Notebook: Week 5 Press Conference

After the thrilling win over No. 10 Arkansas, Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies met the media on Monday afternoon as they prepare to travel to Mississippi State to face the Bulldogs (3 p.m., SEC Network).

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Jimbo Fisher's opening statement:

After evaluating the film, proud of our team and the way we competed in the game as far as how hard we competed in the game and were competitive, and how many times that they had jumped on us to get way and we came back. We've got to learn to put people away, do things we have to do. But, we won the game. And I'm very proud of that.

But I'm not very happy in the way we played. I don't think we played close to our best. And that's encouraging in that there's a lot more in there in how we have to play. But also we need to realize that and get it done. Playing hard and wanting it, and playing that way, is not the problem. We have to play smarter and we have to not play with our emotions early in games. I think some of our young guys sometimes get emotional early in the game, whether you're getting set on a formation...and they also try to be perfect. Sometimes when you're trying to be perfect, it's the worst thing you can be. You have to trust what your practice habits are, trust what this is and go line up and play. Like, you could be lined up perfect, and all of a sudden, you know, I might be an inch off, am I on? Maybe I just need to inch up. And all of a sudden we bring a guy in motion, and you've got an illegal shift. It comes from a place of...it's not not focusing sometimes, it's just focusing and trying too hard to be precise on things in which we do. In motion, and the little things, and the anxiousness of going to play. And emotions can have that effect. And then once you calm down, you start playing well and doing the things we did.

But again, how hard we played, how physical we played, the fight in the guys, the competitiveness...we've just got to play better. We've got to coach them better and we've got to play smarter, and work smarter, and not just harder. We're doing those things, but it's how we get there and letting our emotions just relax at the beginning with those young players and just play the plays. Trust yourself and what you did in practice and let it happen. And I always say some of the best games you ever play in your life, where you say man it seemed easy, it was because you were trying, but you were you were trusting what you did in practice. You were trusting yourself in the game and not trying to press and go make big plays. You were just making the smart plays and just let the game come to you. We have smart players. You can't force the game. The game will bite you in those scenarios. But at the same time, still came out victorious against a top-10 team, which is a big win. It's a great credit to every step in where we're trying to go.

Now we have to get ready to go on the road against Mississippi State, which is an excellent team. Very good on defense. Coach (Zach) Arnett does a great job of mixing things, multiple blitzes, multiple fronts, three down, four down, standing guys up, mixes the secondary coverages up. They've been great on defense. Their offense, well, you know what Mike (Leach) does. He's going to throw the football, mix it. You're going to have to give him different looks, different packages, the things he does, he can zero in. Kicking game, the kickoff return guy's as good as we've seen. 36-yard average. Can hit kickoffs from all over the place. Punt returner has a 14-yard average. They got great skill guys. When the ball comes to them, we've got to cover our kicks well, do that well. And we'll have to play a great game on the road and be ready to play. But at the same time, we've got to keep grinding and we've got to learn to practice not harder, but smarter, and better, and be more efficient in the things we do.

Week 5 Press Conference Notebook:

• Fisher did confirm that Ainias Smith is out for the season with a lower body injury. He was then asked what the most difficult things to replace when it comes to Ainias. “Well, I think diversity, leadership and experience. But he'll be around to help those guys and mentor those guys, and that's the best he can do. As far as that goes, he'll be right there with them. I know that. But he's a unique player, a unique competitor. I love him to death and it's just an unfortunate situation.”
• When asked about the opposite ways Arkansas and Mississippi State run their offense, Fisher said they both spread you out as a defense but they obviously do approach that goal differently. "One's much more throwing, and one's much more running and throwing. So it is different, but the quarterback (Will) Rogers can still run and scramble. He's a good athlete."
• Facing MSU's constant passing threat, Fisher was asked if he feels his roster is better equipped to deal with that and he said we'll find out on Saturday. "The year before, we did a really good job. Last year, we didn't do a good job. I think you have to have multiple looks. You have to do different things. And I think you have to make plays on the ball and be able to cover. So hopefully we will and hopefully we'll put the pressure on at times when we need to."
• Fisher was asked about some big-play opportunities that the Aggies just missed converting against Arkansas, and he said it really just comes down to relaxing in the moment and making the play. "We left a lot out there. We had a lot of plays, whether it was we didn't catch it, or didn't do it, or we just missed the read. And the good thing is, we met and we knew it at the time. We've just got to relax and make the play. And again I say, the harder you press, the worse you play. You just have to relax, block everything out, run the play that's called, and go the next play."

Player Quotables:

• DB Jaylon Jones on the key to stopping Mississippi State's air attack: "It's going to come down to the secondary. We know we're going to get the rush up front, and as a back end we have to execute. We know they like to throw the ball. They're the air raid offense. So it's going to come down to us doing our jobs."
• Jones on what he learns from playing tight four-quarter games over the last three weeks: "It comes down to finishing. That's one thing that we hone in on as a team, is that it's going to come down to finishing. Especially in a league like this."
• Wright on the offense being able to score more points: "Our defense is incredible, but it definitely helps out when the offense puts more points up on the board. That's something that we've got to do over these next few weeks. And we know that. And I think that with guys stepping into roles and getting a little bit more comfortable in the roles that they're going to be filling, we're going to start taking those steps in the right direction. When we go back and we watch the film, the plays are there. We've really just got to execute and limit the mistakes that we make on our end. We've got to be a team that capitalizes on other teams' mistakes and not give teams a way out by messing up on our own."
• TE Max Wright on the youth and ability and sheer number of tight ends in his position group: "There is so much talent in that room and also so many good guys in that room. I think that's been something that's been cool to see. They're all selfless. Like Theodor, coming from Sweden, he's playing on scout team and the kid busts his tail every single week and never complains about anything. I mean, you got Jake Johnson. He's been banged up a little bit. The kid has a great attitude about everything. And same with Donovan Green. Donovan's taken steps and really grown into an elite tight end. The talent in the room is unbelievable, but also the character in the room is really high, too. And that really helps keep the morale and the unity in the group really high."
• DB Tyreek Chappell on his perspective on the fumble return for a touchdown: “I was dead tired on that play. So basically, it was the fumble that we all saw. I saw it and ran, then I saw Demani come to me, and I knew it was already like a 4-on-1. I kind of wanted to score but I was dead, so I just kind of handed it over to Demani. And he scored. I heard him say, give me the ball. But in my mind, I was going to hand it off to him. So pretty much he took it, but I gave it to him...we needed that turnover. He ran to me and I gave him the ball.”
• Chappell on how to stop the air-raid attack: "It's pretty much all just communication, and we all have to have a great tempo lining up. They beat us last year like that, so this year we've got to make sure we just have a better tempo and better eyes as well."
• OL Bryce Foster on if the line takes pride in a running back having a big game: "Yeah, definitely. I think it boosts our confidence a lot. Last week in practice, Coach Fisher told us we'd be making an emphasis on the run game, and he told us that we're going to run the ball against Arkansas, even though they were one of the best run defenses in the nation. I think they were the best in the SEC. That shows he has confidence in us, so I think we really took that to heart. And knowing our coach has that confidence in us...just kind of having that trust, it really means a lot to the O-line and that's kind of got our confidence up going into the week."