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Jimbo FisherJimbo Fisher
Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
Football

Two Takes: Arkansas Week Press Conference

Jimbo Fisher and select players visited with the media on Monday as the Aggies prep for the annual road trip to Arlington for the Southwest Classic this weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Jimbo Fisher and select players visited with the media on Monday as the Aggies prep for the annual road trip to Arlington for the Southwest Classic this weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks (Saturday, 11 a.m., SEC Network).

We've got “two takes” from each of the media sessions below, along with full press conference video.

Two Takes: Jimbo Fisher

First, an update on the Aggies' QB situation following the Conner Weigman injury: "(Conner is) Day to day. He's healing up. It's a little sprain, a little swelling, and hopefully it'll come down. It looks like it will." And then Fisher was asked about having Max Johnson on the roster: "You have two guys, guys I've said from the beginning I felt very confident with. What he did, he came in and played excellent football and did a great job and made plays and really led us to the win."

  • Fisher says the Aggies are going to have their hands full and then some when they match up with the Razorbacks Saturday. "We're getting ready for an Arkansas team who I think is a really excellent team. I mean they're 2-2 and could 4-0 just as quick as they're 2-2. K.J. Jefferson, I mean the guy I say reminds me of Cam Newton so much. He's six foot five, 250, 255 or 245 or whatever they say...but he's big, strong and fast. He's throwing the ball excellent, making great decisions. He's hard to get on the ground...If you're a D-linemen, he breaks through it, so you're going to have to make sure you wrap him up when you get pressure...they're moving it really well and scoring 36 and a half points a game. So you've got to be 'on' on offense to help your defense and your defense is going to have to get off the field and make plays. It's very challenging. Defensively...they've got a really good team. Special teams, they do a great job...we're going to play a really good football game all the way and we got to improve on some things to get better. But they're a very good opponent. Sam always has those guys ready to play, man. He's a good coach, a good guy, and does a great job."
  • Fisher was asked about the momentum swings at a neutral-site game, and how much impact they can have when a stadium is split down the middle, and then talked about how much he enjoys playing the game up at AT&T Stadium. "The momentum swings off the players, when you're making plays and consistently doing it and being able to minimize the damage. And when you don't, you try to get it back. That's why I kind of like that rivalry. I was a part of the Alabama/Auburn rivalry at Legion Field. Having 50/50, having those kinds of crowds, it's neat. That doesn't happen anymore, like it used to. I think it's kind of our history of the game. I think it's kind of cool and neat. I kind of like it up there. I really do...I get the home-and-home, I get all that and I appreciate it. Anytime you can play at Kyle Field, I love it. But I do think those venues are nice and neat because they do give you more neutral-site games. Playoff games, bowl games, that type of stuff. And I think our kids relate to Jerry World, being in the state of Texas. I mean, that's where your state championships are played. That's where they dream their whole life of going to play at. And the Cowboys are maybe the most known team in the country. It's a great facility...I don't mind playing there, but I understand bringing it home-and-home. I get it. But I do think it's a neat thing."

Two Takes: Albert Regis

  • Regis said the defense's recent success, in wins over ULM and Auburn, comes from the process. "Our biggest thing is that we try to focus on being one percent better every single day. And it comes with the mindset from when you first wake up, to practice, or after practice, how you carry yourself throughout the day and how you treat yourself off the field as well. I mean, our performance has been really good. We're all very proud of it, but there's still a lot of work and room to improve on what we can do. But it's been pretty, pretty great so far for all of us. We've been enjoying it, but we just take the approach that we have to focus on today and we can't look at the end results."
  • Regis will be lined up across the ball from one of the league's most dynamic quarterbacks, K.J. Jefferson. He says he has great respect for the Arkansas signal caller. "He's a great quarterback. I like him. I like playing against him. I like watching him. I will say that I enjoy watching him play. I like the way he can run. He's not afraid to lower his shoulder. I respect him a lot as a man and as a quarterback, and I always get excited playing against him. I get excited against great competition. You know, as an athlete, that's what we live for. We thrive for great competition. And every week, there's always going to be great competition. So I respect his game and I'm excited to play against him."

Two Takes: Jake Johnson

  • Johnson was asked, from a brother's perspective, what fans should know about Max. "Well, first of all, I think a lot of people forget about it, but he's been in the SEC for a lot of years and he's been dominant in the SEC West. So I feel like he's got a lot of touchdowns to his name. He's totally confident and he's honestly the toughest competitor (that's) ever been part of my life. I think he leads the team well, he has respect for the players and he's going to go compete and just give it his all every game."
  • To Johnson, some subtle differences in the offense have been the reason for this year's success compared to 2022. “Well, obviously Petrino and Jimbo, they have a great relationship together, and there's a lot of quick game and just quick completions, but I feel like last year it was a great offense. But this year Coach Petrino, he's done a good job just getting the ball out quick to his playmakers, just easy completions. We've seen that there's been a lot of yards gained this year.”