Fisher Holds Weekly Press Conference

Jimbo Fisher and offensive lineman Carson Green met with the media on Monday during the Aggies' weekly press conference from the Kyle Field Media Center.

Video and select quotes from Fisher's session are available below.

Select Comments from Coach Fisher's Press Conference:

• You know, after an off week last week I thought our guys are handling things very well, staying on our academics, all those things. The guys that could run and train, we ran and trained...not in pads, but just to keep them running, changing direction drills, agility drills. They threw and caught a little bit, some of the guys did. The quarantine guys can after so many days and they have so many tests, they can in very limited small groups train with distance. We kept those guys doing that. And so we had a good off week. This week some of the guys will probably get back on the field, with the limited guys we have that are available, to try and do some position-specific work...details, fundamental work, as much limited practice as we can. Can't have a full practice, got to have the numbers and things. But we'll try to get some work in to get better, whether it's running game, pass game, defense, blitzing, whatever it is, in very limited groups with the guys that are available. And the other guys will continue to train on their own in very small separate groups to try to keep conditioned for when they get back. That's the plan and we'll keep going forward.
• I know you'd rather be playing but do you also try to adopt a half-full approach of saying hey now we've got two games closer to late in December when maybe the playoff committee is making its final decision, to be fresh on their minds?   Yeah, I mean you turn it all into positive. You get chance to heal up a little bit, maybe some guys are nicked and nacked later in the year, get some healthy, get some film in. And I don't mean this in the wrong way, everybody has the ultimate goal that you want to be in the playoff and you want to go win it. But right now we're trying to control and stay in the moment where we're at. Like I said, we keep taking care of business and playing well, then we'll have those opportunities at the end. We don't try to quite think of it that way, but you always have put a silver lining on things. Let you heal up, get better, work on fundamentals as much as you can, develop some of your young players for depth on down the road later in the year, and see where you go.
• The quarantine players, do you send a specific workout routine to those guys and what would be an example of that?   Well they can come over here. They can just be in very small groups and be separate, and the strength trainer can stand at a certain distance and run them, give them drills to do in very small groups so they keep distancing where they're not even together. They still have to have so much spacing. So we try to do that just like we would do summer workouts, winter workouts, conditioning, in that way.
• Do you have any idea how many could practice this week?   Our numbers were in the mid- to high-40s, with overall numbers, so something in that regard.
• And you guys were on a pretty good roll when all of this happened, as a coaching staff I know you're in uncharted territory, but what do you try to do to keep that edge with guys especially when you're not getting to see them?   Well, we do regular Zoom meetings with them, just like position meetings. We do studies, we do breakdowns, to what you've done well all year, what you haven't done well. We're improving those things, keeping their mind in the game, keeping them fresh, keep the physical workouts that way and then you'll have time to get back and get prepared for a game. You've still got the same guys so they can hopefully still play as well in what they're doing. That's the challenge each and every week, whether you're on a roll or not on a roll with it. Listen, it matters how you practice, how you prepare, how you get your mind right to play each and every week. And these are challenges because they're new, but there's some things that can definitely be done and taken care of.
• When would you anticipate to be back at full strength, with the guys in quarantine, when does that end?   Two weeks, they'll be back next Sunday. That's when most of the majority of them come off, next Sunday.
• In the release today that with the game being postponed, it did not really mention a make up day. It said it could potentially be made up. Do you expect the Ole Miss game to happen at some point?   Yeah because we've added two weeks. There was a built-in week and they've opened up the 19th now, so that would be two weeks. I would fully expect to make those games up for sure.
• I just know there's been talk about moving games around...   I don't know that. If the SEC moves games around, we still have four weeks to play four games. So whatever they do we'll definitely adhere to.
• Kind of piggybacking on a silver lining for all of this, does it seem like it allows you to get your guys healthy as well as getting even more practice time leading up to the bowl season?   Yeah, instead of having bowl practices like you normally do from the 5th on, we should be preparing for games. We'll be in game shape, that's for sure. Listen, anytime you get to play ball that's a silver lining. I look at that as a silver lining, I mean that wholeheartedly, anytime you get to play and finish out your season and do those things. Because there was a point this year we didn't think we'd even get to play a game. We were wondering if we'd even have football. We could complain about this and that, but listen. We're still getting to play football, the season is going on, and those are great things for us and the SEC and everybody in college football.

Select Comments from Carson Green's Press Conference:

How have you tried to stay mentally and physically and engaged during this time away?   So last week we had zoom meetings instead of our in person meetings before practice so we did that on Zoom. Everyone can make that. That was keeping us mentally prepared. We had lifts and workout, like Wednesday through Saturday.

For guys that are healthy How difficult is it sitting out two weeks?   Sitting out definitely throws everybody off kind of like what are we doing day to day now? Who are we gonna prepare for? That's kind of everyone's thought process right now we're getting ready for practice.

How optimistic or confident would you be for when y'all get to get back on the field that that you'll be able to pick back up where you left off because you're playing so well? We're all playing very well, the whole team was. Right now we're just focused on getting better today at practice. The guys that can be out there, that's the main thing, that we get our minds right, get off the whole week-off break. Today will be almost like a bye-week practice, where we're going to focus on our little things like technique, and also going some good on good, so we can get back into shape.

Nine straight games without us a sack, is that something that offensive lineman members talk openly about or, or is it almost like a no hitter in that situation to keep it on the down low?   You know, it looks good. There's other stats that people don't talk about. Everyone likes to talk about the no sacks, but we have to look at pressures. Pressures are almost just as big as sacks. If some guy gives up eight pressures, he might have thrown an interception because of the pressure, and nobody ever talks about that because it wasn't technically a sack. But pressures and quarterback hits, that's the big things that we take almost just as highly as sacks. A sack, you'll always just try to blame the lineman. Obviously, we're good scapegoats, but sometimes it's the tight end missing a block, or the running back. Maybe we weren't in the right protection. Maybe the ball had to be out faster. Maybe it was a receiver that ran the wrong route, so nobody really knows. The main thing we try to focus on is quarterback hits. We don't want him to get hit it all. If we keep them clean the whole game that we did our job.

How frustrating is it when you guys are sort of getting into this rhythm, to all of a sudden kind of lose two games like that?   It's frustrating, not only for the fans, the 12th Man themselves. I think everyone's pretty upset about this. But, again, nothing we can do about it. It happens, you've got to control what you can control. You can't control the weather, you can't control the refs, that you can't control anything so it's kind of the same deal. The only thing we can focus on is just going to our Zoom meetings and going to practice right now and getting better.