University of Tennessee Athletics
Butch Jones Transcript (9/16/14)
September 16, 2014 | Football
(Opening Statement)
"I thought it was a very productive start to the work week. Everything is about every individual taking accountability to improving their individual fundamentals skills. We're looking to add depth, obviously, offensively and defensively, and also to improve our special teams. It's an opportunity for some of these freshmen and younger players to kind of assert themselves on this football team. So a lot of things that we need to get corrected and to improve on this open week or work week which we call it. I thought it was a great start to the week."
(On changing up who is at kick returner)
"No. Devrin Young is our kick returner."
(On Trevarris Saulsberry)
"It is early and we don't know if he will be game ready yet but just to have him out there. He has worked exceptionally hard to get himself back on the football field. He has been extremely determined. Jason and the entire training staff has done a great job as well. So it was great to see him in full pads, being out there today for individual periods."
(On other injured players returning today)
"It was. Ethan Wolf will be fine for the Georgia game. To get Derrell Scott finally back out on the grass and participating in practice was very good. Now we have to shake the rust off a little bit but it was good to get some of these guys back very healthy."
(On Josh Smith)
"Josh isn't going to participate in practice this week. And then we will re-assess how he goes throughout the course of next week. It is day by day. There isn't a time frame on it, he could be ready for Georgia, but we will wait and see. But we are going to keep him off his ankle this week, really do extensive rehabilitation and we will see, the body reacts differently on each individual."
(On Josh Smith's injury)
"It is a high ankle sprain."
(On generating depth)
"It is the game of football, injuries are a part of it. You work exceptionally hard to build depth at all your positions and you look at receiver and now obviously with Von Pearson and Josh Smith, but there are others around them that are very, very capable and they are going to continue to get their opportunities. So we will see where it goes but I am optimistic that we are going to have both individuals back here hopefully here shortly."
(On Jakob Johnson)
"Jakob is one of those individuals we are really trying to push the learning curve. It all starts, first of all, with special teams. He is developing each and every day. He is learning the nuances of playing linebacker and the speed of the game. He is very talented but we knew when we recruited him there was going to be a growth and a maturation process from just the overall football intelligence standpoint. But he is working himself into having a role in this football team this year."
(On Jakob Johnson at middle linebacker)
"Yeah, he is at MIKE."
(On sticking with the same five guys on the offensive line)
"I just think consistency. I think, we are always going to be competing, now if an individual isn't executing and doing their job it is all about competition. But I just think it is important in moving forward that they know, here it is, let's build some consistency, let's build some continuity and let's work to get better. All the other individuals too, I want them competing each and every day. They are one snap away and if one person isn't performing to the standard and expectation, then we will look maybe to put somebody in there. But I think it is important for the overall growth of that position, just that those five know, we need to work together."
(On the open week)
"I think it is coming at the right time, we need it. We have played three bowl championship football teams right off the bat. So to be ably to go back and kind of quality control or re-assess everything. Where we are at schematically, where we are at in terms of fundamentals and overall growth as a football team, our toughness, our endurance, our work capacity, our work volume. It has been great. Also to be able to recruit a little bit as well. We are coming down to some final stages with some prospective student-athletes so I think the timing is right. But everything is what you do with this time. This time is extremely valuable and I chuckle because everyone is like, `you have the week off.' This is a work week. And we must have a sense of urgency to improve individually and collectively as a football team because we all know what lies down the road and what is in store for us coming up."
(On success on third down defense)
"We spent an inordinate amount of time on third down, those are the critical downs, that is situational football. The `Third Down for What,' the way our fans have taken to it, we practiced that way and our players understand it is all about winning situational football and third down is a big part of it. One of the things we are really stressing with this young football team is understanding the value of field position. Field position is critical . We lost the field position battle at Oklahoma and I thought that was a direct correlation to the outcome of the game. So it is being able to win field position. It is getting off the field on third down, it is possessing the ball on third down on offense, but just the overall awareness of situation football. But we spend a lot of time on third down, I think also the addition of the valuable players on third down defense with Chris Weatherd, he adds another dynamic, Derek Barnett, in being able to do some different things schematically has also helped up in third down situations."
(On what changed in the second half to get the ball moving)
"We executed. That's the big thing is consistency and performance. We ran the same plays. We just executed. Again, it's all 11 doing their job. It's each individual taking responsibility to win that one-on-one matchup. We were able to do that. I thought Jalen (Hurd) made some good plays. He made an individual miss in space. We made some plays on the perimeter. But it really comes down to execution."
(On how Jalen Hurd has done in his first three games)
"I've been very pleased with him. He'll continue to get better and better. When we came to work and had our team meeting on Monday, you know everything is about the power of why. Why did this happen? Why did we come up short in the outcome? So, we have a video we show them. We talk about the power of why. But to kind of put things in perspective, is Jashon Robertson was entering the 10th grade when the individual he played against this Saturday was entering college football. I think there were times that I looked out there and the whole right side of our offense was true freshmen. Jashon, Coleman Thomas, Daniel Helm, Josh Malone and Jalen Hurd. It is what it is. We have to be careful that we don't put so much stress and expectations on these 17- and 18-year-olds. They're still freshmen. They're still learning how to manage a full academic workload, how to be a student-athlete, how to manage the clutter and distractions and expectations. Having this bye week, this work week, is critical for them also to get caught up academically and all those things that go into it."
(On Justin Worley's performance)
"I thought it was a gritty performance by Justin. There are things that we need to improve. He understands that. But I think the resiliency that he showed, the resolve that he showed was great to see. He stood in the pocket. He made some plays in the scramble drill, and he didn't blink. Our players rallied around him. He rallied our players. No one on this football team blinked. That was the great thing. We competed from the end to the start. We talk about competitive greatness and competitive greatness, and usually after a game I go in the locker room, they gather the football team up, I collect my thoughts on what I'm going to say and then I go address the football team. I didn't do that this week. I stood in the locker room and I waited for every individual to walk in off that field and bring them up because I wanted to see the look in their eyes. I wanted to see if there was pain. I wanted to see if they hurt. And this football team hurt. That's a direct correlation to their investment. Half of our football team on Monday is looking at us as coaches, half of our football team lost for the first time at the University of Tennessee. They're looking at us to see how we handle the situation. What are we like as coaches. Everything is a learning experience. Half of our football team is learning how you approach a work week. How do you approach a bye week. Again, every week is a new learning experience. Every day is a new learning experience. That's going to be that way from the time we started to the end of the season."
(On Matt Darr's consistency in practice versus a game)
"Well Matt and I had a long talk. To his credit, he came and saw me yesterday morning. He's very prideful. He takes pride in his performance, and obviously he was disappointed. But he's worked exceptionally hard. You see it in practice. Like I told him, you need to just relax. Take the practice. Take the practice field to the game field. He can do it. He's very capable. We believe in him. But again, it's part of that consistency in performance and part of that field position and he understands and he's working really hard to get his technique correct."
(On how well Michael Williams is competing for them)
"It's great to see that. Michael Williams has come a long way. We knew he had ability. You're exactly right. All the obstacles that he's had to overcome, all the missed practice time that he's had to endure, with a lot of it injuries, and to be doing what he is doing is remarkable. He needs to continue to gain added strength in the weight room and continue to put weight on. He's very cognizant of that. But he's been a great surprise for us, a very needed surprise for us in the secondary."
(On the importance of Michael Williams energy when he competes)
"It's very important. He brings another level of energy to our entire defense and our football team, so it's been great to see him. We're going to need more of it. Again, he's an individual that is going to benefit greatly from this work week improving his skillset and overall fundamentals."
(On Daniel Helm's injury and his performance against Oklahoma)
"Another ankle sprain. We fully anticipate him being available for the Georgia game. But I thought he continued to improve throughout the course of the game. Those reps were invaluable for him, so that was a great experience for him. I thought he handled the situation very well. Daniel is a very competitive young man, prides himself on his performance, so it was great to see that. Obviously, we are going to need more of him. Him sitting out the first couple of practices in the bye week is unfortunate because he's one of those individuals who needs every single repetition that he can gain. But I was very pleased with his performance."
(On if he expects to have both Ethan Wolf and Daniel Helm for the Georgia game)
"We'll see where that leads, but I do expect it."
