University of Tennessee Athletics
Butch Jones Transcript (9/30/14)
September 30, 2014 | Football
Head Coach Butch Jones
(On Justin Worley)
"Justin did good, Justin has been a model of consistency each and every day. He is 100 percent, we practiced yesterday as well, and he is taking every rep. Again, he is 100 percent, it just happened, he got hit on his funny bone and he is good."
(On concern if Worley was going to return at Georgia)
"No, Jason [McVeigh] came up to me and we communicate the injuries and all that, case by case basis, and they just thought he had tweaked the funny bone and it was a matter of time. But you never know. To his credit, he was able to come back and lead us down to a valuable touchdown drive."
(On the reason for making practice earlier)
"Our players right now are going through a lot of examinations, a lot of exams, a lot of papers. Tuesday is a busy work load academically for a lot of these kids. It is all about the student-athlete welfare, so we bumped the meetings up and shortened them a little bit, practiced early to give them more time to study tonight."
(On Jalen Hurd)
"I think his maturity, his approach each and every day to the game, the ability to take the coaching to the game, very, very tough, just his whole mental approach. He is very, very mature and his consistency in approach each and everyday. He is never too high, he is never too low. You know what you are getting every day with Jalen Hurd. He is very prideful, he takes pride in his performance, wants to be the best he can possibly be, he is always working his craft. I can't say enough about him because, again, the biggest thing is probably he is very, very mature for his age. And it is standard and expectations. Here is a young man who missed his senior year of high school football and he has all these expectations placed on him and not very many individuals his age could really handle all those expectations, the scrutiny he is under each and every day. He has done a great of handling all the clutter and the distractions and really the focus."
(On the review of the spot of the ball at the end of the Georgia game)
"Yeah it is something that we have reviewed. Unfortunately in our opinion, when we saw the spot, it was probably about three or four yards different. I think that kind of changed the complexion of having fourth-and-seven or fourth-and-six and fourth-and-two but that is the game of footballl. We have to stop them on fourth down to put our offense in an opportunity to win a football game. It is unfortunate but that is football. That is why I was trying to stall as much as possible to get a replay there, we didn't have any timeouts so we couldn't challenge the play. But again we have to be able to make the stop on fourth-and-short as well."
(On Florida's offense)
"The challenge in preparing for Florida's offense is they are very,very dynamic, they are very, very explosive, they are very balanced. They do a great job of putting the ball in the hands of their playmakers. We fully expect the wildcat package, we fully expect them to run the quarterback. You have to prepare for everything. We have watched video of the backup quarterback, his high school video, he is a very talented young man. So you try to prepare for everything but because of the gamut of what they do offensively it is a challenge just from a time standpoint. So they really challenge and they do a great job. So you have to be prepared for anything and everything. But again, they present a lot of matchup issues. They are very talented, they have great team speed. Like I said, [Jeff] Driskel can run the football, the backup quarterback can run the ball. They have shown wildcat in the past. So you have to be prepared for anything and everything. But it is also a time demand as well, you are challenged by time as well."
(On the secondary handling mobile quarterbacks)
"I think they have done a good job to date but they will be even more challenged this week. Driskel can make all the throws, there is a reason why he was the number one quarterback in the country coming out. He has al live arm so we have to, again, it comes back to discipline. Every single week it is your eye discipline, it is your overall discipline, but it is how you prepare yourself throughout the course of the week and then being able to apply that on game day. The speed of the game is going to be very, very fast Saturday."
(On Jacob Gilliam)
"Yeah, Jacob has actually been out there to practice, he is not ready to participate in this game but just having him back on the field in his uniform working speaks volumes for his competitive character, his drive, and his passion for Tennessee and his love of this football team. There is a chance that he could play again this year."
(On a timetable of Gilliam's return)
"It is how he progresses. Yeah, I think it is a couple weeks away and we will see. Can he hold up? Can he withstand the pounding, the physicality that comes with playing offensive line. So, it is really a week but week basis."
(On if Gilliam had surgery)
"He did not, no."
(On Jacob Gilliam's ability to return)
"Not really placing any expectations on him, if it happens, it is a bonus, it is a benefit. So again, we are going to be extremely patient, we are going to make sure he does everything that he needs to to be able to perform at a high level before we put him out there."
(On Jason Croom)
"When you have had to play in a cast and you are a wide out, you have to overcome some things. Jason's play is very encouraging, a lot of confidence was built there. He has made those plays in practice, he has made those plays in training camp. We have really challenged him to play as a big wideout, own the ball in the air, play big. He is 6 foot 3, 230-plus pounds, go own the ball in the air. Then run after the catch, playing physical. He was able to do that Saturday and we are going to need much more of that down the stretch. Another injury update, Von Pearson actually practiced a little bit today. He got in some conditioning, did some different things. We will know a little bit more his availability for the game come Saturday. Still don't know yet. But it was great to have him out there."
(On Josh Smith)
"No, Josh will be out this game."
(On Florida)
"There is great concern, they are as talented as a football team we will face all year, across the board, offensively, defensively, special teams. They are well coached. So I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. All you have to do is put the video on, they have great, great team speed, they have great players, their recruiting classes are in the top-five every single year. They have players, they have great talent. The season is very, very young. Their first game they did even have the opportunity to play but they are a very, very good football team. Will [Muschamp] has done a great job there, preparing his football team and I know they are going to come in here well prepared. It is going to be a great challenge. We have to bring our A-game. We have very, very little margin of error. And that is why our preparation is critical this week, playing complimentary football, in terms of offense, defense and special teams, field position is going to be critical for us. Like I said, they are extremely talented and very gifted."
(On Ethan Wolf stretching the offense)
"He stretches it and having him back involved in our offense is very big. Not only from a receiving standpoint but from a run-blocking standpoint as well."
(On the team's emotion after the loss at Georgia)
"You are always disappointed, especially, if you really invest in victory and we expect that. We don't want them coming in here, we want it to linger a little bit, we want that to affect them a little bit on Sunday. When you invest as much, when you expect to win and you don't, you are disappointed. That is part of taking pride in your performance. But also it is a great teaching opportunity. When we came back Monday, `Hey, it is time to go now.' Let's learn from it and it is a new week. Every week is a new season. I have liked our approach so far this week, it is early but I have liked our approach. But when you see a team that hurts after the game, you know it means something and it does. It is, again, understanding that one play could be the difference between winning and losing. You never want to live with the pain of regret. They way you live with the pain of regret is not to prepare yourself throughout the course of the week, both mentally and physically."
(On the offensive line's improvement in run-blocking)
"Same thing, work in progress. Again, some of it is our overall strength levels and our youthfulness in terms of not being a full year or two or three year in a full time strength and conditioning program. But I see our pad level getting better. Everything is about finishing plays, closing things out and your run your feet and a lot of times as a young player you stop your feet, you roll your hips, you have a stalemate. We have really stressed this week, which we do every week, really accelerating our feet, running our feet and that is a skill that you have to practice all the time. But I do think we are a work in progress and I do think we are making strides."
(On improvements in team tempo)
"We have made tremendous strides in our tempo but it is also what are you doing with those plays. We also look at points per play, what is our average of points per play, what is our average of points per possession. That is the big thing, making those plays count. Making those possessions count. We had too many three-and-outs this past Saturday and that is how you play great defense, is also protecting your defense as well. But our tempo as been a great improvement with this football team."
(On preparing for Florida's backup quarterback as well)
"When you are playing in a game like this you try to prepare for anything and everything, you never want to chase ghosts, but you prepare and you try to be as prepared and as best as possible for everything. So we will practice all that. But again, it just comes down to execution, assignment, alignment, doing your job, and having the discipline. Then then effort that is involved, that is really what it comes down to and really being locked into tendencies, really being locked into reading body language, receiver splits and everything that every football team stresses each and every week."
(On Todd Kelly Jr.)
"I would say the same thing that we spoke about with Jalen a little while ago, just his overall maturity, his thirst, his drive to be the best that he can possibly be, his intuition, he football intelligence and asking of questions. He is one of those individuals who is confident, you can tell his mother is part of public education because whenever he doesn't know he asks the question, why, why are we doing that, what are you trying to do, what are we trying to accomplish. So again, he has done a great job of learning the defensive schemes, learning the special teams schemes and being able to apply it to the field. We are just working on some habits, learning how to finish plays, the great '63' effort. That comes with time, that comes with accumulation of reps, that comes with accumulation of practices but he has been exceptionally mature."
