[Fuller]
Can you talk about your practices last weekend how the guys responded?
“Yeah, really well. Had a real good practice Tuesday, real good practice Wednesday, and then very excited about that and even more excited with how they came back on Sunday for yesterday's practice. It was very sharp and guys were mellowing out. Felt like we improved from where we were on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
On your show yesterday with Jim Brandstatter you said that it's an improvement week rather than a bye week. How much time do you spend working on individual things before you get back to game planning?
“Well, we were game planning, and it's…it was probably 50-50: 50[%] on the next opponent, 50% on individual technique and fundamentals and football. The ability to get more reps, repetition, and practice good on good, Michigan versus Michigan, so all those things. You're referring to the radio show last week, not yesterday.”
Do you expect to have Drake Johnson back, and Brian Cole, what's his status?
“He is, uh… Drake Johnson, do expect him to be ready to go.”
And Brian Cole?
“Brian's still some time away.”
Is a redshirt still possible for him at this point?
“Uh…we don't really talk about that, that concept.”
Can you talk a little bit about Willie Henry and what he has given you this year?
“Yeah, he's been terrific. Stacked on the game from last week and continues to be an improving player and just playing all out. At the end of that ball game he was a critical factor in those stops and he's doing it with talent and hustle, and he’s played very good, improving football with his technique, his fundamentals, very aggressive. Really can't say enough good things about the way he's playing right now.”
[After THE JUMP: “Not for sure on that one, no. I can’t state positively. I’ve read some Hemmingway, so somewhere along the way that got in my brain.”]
Jarrod Wilson isn't the flashiest or most well known guy in the secondary. What does he do to help keep them together with all his experience back there?‘'
“He’s just, he's a good football player. He's very much a leader and does it through his own personality, but people listen to Jarrod when he talks. He's a do-stuff-right guy all the time and really enjoyable to coach, and talented. There’s not probably…it's something that the public doesn't see, his leadership qualities, because he does it in such a steady, non-show type of way but I can assure you he's one of the top leaders on the team.”
In what ways does he lead that we don't see?
“By example. By [being] consistently good all the time. He takes coaching extremely well, gives feedback, and I would say all those things. Maybe not breaking down the guys in the middle of the huddle or getting the fans hyped up waving a towel or something like that. He just doesn't draw a lot of attention to himself, so it would be hard for anybody to recognize that that's not there on a daily basis but I would define it as the best way: by example.”
What are your memories of the Little Brown Jug during your playing career, and will you make a big deal out of it this week with the guys?
“One of the great trophies, I think. I've always remembered it that way and we'll approach it the same way, that we want it.”
Obviously the rushing numbers against Michigan State were a severe drop off from where you guys had been the previous five games. Is that a case of the offensive line regressing, or was it something that particular game where something was unique?
“No, I think those yards were hard fought in the running game on both sides, so I wouldn’t categorize it as regression or regressing. But it was a hard fought game.”
What sticks out to you in particular about this Minnesota team that you’re going to face?
“Well, I mean, they whipped us pretty good last year when you snap on the film of that game. Resilient football team. Very good defensive scheme. They commit a lot of…very aggressive, and a good football team in all phases. Extremely well coached. Jerry Kill’s a fantastic coach. All those things.”
You probably don’t want to linger on what happened a week and a half ago, but have you gotten any clarification from the Big Ten on the Joe Bolden ejection that you can share with us?
“No, nothing I can share and just as a point of reference, not into the if-this if-that type of scenarios. If worms had machine guns then birds wouldn't be scared of them. We’re looking to define our season over the next number of games that we play.”
Have you done anything special to prepare for this week’s game or just normal stuff?
“Heh. Doing something very special! Dirty, four-letter word: w-o-r-k.”
Given Jabrill’s success on offense people want to know whether we’ll see him more on that side of the ball. Do you have the depth at safety so maybe with they way guys are developing you could do that?
“Yeah, to answer your question, yes, possibly. As always, you like your opponent to understand all the possibilities and let them think about that, but very much a possibility.”
Considering this the halfway point of the season of sorts, could you evaluate your line play on both sides of the ball? Is it where you wanted it to be and expected it to be and what is the potential for both sides?
“Yeah. To evaluate it, the roles have been set. Play has improved. It’s kind of like a book: the prologue has been written and now if it’s going to be a great book then it’s got to have one heck of a conclusion. So that’s what we look for. It’s what we look for from our team and in each unit.”
AJ Williams is a guy that didn’t catch a lot of balls coming into the year on his career. What did you guys see in him? He seems like someone that’s ascending, as you like to say.
“Yeah. I saw somebody that was a good blocker, but he needed to improve in that area and he needed to get faster. It’s just a long process of convincing AJ he needed to run faster, and part of that was losing some weight. He worked extremely hard at it and just, ‘Please, will you run faster, AJ?’ That has seemed to help.
“He’s running faster. It’s noticeable. He’s the one that’s done the work on that, and it’s made him a better player. You’ve seen some results and I think you could see more. More dividends could play off and that’d be good for him and good for our football team. He’s conscious of it.
“That’s a good thing. Sometimes that works. I’ve seen it work before. ‘Will you please run faster?’ and then they do, so hope we keep going in that direction because he’s got it in him.”
You mentioned worms and machine guns and looking back and not looking forward. Is that- telling this team we’re not looking back to two weeks ago and we’re going to define the season the next couple games, is that what that means? You’re not looking back, you’re just worried about what’s in front of you now?
“Pretty much I think yeah, that’s exactly what I said.”
Is that something you tell the team or talk to the team about?
“We talked about if-this if-that and I made the machine gun worms analogy and birds analogy.”
Did you make that one up or did you hear it from someone else?
“Sometimes I never know. It’s like sometimes I’m 95% I did think of it but then I don’t know if I read it in a book or saw it in a movie or I dreamed about it or I just came up with it.”
That one’s not Hemmingway though.
“Not for sure on that one, no. I can’t state positively. I’ve read some Hemmingway, so somewhere along the way that got in my brain.”