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Jimbo FisherJimbo Fisher
Aiden Shertzer/Texas A&M Athletics
Football

Notebook: Week 9 Press Conference

Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies held their Florida week press conference on Monday afternoon inside the Kyle Field Media Center. The Aggies and Gators are set to tangle on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN.

Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies held their Florida week press conference on Monday afternoon inside the Kyle Field Media Center. The Aggies and Gators are set to tangle on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN.

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Week 9 Press Conference Quotables:

  • On the up-tempo offense early in the game and can that be replicated the entire game:  It was the same the whole game...whether you get it the whole game or not, our cadence and everything was the same. And we were executing. It's execution. And I'm not joking. We were executing, we're getting on plays. We were staying ahead of the chains. We were getting the ball out. We were seeing it. We were putting hats to a hat. And we knew what we were doing with the execution. We have a script, but we vary off of it a little bit...actually if you watch, we executed pretty well the whole game, but there would be one play in the drive that would set us back. We missed a 3rd-and-1 there one time, and missed something else (here). You've just got to keep your focus and concentration. That's what it gets down to. Focus and concentration will allow you to execute, and you see we can make plays. Our guys are good players and we can execute. We had a good rhythm.
  • On how to stop Anthony Richardson and Florida's offensive attack: You've got to be physical up front. They're good up front. They're going to try and run the football, multiple formations, unbalanced formations, different motions, constant motions, getting them stopped, fitting the gaps. And then you when you rush him, you've got to get him to throw, you've got to hit him when you can hit him legally, and do those things. But you can't get overzealous and and try to rush out of your lane. As I say, sometimes linemen want to make a play 'too' much. Sometimes it's I want a sack. Do your job within the concepts of what you're trying to do and play very disciplined.
  • On Conner Weigman's comfort level:  In the last couple of weeks, you can just see it in practice. You could see him start to come on and feel very comfortable with what he's doing and how he's doing it. With the quarterback, there's certain things you can do, but with when you play quarterback, you have to be able do all things because of everybody else. Again, it's not just what you do, it's how you're  affected when the other guy doesn't do what he does. Can you get to this progression, this progression, this progression? It just really started clicking and you could see it in him, which we knew. I've always felt that about him, that he was going to do that. He's a hard worker and he has a natural knack to do things. He has a feel for things, an instinctive part of the game. He's really natural at what he does. He's accurate in what he does. And again, he's played one game. Listen, let him be a freshman, and play his second game, and let him keep playing. But I'm extremely happy and I love coaching the guy. He is really fun to coach.
  • On the volume of injuries and if it's something you can put your finger on:  There have been, and it's different injuries. It's a physical game and you're playing a heck of a schedule. Sometimes I've had them, it's just the the way it is. and unfortunately sometimes it goes that way. That's football. Sometimes you can do it for certain injuries, but they've been different injuries. I mean whether it's ankles, knees, shoulders, it's a physical game, and most everybody's been a game injury, almost. Probably 95 percent of them have all been in games. That's just the nature of the beast sometimes, unfortunately.
  • On the importance for the program to win at least three more games and qualify for a bowl:  It's always important. You always want to go to a bowl game. I think it always helps. That's one of your goals which you set. And that gives you 15 more practices. As much as anything, that, before you even go to the bowl game...that's time for your guys. Anytime you play, you get better. You always want to be a bowl. That's one of your goals, is to be in a bowl, and that's one of our goals. And we need to do that.

Player Quotables:

  • DL Albert Regis on how to limit a mobile quarterback's ability to extend plays like happened vs Ole Miss: "We just have to do a better job at keeping the pocket contained. We were doing a good job at collapsing the pocket, but you have to be able to collapse the pocket and also keep containment at the same time. And for him to be able to run around and extend plays, it's because we lost our containment. And it's pretty difficult to hold the quarterback back when you lose containment on the pocket while collapsing it, because they're going to look at the collapsing pocket and then look to run. And without containment, it's like you're doing one part of your job and not the other half. And all we can do is just be able to practice, fix it, and come Saturday do a better job at it."
  • Regis on having more to build on after Saturday's loss vs the other setbacks: "After every game, there's always something to build on, and every week it collectively adds up in a positive way. Yes, we don't want to come out of a game with a loss. But you take your losses like your wins, your wins like your losses, and you learn from everything. Because even after you win, there's still things you can learn from. So after every game, we take what we learn from it, we work on it, and then we try and fix it to the best of our abilities and execute."
  • Regis on the team's overall vision and goals of the team with four games remaining: "We're putting in everything. And yes, we want to fight for bowl eligibility, but the end of the day our plan is to win out. And if things may not go accordingly to that, nothing is going to change our plans. We want bowl eligibility, but we also want to win out at the same time. And in the locker room we fight for it every day. We come together as a team. Regardless of everything that may happen, we collectively come together and we continue giving each other love and support because we're all we've got."
  • OL Layden Robinson on the play of the offensive line and if it felt different with Conner Weigman at quarterback:  "I feel like it was a good step in the right direction. I feel like that was one of our better games. And he did step in and dude did a great job, as you could see...he came in there, took command of the huddle and stepped up when he was needed. And you don't expect nothing less from him. He's a great person and a great asset for this team.
  • Robinson on how the team keeps its head up and realizes there's something to play for:  "Because, you know, the inches matter and we're just one play away. And, you know, that's one thing that we really talked about after the game, especially as an O-line in the huddle with our coach. We're just one play away. It's frustrating at times, but you get a positive thing out of that too as well. You think, what is it that could get us over that hump that could just get us there? We're almost there. We just need to figure out what could get us there. And we're going to do it."
  • Robinson on if he had any doubt that Conner Weigman was ready to be the starter: "No sir, not at all. You know, Conner, all of all of our quarterbacks stepped up to the plate when they were called upon. And I expected no less from him, especially the way he always attacks practice and he always has energy in practice. A lot of people may not see that if they don't come to practice, but he's always excited when he gets in there with us and he's always like, hey, let's go, guys. He has energy. He has a smile on his face and he just brings that competitive nature that you need. So I didn't expect anything less from him. He got in and he did a great job. He did his job for us."