On skill position players:
I think that a couple of the skill guys today - Robert Foster who had six catches for over 100 yards, and O.J. Howard had four or five catches - we need to have playmakers on offense. Kenyan Drake and Derrick Henry both did a nice job out there. But we need more guys to gain confidence offensively so that we have some playmakers that (sounds like) will be our go-to guys.
From an offensive line standpoint,
I feel like we're making progress in the offensive line, but I think we have to get our offensive line to think that they're the reason that our offensive team is going to be successful and be able to do the things we're going to be capable of doing with the players that we have. I don't think that they've taken ownership of that part of it yet.
On the defense
Defensively, I thought we didn't make as many mistakes in this scrimmage. Still gave up a few big plays, which we have to continue to work on because on a daily basis it seems like when you give up big plays it's either a mental error or a missed tackle. When we execute together as a group and everybody's responsible and do their job well, we seem to play pretty well defensively. So that's something we're going to have to continue to work on.
On the specialists
I thought the specialists did a really good job today. I know the stats may not look like it. But we tried, what, two 55-yard field goals? One was wide right this far and the other one was this far short. Griff had a really good day. I thought JK punted the ball really well. I think we made some progress on special teams this spring. Hopefully that' going to be something we continue to improve on, as well.
On the defensive backs
Well we moved Eddie (Jackson) to safety this week. And that's worked out really well for us. Having him and Geno back there for us gave us two guys that have played some, have experience, understand the system a little bit. Tony Brown has done a good job, still needs to work on his consistency, doing things the right way all the time, but he's had a really good spring. Maurice Smith has had a really good spring. Marlon Humphrey has made progress. Anthony Averett has done a good job this spring at corner. So those four guys have really done well. Now Cyrus obviously isn't out there. We have a lot of players on our team that you can count 12 guys if you count injuries, suspensions, whatever you want to count, that arent' out there playing. And five of them are starters on defense, and three of them would be contributors on offense. So it's great from the standpoint that there's somebody else getting a lot of playing time, a lot of reps, a lot of experience, which is going to add to the depth of our team. But it also affects the continuity and the quality of the players you have out there. But again, we'd rather have those guys back ready and healthy for fall camp because really the whole goal is to be ready for the first game."
On Robert Foster
"You know Robert has really come on. I think being a young player Robert is uncertain sometimes exactly what he's suppose to do and how he's suppose to do it. When he knows, he plays fast and he has big-play ability. We certainly need him to develop the confidence and consistency in performance, mature, so that he understands the importance of doing the little things right, so that he can be on the same page with the quarterback. And that's how he can improve his production and performance, and help our team the most. So I'm not satisfied with where he is, but certainly encouraged by the progress that he's made."
On Eddie Jackson at safety ;
"I think we're still going to evaluate that. I think in the long run we want to get our best players on the field in the secondary, and make sure they fit the roles that they need to play. In this day and age, we end up playing a lot of five DBs, we end up playing six DBs in some cases on third down. When we play multiple wideout teams with four wideouts or more. So (you) to have the right components to fit the parts. So what happens with Eddie is it's just not all about Eddie, it's how the other corners develop. The experiment was to see how he'd adapt to playing safety, and that's going very well. So now we have the option of playing him at corner or safety. I don't think we need to make that decision right now, but I think it is affected by how everybody else progresses."
On Geno Smith
Well, Geno has done the things that he's supposed to do to this point. He has more things to do when the semester is over. If he continues to do what he's required to do- He was out for seven days. That was, you know, those seven days were what he needed to do, did it all correctly, did it the way we wanted him to do it. We test him every day. So if he continues to do the right things, he can continue to perform. Geno has not been a problem on the field in terms of his performance. So we're encouraged to have him back and hopefully he'll continue to improve and make good choices and decisions about what he does.
You know, these guys, sort of, don't, they all think they have this illusion of choice. Like I can do whatever I want to do. And you kind of have a younger generation now that doesn't always get told no, they don't always get told this is exactly how you need to do it. So they have this illusion that they have all these choices. But the fact of the matter is, is if you want to be good, you really don't have a lot of choices. Because it takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful. So you have to make choices and decisions to have the discipline and focus to the process of what you need to do to accomplish your goals. And all these guys that think they have a lot of choices are really sadly mistaken. And I think, as we all have done with our own children, they learn these lessons of life as they get older, and sometimes the best way to learn is from the mistakes that you make, even though we all hate to see them have to make them. And we don't really condone them when they do. Geno has done a good job coming back and doing what he's supposed to do and hopefully he'll finish that up by the end of May and kind of go from there.
On quarterback leadership in the huddle:
Well you know I think all the guy shave done a pretty good job of that. I think it's more natural for some than others. I think all these guys at some point in time have shown they have the capability of doing it. I think the issue is, who can do it with the most consistency. Who can - it's just like the guy that shows he can hit a home run. But the good home run hitters hit it more often than the other guys. So we're looking for the guys that can do it more consistently and whose gonna help play winning football at their position on the most consistent basis. Knowledge and experience comes into that. Instincts and awareness, understanding of the offense, confidence, all these things are factors in this. Ability to be accurate, be a good decision maker with the ball, take care of the ball. So this is not something that you can just sort of wave a wand and say 'OK, I think we've got it here.' This decision is going to be made over time. And we're going to be fair and give everybody a fair opportunity. And when the time comes, we're going to have to make a choice and decision and go to work on making that guy the guy.
https://alabama.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=427&tid=212101540&mid=212101540&sid=885&style=2
I think that a couple of the skill guys today - Robert Foster who had six catches for over 100 yards, and O.J. Howard had four or five catches - we need to have playmakers on offense. Kenyan Drake and Derrick Henry both did a nice job out there. But we need more guys to gain confidence offensively so that we have some playmakers that (sounds like) will be our go-to guys.
From an offensive line standpoint,
I feel like we're making progress in the offensive line, but I think we have to get our offensive line to think that they're the reason that our offensive team is going to be successful and be able to do the things we're going to be capable of doing with the players that we have. I don't think that they've taken ownership of that part of it yet.
On the defense
Defensively, I thought we didn't make as many mistakes in this scrimmage. Still gave up a few big plays, which we have to continue to work on because on a daily basis it seems like when you give up big plays it's either a mental error or a missed tackle. When we execute together as a group and everybody's responsible and do their job well, we seem to play pretty well defensively. So that's something we're going to have to continue to work on.
On the specialists
I thought the specialists did a really good job today. I know the stats may not look like it. But we tried, what, two 55-yard field goals? One was wide right this far and the other one was this far short. Griff had a really good day. I thought JK punted the ball really well. I think we made some progress on special teams this spring. Hopefully that' going to be something we continue to improve on, as well.
On the defensive backs
Well we moved Eddie (Jackson) to safety this week. And that's worked out really well for us. Having him and Geno back there for us gave us two guys that have played some, have experience, understand the system a little bit. Tony Brown has done a good job, still needs to work on his consistency, doing things the right way all the time, but he's had a really good spring. Maurice Smith has had a really good spring. Marlon Humphrey has made progress. Anthony Averett has done a good job this spring at corner. So those four guys have really done well. Now Cyrus obviously isn't out there. We have a lot of players on our team that you can count 12 guys if you count injuries, suspensions, whatever you want to count, that arent' out there playing. And five of them are starters on defense, and three of them would be contributors on offense. So it's great from the standpoint that there's somebody else getting a lot of playing time, a lot of reps, a lot of experience, which is going to add to the depth of our team. But it also affects the continuity and the quality of the players you have out there. But again, we'd rather have those guys back ready and healthy for fall camp because really the whole goal is to be ready for the first game."
On Robert Foster
"You know Robert has really come on. I think being a young player Robert is uncertain sometimes exactly what he's suppose to do and how he's suppose to do it. When he knows, he plays fast and he has big-play ability. We certainly need him to develop the confidence and consistency in performance, mature, so that he understands the importance of doing the little things right, so that he can be on the same page with the quarterback. And that's how he can improve his production and performance, and help our team the most. So I'm not satisfied with where he is, but certainly encouraged by the progress that he's made."
On Eddie Jackson at safety ;
"I think we're still going to evaluate that. I think in the long run we want to get our best players on the field in the secondary, and make sure they fit the roles that they need to play. In this day and age, we end up playing a lot of five DBs, we end up playing six DBs in some cases on third down. When we play multiple wideout teams with four wideouts or more. So (you) to have the right components to fit the parts. So what happens with Eddie is it's just not all about Eddie, it's how the other corners develop. The experiment was to see how he'd adapt to playing safety, and that's going very well. So now we have the option of playing him at corner or safety. I don't think we need to make that decision right now, but I think it is affected by how everybody else progresses."
On Geno Smith
Well, Geno has done the things that he's supposed to do to this point. He has more things to do when the semester is over. If he continues to do what he's required to do- He was out for seven days. That was, you know, those seven days were what he needed to do, did it all correctly, did it the way we wanted him to do it. We test him every day. So if he continues to do the right things, he can continue to perform. Geno has not been a problem on the field in terms of his performance. So we're encouraged to have him back and hopefully he'll continue to improve and make good choices and decisions about what he does.
You know, these guys, sort of, don't, they all think they have this illusion of choice. Like I can do whatever I want to do. And you kind of have a younger generation now that doesn't always get told no, they don't always get told this is exactly how you need to do it. So they have this illusion that they have all these choices. But the fact of the matter is, is if you want to be good, you really don't have a lot of choices. Because it takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful. So you have to make choices and decisions to have the discipline and focus to the process of what you need to do to accomplish your goals. And all these guys that think they have a lot of choices are really sadly mistaken. And I think, as we all have done with our own children, they learn these lessons of life as they get older, and sometimes the best way to learn is from the mistakes that you make, even though we all hate to see them have to make them. And we don't really condone them when they do. Geno has done a good job coming back and doing what he's supposed to do and hopefully he'll finish that up by the end of May and kind of go from there.
On quarterback leadership in the huddle:
Well you know I think all the guy shave done a pretty good job of that. I think it's more natural for some than others. I think all these guys at some point in time have shown they have the capability of doing it. I think the issue is, who can do it with the most consistency. Who can - it's just like the guy that shows he can hit a home run. But the good home run hitters hit it more often than the other guys. So we're looking for the guys that can do it more consistently and whose gonna help play winning football at their position on the most consistent basis. Knowledge and experience comes into that. Instincts and awareness, understanding of the offense, confidence, all these things are factors in this. Ability to be accurate, be a good decision maker with the ball, take care of the ball. So this is not something that you can just sort of wave a wand and say 'OK, I think we've got it here.' This decision is going to be made over time. And we're going to be fair and give everybody a fair opportunity. And when the time comes, we're going to have to make a choice and decision and go to work on making that guy the guy.
https://alabama.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=427&tid=212101540&mid=212101540&sid=885&style=2
