ball for 17 plays. We turned it over a couple of times. A three and out. The defense ended up playing over 50 plays in the second half. You're not really in control of the game when you do that regardless of what the score is and I think we all need to learn some lessons from that. But it was a great win for us and I'm really pleased and happy to see some of our players getting recognized.

"Minkah is a national defensive player of the week and SEC player of the week. JK Scott on special teams, Jalen Hurts as a freshman. These guys have played very, very well. We're extremely pleased that they are being recognized for that.

INJURIES:
"We have a couple guys that will be out today probably. Hopefully they'll be back tomorrow. We're a little banged up after this game. Not serious things, but things that may require another day's rest for several guys, including Reuben Foster and Alphonse Taylor."

TENNESSEE GAME
"This game is a really big rivalry game and a special one for a lot of people in our state, our supporters and our fans. It's obviously a big game for our players as well, and it's very challenging to play this game on the road as it always is because there's always a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Tennessee, I think, has an outstanding team. They lost one game this year to Texas A&M, who also has an outstanding team, in overtime. They have a lot of veteran players returning, I think 18 players total from last year. The quarterback's doing an outstanding job for them. He's a dual threat guy that is very difficult to defend. They have a very good offensive scheme in terms of being able to run the ball and the explosive plays that they are able to make with the skill players that they have make them very, very difficult to defend. I think they've gotten better and better each year on defense, and certainly their defense has played a lot better this year and been very, very difficult to defend. This is a very, very good team, probably one of the ... for sure, a Top 10 team in the country. It's going to be a very challenging game for us."

Can you talk about the aggressive mindset on defense? They all want to make big plays and you have a bunch of guys who can harass the quarterback.
"I thought one of the things that we did well in the last game was we did affect the quarterback in the front seven. I don't know how many sacks we got (six), five or six or whatever it was. I think there were a lot of other plays that the quarterback was affected on, probably about a dozen, and some of those led to big plays. A couple of our interceptions were because the quarterback was under duress.

I think it's a team thing, but I do think that we need to be more difficult to score on, regardless of whether you want to say we're aggressive or not aggressive or we play the coverage better on the back end or we play the ball better. Whatever. You've got to be difficult to score on. We've played two games this year where we've given up a lot of points so we've got to get all 11 guys playing together and doing a good job so that we are more difficult to score on.

You're obviously familiar with Alvin Kamara. What's difficult to defend about him?
"Alvin, to me, is an outstanding player. I think he's got great speed, he's very instinctive. He's a very good receiver, very good at running the ball inside or out and uses his speed to his advantages on the perimeter. And on blitz plays, whether it's screens or whatever, he has been just dynamic this year. This guy is a fantastic player who has a lot of production and certainly is used well in their offense, relative to making it difficult to defend him, the quarterback, Jalen Hurd when he's in there. He's s different style guy but just as effective in a lot of ways. These guys have a lot of weapons and their skill players outside have done an outstanding job of making big plays as well."

What is concussion treatment like for you all now and how does it compare to when you were a player?
"I don't think you want to talk about when I was playing. I don't want to get anybody in trouble or anything. There's two things when I was playing that weren't considered big issues. If you got hit in the head and you knew your name and where you were from, you were ready to go back in. And that's not a good thing. And if you got the wind knocked out of you, that wasn't a big thing. Player safety issues, I think, have to be looked at. I think the protocol for what we do now in terms of concussions is really, really in the best interests of the player. With the testing that we do, and we know a baseline on every player when he's normal.We can test him back to normal before we ever let him resume activity. I think that's critical, really, in managing these type of things.

"Reuben hit his head on the ground, so it wasn't really a helmet to helmet thing or anything. I think Shank, I'm not sure exactly how he did it and I didn't really notice it in film. Playing offensive line, though, that wouldn't be unusual.

You were talking with the officials on the call on Rashaan Evans for roughing the passer. What did you see on that play?
"I think player safety is really important and I don't think the guys would want them to do it on our quarterback, and we certainly don't coach our guys to do it to the opposing team's quarterback. When you just have a free shot at the quarterback and you hit them low, in the knee area. But when a guy's being blocked, pushed in the back or scrambling toward the quarterback, it's supposed to be a judgment call as to whether the guy went low on the guy intentionally, had an opportunity to stay up, or didn't have an opportunity to stay up. I'm not criticizing the officials. I just thought that the guy beat the guy around the edge and lowered his shoulder and was getting pushed and was off balance and it wasn't an intentional thing. But that's a judgment call and we're certainly going to have to live with the call. It's just like the manager that goes out in baseball. Did you ever see a manager come out in baseball and argue the call and the umpire changed the call? No. You're trying to get it right the next time. You're just trying to make sure they get it right the next time. That's kind of how it is.

After reviewing film of the secondary, was it poor technique or not playing the ball or what Arkansas was doing to surprise you?
“Well, it wasn’t anything they were doing to surprise us. I think we made a couple mental errors. The first touchdown, the tight end catches the ball and there’s nobody around, we busted the coverage. Miscommunication. A very simple, easy thing. Just didn’t play smart at times in terms of executing what we were supposed to do and there were several opportunities where we had a chance to make the decision you always have to make: do I intercept the ball, do I swat hook the guy, do I break down and tackle this guy here and we didn’t do that very well. We need to play better. We need to have better eye control, we need to key better, and we need to execute what we do a little better. I think that the players probably understand that and they certainly want to play better and we certainly want to help them play better.”

Particularly in this stretch, how valuable is JK Scott? Is it easy to take him for granted?
“No, I don’t take him for granted at all. I respect the guy’s ability tremendously and he’s been very consistent this year so far. So we really have a great respect for the hard work that he’s done and what a weapon he is for us in terms of controlling field position in the game. We don’t take it for granted, but we have one game that we’re concerned about, so there’s no stretch or anything. It’s just one game. That’s this week, and that’s the most important thing that we’re trying to do and hopefully we’ll be able to execute well this week and keep the consistency up where it’s beneficial to our team.”

It’s part of the message every week, but how important is it to get a full 60 minutes against Tennessee, that’s had so many comebacks?
“That was part of the original message, that we need to do a better job of that. We can’t relax in games, we can’t have lapses in the game. We can’t think just because we’re ahead… We always talk about ‘no scoreboard, keep playing.’ When you relax, you let the momentum of the game change and that’s hard to get back. And the way people score points now, there have been numerous games where people were ahead by 21 points and end up losing the game. I think for everybody on the team to understand that, whether you play on special teams, offense or defense, is really important. Forget about winning the game. You’re either in control of the game or you’re not. And if you don’t stay in control of the game and you give the other team a lot of opportunities to gain the momentum in the game that they need to get back in the game and maybe come back and have a chance to beat you.”

How often do you practice defending a Hail Mary and what are some of the keys to it?
“Everybody has a philosophy for how to do it. But, you know, we sort of try to man-match them. We have certain guys that play the ball, we have certain guys that box out. I’ve lost games on this before. I don’t think this is a game that anybody can take for granted, which is sometimes hard to get the players sold on, that they really have to be able to execute the play, that it is a play that can make a big difference in the game. I tell our players chapter and verse, every game that this has been an issue. We won a game at LSU, the Bluegrass Miracle, the same kind of thing. They’d already dumped the Gatorade on the coach. So it’s not a play you can take for granted. I think a lot of people assume that it’s a low-percentage play, they’re not going to complete the ball. But when you don’t execute and do things correctly, you give them every opportunity to get the ball. We do practice it on Thursdays. We practice it during scrimmages, we practice it in the preseason. We practice it every week. And there are also plays that come off of that. People have hook and ladder, they have different other plays that also have to be practiced and defended.”

Minkah’s development as cornerback, where have you seen his development in that area?
“Minkah is a really hard worker. He’s a bright guy. He’s a smart guy. He’s a very instinctive player. And he’s played really, really well for us. Hopefully we’re going to be able to continue to get him to play that way. When I talk about discipline and eye control, looking at the right things, understanding what the other team is trying to do so you put yourself in the best position to take advantage of it, he probably does that as well as anybody that we have on defense. I think that he ends up making plays because of it. I think some of our other guys, they want to make plays, but they have to understand there has to be attention to detail, you have to look at the right things, you have to put yourself in the right position, and then you’re going to give yourself the best opportunity to make plays. And that’s the thing that hopefully we can use some of those plays as an example to have others do the same.”

Do lapses in the second half become more of a concern with an opponent that has a knack for rallies in the second half?
“I’m always concerned about our team. So it’s always a concern to me. I don’t know if anybody noticed, but I wasn’t the happiest camper in the second half or after the game. But that’s because we weren’t in control of the game. We didn’t control the game. I think it’s always an issue regardless of who you’re playing. Obviously, people that have really good teams have more capabilities to be able to create plays that can change momentum in games that players have to play through. The best time to score is when the other team scores. If they score, you have to answer the bell. You have to keep the ball and you have to control the game. That’s what we’re talking about here. Sometimes you win, but did you really control the game? I don’t think we really controlled the game in the second half. That’s not something we can do in the future and continue to win. We’re just not going to do it. It’s not going to happen that way, not when you play good teams. And Arkansas is a good team. What if Minkah doesn’t intercept the pass in the end zone and run it back 100 yards and they score on that drive rather than us score? That’s a 14-point swing in the game. Now all of a sudden, you’re in the middle… It was 42-24, now it’s 42-31 and there’s a lot of time left in the game. So you have to be in control of the game.”

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