Florida Gators Football Press Conference 8-31-2024

ball team they beat us today um and I don't have a ton of excuses you know I think we struggled to produce any running game uh outside of one explosive um you know obviously didn't create a ton of explosives and then obviously we had a key a couple key penalties and then defensively outside of third down didn't do much and I do think there were a few bright spots in the kicking game but overall Miami outplayed us they out coached us and um give them the credit I do think there are things that we can do better there's no question there were mistakes made um you know I do think that we had a couple players that were banged up that you'll have questions about but um what questions do we have go ahead yeah coach I mean given the experience and how confident you were in this team going into the season just how disappointing and surprising was this performance yeah I mean it's embarrassing to be quite hon honest with you yep that's how I feel that's how our kids feel um and we've got a decision to make you know I mean I think we have um it's what I just told them you know there's no excuses keep our mouth shut show up and work and um we have to do better and just just keep it simple that's how I feel and I do think that our players will show up and they will respond uh where do you think the struggles on defense kind of began obviously cam Ward is tremendous yeah no obviously a good player um I do think that uh in the first half in particular we've got a couple opportunities to get off the field the two roughing were critical um yeah and I think there's some M tackles I think there's a couple mental errors um but give them some credit I mean I think they were efficient throughout today they did a good job on conversion Downs they scored touchdowns in the red area and they had some balance you know I think think they able to rush it and throw it so I'll I'll be able to tell you more but statistically um you know they were very successful throughout the day Billy were there signs of some of the struggles that you saw today I mean defensively it looked you guys had a really hard time in coverage and generating pressure were these things that were evident at any point in Camp did this surprise you yeah no I mean I I would tell you that um yeah I I think that I I felt strongly that we would perform better you know but I'm not here to to uh make excuses you know we got to get it fixed we're going to get another opportunity next week and we've got to play better and Coach better so um I'll have more answers for you on Monday but sitting in here right now I have no excuses for you Billy how's the Graham doing uh Graham had a concussion um and he's he'll be in protocol and we'll give you an update you know when we meet with you Monday and Wednesday of next week how do you feel like DJ did stepping in his place I think he did a lot of good things in particular the second drive there we got to some things where um he had Success Through some great individual cuts um some good movement passes made a few plays with his feet um and I thought the players around him played well so it's good one of the positives was he had some success and we were able to go down and score a touchdown with him in the game um obviously he's a young player um but he'll continue to work and improve he's got a bright future uh coach you said you guys have been preparing for Miami for a while was there anything you saw today that surprised you guys or that you weren't prepared for uh and then with the confidence you guys had heading into this year where where was the disconnect from that confidence to to what we saw today well again um you got to give Miami some credit you know I mean they've got a good football team um yeah I mean I think they did they had a handful of wrinkles that were new there's no question about that but overall um you know I think the game comes down to fundamentals it comes down to good communication good execution um and at times out there we did not do that you know so um yeah I I was surprised I mean and I do think that uh we have better football in us I think that's the message and I think our players feel that way you know I think um we got a lot of football ahead of us you know and I think ultimately we'll prove over time that we can play better than that I I really believe that we'll have an opportunity to do that next week coach I think you guys started 0 for six on third down and finished one for nine uh I mean how you evaluate the execution and and even the play calling there yeah no it was a big part of the game um I think we were over for at the halftime um and conversion Downs are critical they they converted they stayed on the field they sustained drives we weren't able to do that um and ultimately that contributed to where we were at at halftime so um we have to do better you got to play better and Coach better Coach you know how the reaction and overreaction is sometimes to Big losses um how do you keep your team from from like getting caught up in some of the negative comments yeah that'll be part of it we'll have to navigate it you know I mean I think we've got to be men and we've got to show some maturity um ultimately if you care about the team you'll show up and work hard at your job um I think this group will do that but we can't control that um it's part of the part of the job and it's part of their responsibility to the team so we've got to manage that right it's a big it's a big part of what we do and certainly this group I think um that'll be one of the challenges that we have going forward was Graham hurt on that specific play yeah okay he was and then Devon I think left the game real early and has a AC joint shoulder okay and and did that I mean obviously he was sh flashing well and it kind of build his body up what how did that impact kind of pass coverage do you think yeah well I mean jae's out there playing and and um you know they ASA obviously went down too but I mean you know I think Jem was in good position a lot I think was some great throws and great catches um you know and then I think we we miss played a couple of the stacks in the game I think that's one of the areas that we can get better but overall Devon makes our team better if we we had our choice we could have him out there but we started jaem today you know Devon's been down for a little bit with u missed a pretty good chunk of time with the sickness that he had so jae's a good player you know he's he's a freshman he's got a bright future in front of him I think Corner play um you know was fine today I think there are other issues that we need to address coach when you look at some of the performance up front particularly stopping the run is that you know an issue with some of the strength and conditioning or is it just technique you know with leverage and playing with better feet and hand position and things like that yeah a lot of the runs got to the perimeter you know where the secondary was forced to make the tackle we'll see um it's definitely not strength and conditioning I think um you know good sound football you know and I think ultimately when we look at it there's not a ton of explosive runs you know throughout the game I think most of them were manageable there's definitely some big play passes in the game some Miss tackles that contributed to some of that uh coach obviously there were um there was a lot of optimism surrounding this team in recent months obviously it's going to be hard to come back from something like this but what would you say are some of the things you're going to try to do to just keep the Vibes positive and just get this team back on track uh in the coming weeks well I mean ultimately I think we've got it's a little bit of a challenge right I think you got to be a man and you got to take responsibility for the things that you can do better and if you really care about the team you'll work at it you know and I think we're going to we'll show up tomorrow the sun's going to come up tomorrow and we're going to go back to work you know I think ultimately there's not much for us to talk about right now you know we we've got to go play better um and that's where we're going to spend our time coach off topic um you're revealing injury information um do you like the sec's new rule yeah I mean I think we've been pretty transparent um when it comes to injuries the key is that going to be that we standardize it um and ultimately it's it's it's all got to do with gambling right so I think just protecting the players protecting the people in the organization having a system system um so that you don't have any issues when it comes to that coach obviously um offensive line there are times Graham didn't have a ton of time to throw when it comes to that is there changes that are going to have to be made to give him or DJ more time to throw or do you chalk it up to just Miami having a strong defensive line uh I think that when you when it comes to protection all players contribute to that not just the offensive line you know I think there's going to be um are is where we can separate and get open there's going to be things the quarterback could do differently maybe it's the running back or the tight end that's involved in protection so I think it's more of a unit thing than a position group thing you had a quite a bit of conviction throughout the preseason that this team was you know widely improved is this discouraging at all to to any degree to watch kind of how this unfolded and where you guys are at in your first game yeah I'm I would tell you that I still have confidence in our team I think we've made progress we we didn't um you know I think today is disappointing you know not only for myself but for the entire team and organization and for our fans for all the people that care about this place so like I said before I've got conviction about the young men that we have on our team I think we have better football in us but we have to go prove that right we have to go do that um and ultimately there's a lot of football left and we'll have an opportunity to prove that over time in regards to some of the smaller details today with tackling and special teams uh special teams what what imp particular I mean I thought that you guys were sound today um how would you reflect on just the overall performance from Special Teams tackling and yeah what what's your takeway well special teams I think it's an area where we did a lot of good things today you know um I thought the specialist were strong the coverage was good I thought we made some plays in the return game um so overall I think we did do some good things in the kicking game today coach I think you you touched on it earlier but how do you there was so much buildup to this game and excitement how do you rebound from this or make sure that this loss doesn't linger with the team and and kind of uh I guess refocus well I think it's it's one of the challenges that we have you know I mean I think if you play this game you're going to experience ups and downs right I mean challenges all the intangibles that you work on building with your team so um you know I think that it's going to require great leadership not only from the staff and myself but also from the players on our team you know and I think uh we got a group that I think will stand up and go back to work and and try to improve and do their job um you know but we got to go prove it on the grass you know and I think ultimately we got to take a good look in the mirror you know I think as coaches and players what can we do better to to get a better outcome okay thank you man you yes sir he they going to do good afternoon y'all Justice What in in your eyes of of what happened today what what went wrong for you guys and and just what what maybe was the disconnect between what you experienced in the preseason to what occurred in this game uh ultimately man we just didn't play the best uh Florida football today uh the football that we know that we are capable of playing um we just really just got to go back to the drawing board and uh go to a standing still or understanding of execution wise and making sure that everyone is uh on the same page and that's that's the main thing how unique was it to play against a quarterback like cam Ward with the different arm slot uh quick release and you know the several talents that he has offensively I'm sorry could you repeat it yeah how how unique was it to play against cam Ward with all of his talents like arm relase uh just being quick in the pocket uh quarterback of that style it just uh honestly um put you in a more focused mind state where you have to uh be very uh precise on spokes uh keeping the quarterback in contained especially with a quarterback is him he's looking to scramble to extend the play get the receivers to move to the open spot so uh yeah that's just main focus is uh focusing on the spokes and uh making sure that we contain him and uh don't allow him to do what he wants to do how' you feel like you guys did today uh I mean obviously we didn't get outcome that we wanted um but uh we got to work on it the uh early roughing the passer penalty I know was kind of close I didn't know your your read on it and then how did you try to kind of regroup from that the rest of the game uh I take uh full accountability full responsibility for that um honest I just we was just talking about in tun I was just telling them about how I take fa of our first mistake like I I feel like I was the one to make the first mistake I was the one to put us on a bad path by getting that rough in the pass just undisciplined play a discipline calling that's something I got to work on for myself and uh yeah that's that's my take from it um coach talked a lot about having so much football left to play and you'll be able to prove the progress that you made during the offseason and in Camp but from the player perspective how do you ensure that a loss like this at home against a rival doesn't spiral in terms of mindset and execution um honestly but this game right here does not define us at all this game does not this is not what what it's going to look like for the rest of year I can promise you that um from a player perspective uh like I said man we just we beat ourselves on a lot of plays uh from a from a standpoint of from the game there was just a lot of explosive plays that was on our suck not nothing that they did especially but more on more on I end so uh the biggest aspect is just going back watching film and seeing what we need to do better see how we need to communicate better yeah Billy said he was embarrassed the players are mean not not throwing that in your face kind of thing but but what was the mood in the locker room was it upset angry despondent I mean what was the mood in there oh yeah I can definitely agree with Coach Nick per coming from an embarrassing standpoint uh just I can honestly say you I had no vision of us uh losing this game like no dream no vision no type of if no nervousness I I had full belief and full trust in my team my coaches that we was going to uh go out there and execute um yeah and just what was the team kind of mood I mean uh everybody I mean everybody got the same mindset as me bro like everybody know that we didn't go out there and play how we needed to play and we know that that we're better than that so it's kind of embarrassing and a little bit disappoined in ourselves just cuz like we know that we're better than that so that's just our mindset that we just like we're not F to like be down by it like that's already out our head like we just going to go work on what we need to work on for the rest of the season we got we got more stuff to do SE 1710 you get the uh the score from uh Montell on the long run and you know momentum is in your favor and all of a sudden they come right back eight plays 75 yards right before halftime how if anything crushing was that going into the locker room knowing you were that close and now down two touchdowns and they were getting the ball to start the third quarter um I should definitely like in in that point of time before going into to the halftime or we going in the locker room it definitely at that point in time we was like oh man we you feel me we should have capitalized on that but uh honestly our mindset once we get in the locker room it's 00 like we're not even worryed about what happened in the first half we got a whole new game to play a whole new whole new you feel me juice to bring out Justice do anybody speak up in the locker room after the game and if so what was the message uh yeah I spoke up myself and uh like I said a few minutes ago my message was that uh we weren't we didn't play our best ball and uh we we made too many mistakes too many penalties and I took accountability for you feel me being being a part of a mess up being a part of a penalty and uh that's just the main thing I just wanted to the message to be that like this this won't Define us I want I won't allow them I won't allow our team to be defined like that we're better than this we worked so hard like entirely too hard and uh we we didn't get a chance to present that today and uh we we definitely will though and that's just the that's just the main message was that this this won't be us one one last one the pass rush struggled was just what was Miami's offensive front like was I mean obviously very talented and had a reputation but what what do you think was going on there I mean uh you I that again please well just the pass rush just struggled and would you say it's because Miami's front uh offensive line was I mean obviously talented group but no no I wouldn't I'm not no disrespect that I'm not saying that the offensive line is not a not good or nothing like that but uh I'm just more of a I'm I'm an accountable guy like I'm I'm just type of dude like I'm not going to give nobody credit say that they did something to me I'm the type of dude that like that's me I'mma do better on that I'm I'mma get better on that so I just feel like uh us from a standpoint we need to pess the pocket more crush the pocket more and keep them in there like uh it's nothing that they did special I I feel like uh we we honestly beat ourselves today I didn't I don't I don't feel like we were worse a team good thank you thank you have a good night all righty guys real e e just thoughts on tonight's game and how things played out yeah I mean obviously know we're near you know all we wanted you know you prepare all off on Camp and then you know come out and make mistakes you know it doesn't feel good but I think the the only thing you can do is is is grow from you right you know we have a lot of games left I kind mentality that we're taking how do you what you think about the offense and and how things went on that side of the ball and and what type of challenges Miami presented for you guys yeah I mean I think you know I'm going have to go back and look at the film but um you know wasn't able to really pick up momentum um and keep it um just lack of execution but um I know the guys in our room and I know the guys on on our team are you know willing to grow from this and and and that's the only you know choice we have how uh for you just how you know you're obviously first year here playing with you know your friend your former quarterback in Graham just personally how do you recover from something like this you know performance like this in your first game as a gator yeah I mean I think that the thing is I have experience of you know having big losses before right and um there's kind of two choices you can make you know you can either concede and um go into the loss or um you can respond from that I mean Boon um talk to the guys in the locker room and um you know it's clear Which choice we want to make and Which choice we're going to make it's just a matter of um going in next week and um you know swalling a tough pill and uh you know getting better obviously Miami's defensive line posted you know some issues Graham didn't always have a ton of time to throw as a receiver how tough is that you know when trying to get open then all of a sudden you know Graham Graham's getting pressure and is on the Run yeah I mean I think it's a collective effort right of you know being able to protect better being able to um run better routes get open um you know I think at the end of the day like when you look back at the film there's going to be things um that every single group can can improve so um I think that you know I'm not as much frustrated in that as I am just frustrated in the result how tough was it to see Graham get knocked out like that yeah I mean I honestly I didn't see it at first um you know but anytime you know one of your buddies or your teammates that you work so hard with gets uh you know you know hit hit pretty hard it doesn't feel good and um you know I know him he's a tough kid and um you know he's going to continue to get better uh coach said he had a concussion how's he doing so far have you been able to visit with him yet yeah good I mean um I think that you know it's it's part of the game right injuries come come and come and go but um if I know him he's going to do everything he can in his power to get back on the field as soon as he can what did you think of DJ when he came into the game and what he did in his first game I I was super proud of the DJ um to step in that spot is not not easy right and uh you know the way he responded and continue to compete for four quarters um you know shows the kind of character he has and um you know I've seen that since day one with him was a DJ's performance expected given how he' look in practice you know from you being one of his receivers yeah of course I mean um you know he's a guy who does things the right way um you know who works super hard and um has obviously is super talented as well so um I wasn't surprised to see um him moving the offense and having success what about U Montreal obviously getting the long run um what do you think about just his day as a whole Montreal is a great player um you know when he's on the field were were better and um you know that was huge for momentum in the game U obviously we didn't do a great job of um you kind of capitalizing off that and and building off that but um you know when you're able to steal momentum um with plays like that it's it's obviously huge Miami is obviously a good team it's you know an unfortunate loss but you guys have a really tough schedule this year getting to play a team like Miami this early in this season you know seeing good team a good quarterback how much you think could help for Texas A&M in two weeks and then as the season you know goes on yeah I mean I think we can't even we can't even look look ahead we got to you know stay where our feet are at and um you know we have an opponent this week coming up and um the only thing that we we need to focus on is being the best version of ourselves next week and then doing that again again and again you know and I think that's that's a process right like um you know when you're when you're in it you can't you can't be looking too far ahead and um you know we have a lot of things to clean up and fix you had some success in the uh in the return game uh how did that feel for you and how excited were you uh to earn that role coming out of Camp yeah I mean any any way I can you know impact the team I want to um you know I think that's that's something that you have to take pride in as as a competitor and um you know whether it's a return game um you you know being a blocker as a receiver um obviously making plays as well like those are all things that I want to be able to do at a high level thank you