Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
- Grading the Gators: The clock is ticking
- Share your thoughts on the game
- Instant Analysis: Six. Straight. Losses.
- Florida-No. 19 Miami Box Score
- O&B Board: Florida vs No. 19 Miami Game Thread (All Game Talk in Here)
Florida head coach Billy Napier along with running back Montrell Johnson Jr., and offensive tackle Austin Barber met with the media on Monday to discuss the Gators’ 41-17 loss to Miami.
BILLY NAPIER
Highlights
- Napier started off by saying that UF’s thoughts and prayers are with Ricky Pearsall and his family and that Pearsall is feeling better
- He said that despite giving up 529-yards and 41-points they saw a lot of good things on tape from the defense
- The staff made a decision to rotate along the offensive line based on how they had been practicing. That rotation saw Devon Manuel replace Austin Barber on the third, sixth, and ninth drives
- Because of the new SEC injury update protocol, they won’t be able to release an update on Graham Mertz until Wednesday
- DJ Lagway will be taking first team reps at quarterback today
- He said that the team is deserving of the criticism it is receiving. There’s no excuses
- Napier said that every part of the building is being quality controlled, including the playcalling on offense
BILLY NAPIER: Before we get going, obviously wanted to say that our thoughts and prayers are with Ricky Pearsall and his family. Obviously a difficult thing to go through there. But we are glad that he’s feeling better, that he’s stable and on his way back to a full recovery.
A little bit of a summary of the Miami game. I want to thank our fans. Our fans showed up and did a great job. We need to do our part so that they could have been more of a factor in the game. Certainly we contributed to that.
Offensively we didn’t block ’em very well in the run game, certainly struggled in protection at times. We lacked precision in the throw game. I think conversion downs in the first half, obviously 0-for there. That was critical. We couldn’t sustain drives. We lacked consistency. We need more plays where we’ve got 11 players doing exactly what they should do.
Defensively two critical penalties that led to touchdowns on those possessions. They played ahead of the sticks. I thought they did a good job. They had balance. We struggled to affect the quarterback. The pass-rush was not much of a factor.
I do think he made some plays, the quarterback played a heck of a game, played some plays on some extended plays. We had a few missed communications in the back end in man coverage. Two led to touchdowns.
I will say this. Defensively there’s a lot of good things on the tape. Although they did score a bunch of points and move the ball, I do think that the players played extremely hard. I felt that they played tough. I thought that they played with good fundamentals. But we’ve got some things that we need to clean up. We just have to be a little more consistent. We’ll have a player make a mistake that keeps a drive alive.
Special teams was the bright spot. I thought all six phases of the kicking game, the film was really impressive. Probably the best I’ve been around as a head coach, to be quite honest.
I do think the team is in good condition. There was not a ton of loafs on the tape. I think the reality here is that execution wins. We did not do enough to be competitive in the game. We got to go do it when it counts. That’s reality.
We’ll get another opportunity this week. Obviously a Samford team that has a history with Florida. Chris Hatcher is a great coach. I think this is year 10 for him.
Samford is one of the more competitive FCS programs in the country. He’s done a good job of building a program. They’ve continued to invest there. He’s got a good mix of players. He’s got some portal players, and he’s also got some good high school players.
They have a history of being competitive in these games. They played several of these throughout their time. I’ve got a ton of respect as a former FCS guy. These games are important to programs like Samford.
One thing that we’re going to do this week is we’re going to punt all the injury questions until Wednesday. We’re working on our in-house process as far as the SEC injury report. We’ll have some information for you on Wednesday officially. We’re kind of bulletproofing our process in-house.
What questions do we have?
Q. There was quite a bit of rotation along the offensive line. What led to so much changing, especially with guys like Austin Barber, who performed pretty well, didn’t get to play much?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, I think we made a commitment and a decision to play guys in rotations based off of how they’ve been practicing. Devon Manuel had had some good days. And Austin, it was competitive there to some degree. I think we played Devon the third six (indiscernible) series, something like that. Not the entire game, but a commitment to play a guy who took all the reps in spring.
Now, obviously all those things change week to week, right? We go back to square one. We’ve got some evidence from the game there that some guys can do better.
Q. Do you have to have DJ ready to go on Saturday as the starter?
BILLY NAPIER: We’ll, it’s to be determined right now. I think we’re moving our way. You’re talking specifically about Graham is what you’re saying?
Q. Yes.
BILLY NAPIER: I think obviously we are checking boxes in protocol. Regardless of the injury that he has, I don’t have that answer today, right? We’re going to go practice today. Obviously DJ will be taking those reps.
Q. How confident are you in him based on what you saw on Saturday? If he was to start, his readiness and so forth.
BILLY NAPIER: I think we would play a brand of football that reflects his experience and his strengths, right? No different than we do each week.
But I’ve got a ton of confidence in DJ. We’ve had him since January. He’s a completely different person and player than he was when he first arrived. He’s got a really good knowledge of our system. I do think coach to player helps a young quarterback, right? There’s an advantage there that maybe you wouldn’t have had a year ago.
Do you have something else?
Q. The way Saturday shook out, does that make you question the roster construction methods? Miami obviously was much more aggressive in the portal and has been. Do you feel you could have improved the roster faster doing it more similarly to the way they did it?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, a lot of things contribute to those decisions, right? It’s not necessarily like, Okay, this is our philosophy, this is how we’re going to go do it.
I think there’s a number of factors that contribute to your ability and strategy in terms of how you build a roster, right? We’ve got our fair share of success in the portal, as well.
I think ultimately, specifically the quarterback I would say is the main difference maker. We’ve been in that situation before. We went and got Graham Mertz.
Q. How are you dealing with the negative reaction? How are you weathering that?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I mean, again, we’ve got a responsibility to represent this place, and we need to do it better. I keep it very blunt. I think as coaches we need to do our part to help the players. Obviously we have a handful of players that can play better, as well. Yeah, I mean, I think it’s part of the job.
Ultimately I would tell you that whether it’s failure or success, you’re always managing that part of the job, regardless of where you’re at.
I think it’s critical that you set the tone from a leadership standpoint. You’ve got to be a really good example to the players. You try to keep it technical. You try to make ’em realize, When you do it right, you get a good return. When you make mistakes, when you’re playing a really high-quality opponent, the margin of error is small, you get exposed. I think that’s the message.
Look, here’s the tape. Here’s what you need to do better. Here’s what we can do better to help you. I think we got to take all parts of the building and take ownership.
Yeah, I mean, it’s part of the job.
Q. How hard is a bunker mentality in 2024? When you had a staff of nine people, two GAs, there wasn’t a lot of people. A huge staff, a lot of young guys on social media, devices out 24/7. How do you have a bunker mentality these days?
BILLY NAPIER: I think you’d be surprised. I mean, it’s the world that young people grow up in today. When it’s good, it’s good. When it’s bad, it’s bad.
I would tell you the season is probably a little easier than the off-season, to be quite honest, because you have a task that’s right in front of you that you can focus on. You have an immediate opportunity to go maybe change the result.
I joke around all the time. I think young people are more resilient than the adults are to some degree. They’re used to it. Maybe we’re not.
But yeah, I mean, you’re going to get criticism when you perform the way we did Saturday in certain parts of our team.
Q. Technical sounds easy, I’m sure it’s not. Is the emotional part for you hard to try to maybe flush that stuff and present the side that you want to present to the team?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, it is probably one of the bigger challenges you have as a head coach in terms of turning the page. How do you filter the results? How do you evaluate the game, especially when it’s negative?
I would tell you one of the other big challenges. When you do win, but maybe you were sloppy and you didn’t play well, that’s another big challenge. They’re all happy-go-lucky.
Reality is, I can remember standing up here when we beat Utah the first year. Look, I know everybody thinks we’re going to win the Super Bowl this year, but we have things that we have to clean up as a team, right?
I would say this. There is no better learning experience than game experience. I mean, there’s an old military line: We can have a lecture about bullets flying, and we can talk about that for years, but when you’re in there and the bullets are flying, I think that’s the scenario where the consequences become real.
I played on championship teams. I’ve been a part as a coach on national championship teams, SEC championship teams, conference and division champions. Very rarely did we win every single game.
I think ultimately a loss early can be a blessing if you don’t waste it.
One thing I can say is we have a group that’s working hard. I do think that we have character. We got to go to work on the football part. I think we got to become a more consistent team and we have to execute better.
If we can focus on those things and not necessarily what some guy in his basement is saying in rural central Florida on social media, then we got a chance to get better, right? I think that’s the key.
Sometimes you deserve criticism. I think that’s one of those things I would say I have no excuses, right? We got to go get it fixed.
Q. Anything you saw on film after analyzing the film that was uncharacteristic from what you’d seen in the fall?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I just think offensively we weren’t very clean. We weren’t very precise. I think we pressed a little bit. I think overall every position group, the running back group had a solid day, but I think all the other position groups can be much better, in my opinion, based off what I’ve been observing in practice.
Q. Route running, depth, things like that?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, 100%.
Q. You said a loss early can be a blessing if you don’t waste it. What gives you confidence this program cannot waste this one?
BILLY NAPIER: I just think we’ve got the group of players that we have. I mean, I think observing them. We had almost the entire team came to the building yesterday when they were off, right? I think that’s a good example of the type of group that we have here.
Yeah, I mean, look, they’re embarrassed. That’s reality, right? I said it postgame. I think they know they’re capable of better.
Look, got every opportunity. A lot of football left here. I think that’s what we got to do. We got to focus on the next opportunity.
Q. Did the result cause you to look at any of the specific game prep process? Changes that you think you need to make immediately? What were your thoughts on how the week leading up went?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I mean, I think offensively I was a little surprised, to be quite honest with you. I thought we’d play much better. That’s just the honest truth.
I do think defensively there’s a lot of good on the tape. I think Miami, the quarterback’s a really good player. I think he played a heck of a game, made some exceptional throws. He’s a challenge. They got a good group of skill. They did a nice job protecting him.
I do think the kicking game was impressive. We got work to do.
Q. What is DJ going to have to do to accelerate his readiness this week?
BILLY NAPIER: You would like to think that he just finished preparing as if he was one play away from being out there. I think ultimately that’s what we try to do for the backup, is create an environment where every day is a challenge, just like you’re going to have to run out there and be the starter the entire week. That’s what we’ve always challenged the backup to do.
Look, you got to start your week as if you’re going to be the guy, knowing that the entire building is going to be depending on you when you get that opportunity. Really that applies to all backups.
I think you want a culture where the backup is working consistently as if he may have to play because this is a game where players get hurt. I think the depth you have at every single position – not just quarterback – it’s key that you got that type of culture and how you prepare them for the game each week.
Q. You said no excuses. How would you evaluate yourself from a play-calling standpoint first four or five drives in the game?
BILLY NAPIER: I think offensively as a whole, the entire approach there, every part of our building is being quality controlled every day. I think that part is obviously part of the equation, right?
I think in general here, this is no different than the itinerary from Friday, Saturday, what we can do better from a travel perspective. Every part of our building is being evaluated.
Q. What would it mean for DJ to get a full game? How would that expedite his maturation?
BILLY NAPIER: Just the fact that he got to play a couple possessions the other day. Then to see him realize like, Okay, now I know what it’s like out there. I think we dealt with that a little bit with some of the freshmen that had to play last year, right?
But yeah, I mean, I was a player. I can still remember the first time I ran out there against William & Mary on the road as a redshirt freshman. We got control of the game. I’m out there playing. There’s no substitute. It’s imprinted in your mind.
Side story. I got a concussion in that game, too (smiling).
I think there’s no substitute for that, right? I think in particular at quarterback, I think it’s just really valuable.
Q. How did the dynamic work with Russ up in the box?
BILLY NAPIER: Russ has done a good job leading the offensive staff. He’s taken some things off of my plate. He’s a bright young coach. Certainly it’s been good to see him be more involved. I think definitely a positive to have him up there and have his eyes, for sure.
Q. Is he calling plays at all or a collaborative effort?
BILLY NAPIER: I think all of that is going to be determined based off of how we perform. I think his role, we want to give him a bigger piece of the pie. We’ve done that. I think each week we evaluate that accordingly.
Q. How would you evaluate Pup Howard’s play?
BILLY NAPIER: I think Pup did a lot of good things. I think Pup has leadership traits. I think he’s mature. He’s big, range-y. I thought he played well.
I think the linebacker group as a whole did a lot of good things. We’ve got to be a little bit better in some of our zone coverage drops. That was one of the issues that we had in the game.
Pup has a bright future, for sure.
Q. How do you evaluate safety play? Did it come together the way you thought it would?
BILLY NAPIER: I think that overall there was some good there. I think some of our issues, we had some man-to-man miscommunications. We had some underneath zone coverage communication. Some of the extended plays where we need to stick on guys when the quarterback extends the play.
But again, I think it’s never as good, never as bad on defense as you think. I think they played well. The quarterback I think is an exceptional player. But I think we’ve got a chance to have a good unit on defense. I really believe that.
Q. How was the communication on that side of the ball?
BILLY NAPIER: I think we played clean. I think the execution part, I don’t think we had any issues there. Coach to player was smooth. I think the tablet on the sidelines was a huge benefit. I think we executed the game day weekend. I think overall it went really well.
Got to play better.
Q. A lot of concern about Montrell in fall camp. To see him perform the way he did, how much confidence does that give you going forward?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, no, he’s great. Obviously had a minor scope. It’s one that people have overcome. No surprise that he came back quicker than most. His self-discipline, his work ethic, his toughness. The guy’s just an experienced player. I think he went over 2500 yards Saturday. He’s one of the best leaders that we have in terms of his example. I mean, he’s what you want.
Q. You talked about previous experiences in your coaching career. Is there any that you can point to where the initial game just wasn’t really great, but as the season progressed things got turned around? Is that something you can recall and draw from?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, no, I mean, we had a handful of losses. Alabama in the first half of the season. I think that gave you a chance to kind of recenter just from an urgency standpoint that I think allowed us to get the most out of our team.
We had a number of times there where we slipped up early in the year, and it ended up being a positive just because I think it got everybody’s attention.
I think the same at Louisiana. We had a couple of losses early in the season that makes it real. Hey, look, we’ve got to be at our best or we’re going to face the consequences. It kind of puts your back against the wall a little bit in terms of long-term, some of your goals.
Again, there’s no substitute.
Q. Can you point to one particular key that really drove the message home?
BILLY NAPIER: You (indiscernible) the truth. I think ultimately player ownership. Certain parts of your building realize that, Hey, look, I got to pick it up. My piece of the pie maybe didn’t come to play. So my contribution to the staff, my contribution to the team, like, I need to go to work and do my job better, right?
I think ‘all hands on deck’ in that regard. If you’re doing it right, everybody contributes and everybody feels as if they can make a difference, right?
What I would hope is happening right now, no matter if I’m the equipment guy or I’m the strength coach or offensive line graduate assistant, I’m thinking about, Man, in that 10-day prep, what could I have done better that maybe would have affected the outcome to some degree?
I think it’s just a challenge to each part of your building, each person, not only football players now, we’re talking about staff members as well. You got to use it. I think that’s the key.
Q. NFL fines its defenders for roughing the passer, late hits on the quarterback. Are you at that point where you’re able to fine these guys for that?
BILLY NAPIER: No. We technically aren’t allowed to do that.
AUSTIN BARBER
Q. How do you deal with the negative reaction to a loss like that?
AUSTIN BARBER: I think we put it on the shelf and go back to next week. Can’t change the past. Just looking forward. I think the guys know that.
We have the guys in this building that can put that aside and look forward. It was one game. That was not what we wanted, but we keep building off some of the good things we did.
Q. Billy said there was a lot of guys here Sunday. Is that typical? Is this your fourth team?
AUSTIN BARBER: Yeah, fourth team.
Q. Would that have been your reaction to something like that?
AUSTIN BARBER: I know it’s definitely gotten better. This is the most guys I’ve seen in the building wanting to get better. Coming in, watching the film, learn from what we did wrong, look at what we did right, take the things into next week.
I think there’s a lot of guys here that care and want to win. I just saw so many guys, the passion. It’s not what we wanted, but we have to get better and move forward.
Q. What was the mood like?
AUSTIN BARBER: Obviously it wasn’t what we wanted. There’s always going to be that sense of it’s not what we wanted.
We have guys that think, like, it’s just one game, it can’t define our season. We have so many games left. Guys watching the film, learning from things we did, moving forward.
Q. Five offensive drives. Billy mentioned execution and some jitters. What was it like in terms of not being able to sustain things?
AUSTIN BARBER: I mean, I guess you could say it was jitters. We just got to perform better and execute. I think that’s the main thing.
Q. What do you see from DJ when he came in? He’s going to get starting reps as Graham recovers.
AUSTIN BARBER: Yeah, I think DJ did a phenomenal job coming in as a freshman under the lights. I thought he did really well. He prepared like no other, like he was the starting quarterback. I think he went out there and showed what he can do. I’m happy for him.
I know it’s hard being a freshman, but he went out there and performed and did well. I’m happy for him.
Q. Anything about his composure, demeanor that stood out to you?
AUSTIN BARBER: Yeah, I think for him obviously he’s young, but he went out there like he was the starting quarterback. I think he was so prepared for an opportunity like that. Like Coach Napier said, they prepare these guys like they’re going to play, one play away. I thought he did a really good job of that during the week.
I’m just really proud of him.
Q. How does he change the offense?
AUSTIN BARBER: I mean, I think he does a lot of good things. I think he just does some things that help us. He can command in the offense just like Graham did. He’s confident in that, stuff like that.
Q. Have you talked to your linemates individually and reassess what happened? Have you had those private conversations?
AUSTIN BARBER: Yeah, of course. I think we’re a very connected group. I think we’ve built a bond that we haven’t had in a long time. We just come in and watch the film together, make sure we won’t make the same mistakes we did last week, just fix some things that could be better.
We talked about it. We just learned from it.
Q. What are your thoughts about the tackle rotation? Do you like being spelled? Would you rather have more rhythm?
AUSTIN BARBER: I trust what Coach Napier and Coach Sale are doing. I think they’re going to put all of us in the best situation. Guys can play, things like that.
I have full confidence in what they’re doing.
Q. Billy said you guys are a resilient generation. Is that true? How do you and the guys block this out?
AUSTIN BARBER: I think we just go about it. It’s obviously going to be tough seeing all the stuff. We don’t think about that. There’s another game on Saturday. We got to focus on the game we’re going to play. We can’t change the past, but we can work better for the next game.
Q. Did you dress for the Samford game?
AUSTIN BARBER: I played in that game. Me and Jay got some snaps with Anthony Richardson.
Q. You played earlier in the season?
AUSTIN BARBER: That was my debut, man.
Q. What do you remember of that game other than your debut?
AUSTIN BARBER: Yeah, I thought the game was going well when we got in. I just tried to take advantage of it, put something on there as a freshman. Obviously it’s definitely tough playing the O-line as a freshman.
It was fun, I will say, going out there and getting a few snaps as a freshman, not knowing what it was like to get that sense of this is what it is.
Q. What about the first half?
AUSTIN BARBER: I don’t really remember the first half. That was a long while ago.
Q. When you look at going into this week, where Samford is, where you are, individually what is one thing you would say you want to make sure that happens this week?
AUSTIN BARBER: I would say just I think to stand together through everything. No matter what happens, stay together as a team, don’t let any distractions or noise take anything away from what we built over the past however many months we’ve been working towards this.
Q. The offense started fast at the beginning of last season. What will it take for the offense to start faster?
AUSTIN BARBER: I think it just going out there and executing. I think we always have a great game plan. It’s going out there and performing and doing it.
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.
Q. How did it feel after some time off, getting out there? Felt pretty healthy?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: Yeah, I feel 100%. Yes, sir.
Q. No issues with the knee or anything at all?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: No. Nothing at all. I felt like I could play another game the next day.
Q. Was that your first contact in a while?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I got some contact throughout the week just to see how I feel before I go out there, yes, sir.
Q. What is running through your mind initially when the knee starts bothering you?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: Throughout the game, it wasn’t bothering me.
Q. In camp.
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: When it first happened in camp, I was very wary. A lot of bad things going through my mind. I was thinking about being out for the season, stuff like that.
My mom kind of kept me levelheaded, saying everything is going to be all right, God has a plan for everything.
Q. She drove up?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: Yeah, she drove up.
Q. When you get the diagnosis from the doctors, how do you change your mindset to I’m not out for the season, I have to work to get back?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: My mindset was still kind of messed up after they told me what it was ’cause I never missed a college game in my life. I was like, I don’t want to miss practice, I don’t want to miss something. I was like, Man, what am I going to do?
Mom was, The only thing you can do is go out there and work every day. It’s going to pay off. You might come back early, you might not. You got to live with it.
Q. How is that relationship with your mom? She drives up for every game?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: Every game, yes, sir.
Q. What does it mean to have her in your corner?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: It’s motivation, to be honest. Just to see how much she supports me, how much she loves me, makes me go out there and play hard every single game.
Q. How tough was the loss to swallow?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: It was very tough. It was embarrassing. I don’t even want to talk about it (smiling).
Q. When do you get over something like that?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: The next week. Really today, practice. Go out there, make the corrections. Go over the plays we messed up. Kind of learn from our mistakes.
Q. You obviously had the big run in the first half. It was hard for you to sustain drives. How surprising was that? What will it take to fix that?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: So I think the whole thing was just communication issues and execution issues. A lot of stuff was there. We just had to go out there and execute it.
I think we’re going to be really, like, focusing on that throughout this whole entire week, executing the plays, communication. I think that’s going to get us over the hump.
Q. You spent nine months getting ready for that game. You’re looking for validation of everything you’ve done. How do you not question your confidence, being on the right path?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I’d say it’s only week one. I’d say we still have time. The message to the team has been just to respond. Boone came in there and talked to us in the locker room after the game. He told us it’s only week one. It’s not the end of the world. Go out there and fix our mistakes. Look back on this as motivation and use it throughout the whole entire season.
Q. What are your thoughts on DJ, his readiness if he was to play this week?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I learned that he’s very mature. Coming on the field, talking to him throughout drives. He knows what is going on out there. He’s very mature with his communication and stuff like that. He made me proud.
Q. Fourth year in the offense now between the two schools. How do you feel like you have the entire grasp of what you guys are trying to do? Is it second nature? Do you still struggle with the communication or do you have total control of what’s going on?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I think the main thing I struggle with is just kind of knowing what everyone is doing, trying to help other players out. I know what I’m doing, so just trying to help other players out, make it easier for them so we can go out there and execute and play harder and faster.
Q. That’s something you focus on, learn what the guys on the perimeter’s responsibility is? Does that help you in protection?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: Yes, sir, most definitely. When you looking at the defense, they can only cover so many guys, send so many guys. Helps me with pass pro, some guys that can potentially come and some that cannot.
Q. Walk us through your touchdown run.
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: So they’ve been sending the field pressure the entire game. We kind of found out about that. We made an adjustment. We made a run to the boundary. Once I got around the corner, I knew it was a touchdown. There was no one there. I just had to outrun the other guy.
Yeah, I was looking to score, yeah.
Q. Almost got a shoelace or something, did you feel that at all?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I didn’t feel that. I felt him, but I didn’t feel it, if that makes sense. I knew he was coming, but he didn’t touch me yet.
Q. Some guys look at the scoreboard. Do you look up at all to see if he’s close?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I did that my freshman year at UO. It was delayed. I got tackled from the back. I’m not doing that ever again (smiling).
Q. Did you watch the film yet?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: Yes, we have.
Q. Jake Slaughter threw his hands up. Did you see Jake celebrating before you were even in yet?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I didn’t see it. I was still trying to make sure I got in there.
Jake does that a lot in practice. Every time I break free in practice, other running back, receiver breaks free, knowing those guys are behind you playing for you makes you play harder.
Q. What are your thoughts about maybe the future of the younger guys?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: I think those guys, they’re like sponges. They’re ready to learn, ready to soak up knowledge. I commend them for that. Just coming to me whenever they got a problem. Me, I got to be the leader for them, be that influence for them.
Q. Jacoby showed a little wiggle. Have you seen that before? Is that his thing, his MO?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: That’s most definitely Jacoby’s thing. He does that every practice, in spring, in fall camp. He does that every practice. That’s his playing style. That’s him.
Q. As one of the leaders on the offense, how much of an urgency is there to get some things fixed? What is practice going to be like this week?
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.: There’s a lot of urgency. I’m pitching on the small details. When you’re not in, get mental reps. No talking on the sideline. Everything got to be more structured. The leaders got to be more leaders on offense and defense. I think I’m going to press the issue this week.
Video courtesy Florida Sports Information | Transcripts courtesy ASAP
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