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This dude has no idea how to interact with the media. I wonder if he realizes that snarky asshole behavior is only tolerated when you win games.
Opening Remarks:
“Alright, thanks for coming out. Number one, on Saturday I thought our guys were united. I thought they played hard together. I thought they fought, and sometimes that doesn't guarantee you anything but their effort as a team was something I was proud of, and I was proud of those kids. I know I said that on Saturday, but that hasn't changed. Sometimes fighting alone doesn't get a victory, but I think we need to change those results and execute a little better, coach a little better. It always starts with me and us. There was some good progress that was made and we want to really emphasize those things.
“Yesterday we didn't practice and that was already determined we weren't going to. We got back at– I don't know. I got home at 4:15 so I'm sure they got home late. We wanted to give them rest because rest will help you heal. We had good meetings yesterday. I think from the standpoint of corrections and emphasizing the things we want to see repeated I think were important.
“You know I don't talk about injuries unless a guy is going to miss the year, and unfortunately that's what Derrick Green – he broke his clavicle late in the football game. Nice run on our sidelines, but Derrick's attitude is very good. He knows there’s an expectation of him to help coach those young guys and coach guys and be integral and what we’re trying to get done. And so we are going to miss him, but DeVeon and Justice Hayes and Drake Johnson are three guys who need to step up, and two of them are guys that have a lot of game experience and played a lot of plays, so feel good about that. And we’ll miss Derrick, but this is like anything else in competition in sports; the next man's got to stand up.”
This is related; it might be injury related. DeVeon went down, too, in that game. Will he be ready to go on Saturday?
“Remember, I would only discuss injuries that were going to be here long.”
We haven’t seen Desmond since Appalachian State. Should we expect him to-
“I will only discuss injuries that are year-long. Thank you, though.”
Could you update us on the status of Jabrill Peppers?
“Okay. I guess we don't listen well.”
That's not an injury question.
“Well…”
Can you talk about Devin Gardner and what he did Saturday night, and he is your starting quarterback for Saturday?
“Yes.”
And where is Shane on that depth chart?
“Shane’s practicing. Devin is the starting quarterback. I thought Devin from the standpoint of running the offense, I thought on some explosive plays that he ran, I thought he ran hard, with a purpose. I thought he did a nice job. We had a little, I think, mix-up on a route with the interception but overall, number one, I thought his leadership was outstanding. When you're on the sidelines and the energy and all those things, he did a tremendous job. We’re pleased with the progress that he made Saturday, and we expect more progress this week.”
The play by Amara Darboh that was ruled an incompletion after review; has it been submitted to the Big Ten for review or have you been in touch with the conference yet?
“Yeah. We talked yesterday and have spoken to the right people, the appropriate people. I think we might see it differently, but at the same time that play is over with, and like I told the team yesterday anything that happened on Saturday night is things that we've got to move forward because we start to focus on Penn State.”
Justice did some nice things for you Saturday night. We’ve seen a little bit of him. We’ve not seen that much of Drake . Can you talk a little about, with them moving up the depth chart, what people will see from those two?
“Justice, he's primarily been a very good third-down back or when you get in those situations where from a protection standpoint – I do think Derrick and DeVeon are getting closer with that standpoint but I think Justice gives you something there. I think his ability out of the backfield has been good. He's a different style of runner where Drake is probably a combination of somewhere with Derrick and Justice as far as when you see his ability and his quickness in the hole.”
With Drake, he was No. 2 on the depth chart last year before his injury. You guys talked a lot about him preseason, but we haven’t seen much of him. What’s maybe held him back, and what areas of progress have you seen?
“Well, I think we talk about compete and challenge and there's always that. Not that he wasn't competing or challenging but as you go through practice and the execution of everything, we just thought needed cleaned up a little bit.”
But he’s made progress?
“He has. There's no question about it.”
Going back to Derrick a little bit, he had two of his runs that looked like some of his best runs since he’s been here. How big of a loss is he for the offense, and what are your thoughts about the running backs without him moving forward?
“I'm very confident in the three guys that will be doing most of the work as a running back. I'm highly confident of what they bring and what they can do. When you lose anybody – we've lost guys who have been on our scout team that you can't afford to lose because they give you such a good look, so is Derrick important? Yeah. Are we going to miss him? Sure we are, but that's why there’s 105 guys, 115 guys on this team and you've got to step in when your opportunity comes and make the most of it.”
MGoQuestion: With about 11 minutes left in the second quarter Rutgers punted-
“11 minutes left in the second quarter…”
MGoNowWe’reOnTheSamePage: Yep. Rutgers punted and Michigan had 10 men on the field to return-
“Yep, that was during the time where we were going to put the defense back out on the field in a safe punt kind of deal or were we going to go with our punt return group, and we decided to go with our punt return group and one individual didn't get that.”
Talk a little bit about Jourdan Lewis and his development over the last couple of years; what he’s learned and how he’s gotten better.
“Well, I think the one thing with JD is he's a consummate technique guy. We’ll get done with practice and he'll stay out there and just work with him and Terry Richardson will work through releases. His leadership is really developing. I think we think from that standpoint you're getting more from him. He's got a good burst from the physical aspect of it. There's a lot of things that he does awfully well that – he's got that make-up speed to some degree and that quickness. I think technique-wise he's improved immensely. I think the maturity and the maturation process is a big part of that and I can't say enough about how he's been for us. He's been very solid for us.”
Beyond the wins and losses, if you look at your expectations heading into the year are there areas where you haven’t met them or exceeded them as a team?
“Well, our expectations every year are – I think you always have an expectation to win in every game. I think you have an expectation, and we still always will, of winning the Big Ten championship. Have we played as well as a team on every Saturday? No. And do we need to keep coaching harder? Yes. Do we need to coach better? Yes. But from a standpoint of a team that's stood together and worked extremely hard every day and like working hard for each other, there's progress that's been made. Now, we got to go out and win.”
Did Kalis just beat out Magnuson there at that guard spot, or is Magnuson hurt?
“I think Kalis has played good football. I think he's done a nice job how he's responded. The commitment level that he made really since January has really shown itself.”
So he just won that job, and those are the five you’re comfortable with?
“Well, right now that's the five we’re playing with.”
Brady, shifting to this weekend’s game; given the recent events, the protest and everything, are you worried about fan attendance for Under the Lights?
“Uh, no.”
A twist on that approach; night games are designed to have a different feel to them and the excitement. What would it mean to these kids right now for a pretty whipped up crowd on Saturday night?
“Yeah, you took a different side to it. I think you're right. I think it will be – that environment I don't think is like any other. We’ve played enough night games at other places, and the environment that we’ve had here, there isn’t any question it amps your players up because of that environment and we’re excited about it. We’ve got great fans, and they’re fans with high expectations. Well, they should be and we feel the same way.”
With DeVeon, I think he’s only had one game with double-digit carries in his career. Is he capable of taking on a heavier load? Can he be a more every-down type back right now?
“Yeah. I know he carried the ball in high school 40-some times in a game against their lead rival, and I know it’s high school but it’s still a guy carrying it. How many snaps he gets during the course of the week, how he practices and all those things- I think he’s more than capable of it.”
Brady, how did the Big Ten explain that rule to you? Is it the finish the catch rule? Is that what they talked about?
“Yeah. There’s three phases to it, and sometimes that’s subjective of what phases you think were done properly and what weren’t. But we talked about it and number one, it can’t change anything. And so to spend a lot of time going back and talking about that distracts from what’s important, and that’s going back and getting our kids ready to play Penn State.”
You said you didn’t practice yesterday but you said Shane’s practicing, so he practiced last week a little bit?
“I’m sorry.”
You didn’t practice yesterday but you said Shane’s practicing. Does that mean he practiced last week a little bit or…?
“He’s practicing.”
We talked a little bit about Devin earlier and just how he’s hung in there. Have you noticed a change in him since you sat him down, or is it the same Devin?
“I think the maturity Devin’s gone through over the course of three years, three and a half years- I just think he keeps growing. He keeps growing as a person and evolving as a quarterback, and so from that standpoint I couldn’t be more pleased than to see how he worked last week, how he supported Shane all during that week that he wasn’t the starter.”
I just wanted to go back to the 10 men on the field-
“I’m sure you do. Go ahead.”
You’ve had a couple instances of this. What concerns you most? Is it not getting communication? Is it coaching?
“Well, I think it’s both, and it’s more coaching and that’s on me. The other thing I would say is it’s got to be something where we do a better job, and we’ve got to be locked in to doing a better job.”
Just for you personally, how are you able to separate this? You have the football, how does a coach in your position separate all the media attention, some of the negativity, and just being Brady Hoke? How do you separate the two?
“I think I am. I don’t know if I separate it. I don’t know if I quite understand. We’ve got great support here. We’ve got great kids here.”
As far as leaving work at work is where I’m going with that. Are you able to do that?
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that. We get about two weeks in the summer where you try and not take your cell phone and that’s about it. That’s just the way of the beat, and it’s not a beast. It’s fun. I get to help mentor kids. And I’ve got good support at home. Mrs. Hoke is a very good coach’s wife.”
Can you clarify- I know you don’t talk injuries, but-
“Correct.”
Is Magnuson not- did he not earn this because he’s injured and Kalis earned the spot at guard, or-
“I think they’re two really good football players that we’re glad they’re on our team.”
So you’re not saying anything.
“I didn’t say anything, I don’t think.”
It’s like reading tea leaves.
“Yeah. You might be good at that.”
“Alright guys, thank you very much. Thank you.” -------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...
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