Watch & Read: No excuses – embarrassed

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Florida head coach Billy Napier along with wide receiver Chimere Dike and defensive end Justus Boone met with the media after Saturday’s season-opening loss to No. 19 Miami.

BILLY NAPIER

Highlights

• Napier said that there aren’t a ton of excuses for the loss
• He said that he and the players feel embarrassed
• Called Florida’s two roughing the passer penalties critical
• They need to play and coach better
• Graham Mertz suffered a concussion and will be in the concussion protocol
• Devin Moore has a AC joint, shoulder injury

BILLY NAPIER: They beat us today, and I don’t have a ton of excuses. I think we struggled to produce any running game outside of one explosive. Obviously didn’t create a ton of explosives, and then obviously we had a couple key penalties, and then defensively, outside of 3rd down, didn’t do much.

I do think there were a few bright spots in the kicking game, Miami outplayed us, they out-coached us, and give them credit. I do think there are things we can do better. There’s no question there were mistakes made. I do think that we had a couple players that were banged up that you’ll have questions about.

What questions do we have? Go ahead.

Q. Given the experience and how confident you were in this team going into the season, how disappointing and surprising was this performance?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I mean, it’s embarrassing, to be quite honest with you. That’s how I feel. That’s how our kids feel.

We’ve got a decision to make. I think we have — that’s what I just told them. There’s no excuses. Keep our mouths shut, show up and work. We have to do better.

Keep it simple. That’s how I feel. I do think that our players will show up and they will respond.

Q. Where do you think the struggles on defense kind of began? Obviously Cam Ward was tremendous.

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, obviously a good player. I do think in the first half in particular we’ve got a couple opportunities to get off the field. The two roughings were critical. I think there’s some misses tackles. I think there’s a couple mental errors. But give them some credit. I think they were efficient throughout the day. They did a good job on converse downs. They scored touchdowns in the red area, and they had some balance. They were able to rush it and throw it.

I’ll be able to tell you more, but statistically they were very successful throughout the day.

Q. Were there signs of some of the struggles that you saw today? Defensively it looked like you guys had a really hard time in coverage generating pressure. Were these evident at any point in camp? Did this surprise you?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I would tell you that — yeah, I think that I felt strongly that we would perform better. But I’m not here to make excuses. We’ve got to get it fixed. We’re going to get another opportunity next week, and we’ve got to play better and coach better.

I’ll have more answers for you on Monday, but sitting in here right now, I have no excuses for you.

Q. How is Graham doing?

BILLY NAPIER: Graham had a concussion, and he’ll be in protocol, and we’ll give you an update when we meet with you Monday and Wednesday of next week.

Q. How do you feel like DJ did stepping in in his place?

BILLY NAPIER: I think he did a lot of good things, in particular the second drive there we got to some things where he had success. Threw some great individual cuts, some good movement passes, made a few plays with his feet. I thought the players around him played well.

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.

Obviously he’s a young player, but he’ll continue to work and improve. He’s got a bright future.

Q. 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? And with the confidence you guys had heading into this year, where is the disconnect from that confidence to what we saw today?

BILLY NAPIER: Well, again, you’ve got to give Miami some credit. They’ve got a good football team.

I think they had a handful of wrinkles that were new. There’s no question about that. But overall I think the game comes down to fundamentals. It comes down to good communication, good execution. At times out there we did not do that.

Yeah, I was surprised, and I do think that we have better football in us. I think that’s the message.

I think our players feel that way. I think we’ve got a lot of football ahead of us, and I think ultimately we’ll prove over time that we can play better than that. I really believe that. We’ll have our opportunity to do that next week.

Q. Coach, I think you guys started 0 for 6 on 3rd down and finished 1 for 9. How do you evaluate the execution and even the play calling there?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, it was a big part of the game. I think we were 0 for at halftime, and conversion downs are critical. They converted, they stayed on the field, they sustained drives. We weren’t able to do that. Ultimately that contributed to where we were at at halftime. We have to do better. We’ve got to play better and coach better.

Q. You know how the reaction and overreaction is sometimes to big losses. How do you keep your team from getting caught up in some of the negative comments?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, that’ll be part of it. We’ll have to navigate it. I think we’ve got to be men and we’ve got to show some maturity. Ultimately if you care about the team, you’ll show up and work hard at your job.

I think this group will do that. But we can’t control that. It’s part of the job, and it’s part of their responsibility to the team.

We’ve got to manage that. It’s a big part of what we do, and certainly this group, I think, that’ll be one of the challenges that we have going forward.

Q. Was Graham hurt on that specific play?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. He was.

Q. Devin I think left the game real early —

BILLY NAPIER: Mm-hmm, Devin has an AC joint, shoulder.

Q. Obviously he was flashing well and had built his body up. How did that impact pass coverage do you think?

BILLY NAPIER: Well, Ja’Keem is out there playing, and Asa obviously went down, too. But I think Ja’Keem was in good position a lot. I think there were some great throws and great catches.

Then I think we misplayed a couple of the stacks in the game. I think that’s one of the areas that we can get better.

But overall Devin makes our team better. If we’ve got our job, we’ve got to have him out there.

But we started Ja’Keem today. Devin has been down for a little bit with — missed a pretty good chunk of time with the sickness that he had. Ja’Keem is a good player. He’s a freshman. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. I think corner play was fine today.

I think there are other issues that we need to address.

Q. When you look at some of the performance up front, particularly stopping the run, is that an issue with some of the strength and conditioning, or is it just technique with leverage and playing with better feet and hand position, things like that?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, a lot of the runs got to the perimeter where the secondary was forced to make the tackle. We’ll see. It’s definitely not strength and conditioning.

I think good, sound football. I think ultimately when we look at it, there’s not a ton of explosive runs throughout the game. I think most of them were manageable. There’s definitely some big play passes in the game on some missed tackles that contributed to some of that.

Q. Obviously 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 keep the vibes positive and get this team back on track in the coming weeks?

BILLY NAPIER: Well, ultimately I think we’ve got — it’s a little bit of a challenge, right. I think you’ve got to be a man and you’ve got to take responsibility for the things that he can do better, and if you really care about the team, you’ll work at it.

I think we’re going to — we’ll show up tomorrow, the sun is going to come up tomorrow, and we’re going to go back to work. Ultimately I think there’s not much for us to talk about right now. We’ve got to go play better. That’s where we’re going to spend our time.

Q. Off topic, you’re revealing injury information. Do you like the SEC’s new rule?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I think we’ve been pretty transparent when it comes to injuries. The key is going to be that we standardize it, and ultimately it’s all got to do with gambling, right. I think just protecting the players, protecting the people in the organization, having a system so that you don’t have any issues when it comes to that.

Q. Obviously offensive line there at times Graham didn’t have a ton of time to throw. When it comes to that, are 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?

BILLY NAPIER: I think that when it comes to protection, all players contribute to that, not just the offensive line. I think there’s going to be areas where we can separate and get open. There’s going to be things the quarterback can 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.

Q. You had quite a bit of conviction throughout the preseason that this team was widely improved. Is this discouraging to any degree to watch how this unfolded and where you guys are at in your first game?

BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I would tell you that I still have confidence in our team. I think we’ve made progress. We didn’t — I think today is disappointing, not only for myself but for the entire team and organization and for our fans and for all the people that care about this place. 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. We have to go do that.

Ultimately there’s a lot of football left, and we’ll have an opportunity to prove that over time.

Q. In regards to some of the smaller details today with tackling and special teams —

BILLY NAPIER: Special teams, what in particular?

Q. I thought you guys were sound today. How would you reflect on just the overall performance from special teams, tackling? What’s your takeaway?

BILLY NAPIER: Well, special teams I think is an area where we did a lot of good things today. I thought the specialists were strong. The coverage was good. I thought we made some plays in the return game.

So overall I think we did do some good things in the kicking game.

Q. I think 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, I guess, refocus?

BILLY NAPIER: Well, I think it’s one of the challenges that we have. I mean, I think if you play this game, you’re going to experience ups and downs. Challenge is all the intangibles you work on building with your team.

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. I think we’ve got a group that I think will stand up and go back to work and try to improve and do their job. Burr we’ve got to go prove it on the grass.

I think ultimately we’ve got to take a good look in the mirror, I think as coaches and players, what can we do better to get a better outcome.

CHIMERE DIKE

Highlights

• Florida wasn’t able to get momentum and keep it
• Dike is proud of DJ Lagway

Q. Just your thoughts on tonight’s game and how things played out?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, obviously not the result we wanted. You prepare all camp and then come out and make mistakes, it doesn’t feel good. But I think that the only thing you can do is grow from here. We have a lot of games left, and I think that’s kind of the mentality that we’re taking.

Q. What did you think about the offense and how things went on that side of the ball, and what type of challenges Miami presented for you guys?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, I think I’m going to have to go back and look at the film, but wasn’t able to really pick up momentum and keep it. Just lack of execution. But I know the guys in our room and I know the guys on our team are willing to grow from this, and that’s the only choice we have.

Q. For you, you’re obviously first year here, playing with your friend, your former quarterback in Graham. Just personally how do you recover from something like this, a performance like this in your first game as a Gator?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, I think the thing is I had the experience of having big losses before, and there’s kind of two choices you can make. You can either concede and go into the loss or you can respond from that. Boone was talking to the guys in the locker room, and it’s clear what choice we want to make and which choice we’re going to make. It’s just a matter of going into next week and swallowing a tough pill and getting better.

Q. Obviously Miami’s defensive line posed some issues. Graham didn’t always have a ton of time to throw. As a receiver how tough is it trying to get open and then all of a sudden Graham is in pressure and on the run?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, I think it’s a collective effort of being able to protect better, being able to run better routes, get open. I think at the end of the day when you look back at the film, there’s going to be things that every single group can improve.

I think that I’m not as much frustrated as that as I am in the result.

Q. How tough was it to see Graham get knocked out like that?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, honestly, I didn’t see it at first. But anytime one of your buddies or your teammates that you work so hard with gets hit pretty hard, it doesn’t feel good. I know him, he’s a tough kid, and he’s going to continue to get better.

Q. Coach said he had a concussion. How is he doing so far? Have you been able to visit with him yet?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, good. I think that it’s part of the game, right; injuries come and go. But if I know him, he’s going to do everything in our power to get back on the field as soon as he can.

Q. What did you think of DJ when he came into the game and what he did in his first game?

CHIMERE DIKE: I was super proud of DJ. To step in that spot is not easy, and the way he continued to spot and compete for four quarters shows the kind of character he has, and I’ve seen that since day one with him.

Q. Was DJ’s performance expected given how he’d look in practice, from you being one of his receivers?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, of course. He’s a guy who does things the right way, who works super hard and obviously is super talented, as well. I wasn’t surprised to see him moving the offense and having success.

Q. What about Montrell obviously getting the long run? What did you think about his day as a whole?

CHIMERE DIKE: Montrell is a great player. When he’s on the field, we’re better. That was huge for momentum in the game. Obviously we didn’t do a great job of kind of capitalizing off that and building off that, but when you’re able to steal momentum with plays like that, it’s obviously huge.

Q. Miami is obviously a good team. An unfortunate loss, but you have a really tough schedule this year. Getting to play a team like Miami this early in the season, seeing a good team and a good quarterback, how much can that help for Texas A&M in two weeks and then as the season goes on?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, I think we can’t even look ahead. We’ve got to stay where our feet are at. We have an opponent this week coming up, and the only thing that we need to focus on is being the best version of ourselves next week and then doing that again and again and again.

I think that’s a process. When you’re in it, you can’t be looking too far ahead. We have a lot of things to clean up and fix.

Q. You had some success in the return game. How did that feel for you, and how excited were you to earn that right coming out of camp?

CHIMERE DIKE: Yeah, any way I can impact the team, I want to. I think that’s something that you have to take pride in as a competitor, whether it’s the return game, being a blocker, a receiver, obviously making plays, as well. Those are all things I want to be able to do at a high level.

JUSTUS BOONE

Highlights

• Boone said that they didn’t play the best Florida football today
• He took full responsibility for the roughing the passer penalty
• The loss to Miami doesn’t define the team, it’s not what they will look like the rest of the year
• Boone was one of the players to speak in the lockerroom after the loss

Q. Justus, in your eyes, what went wrong for you guys and what was the disconnect between what you experienced in the preseason to what occurred in this game?

JUSTUS BOONE: Ultimately, man, we just didn’t play the best Florida football today, the football that we know we’re capable of playing. We’ve really just got to go back to the drawing board and go to standing still, understanding execution-wise and making sure that everyone is on the same page. That’s the main thing.

Q. How unique was it to play against a quarterback like Cam Ward with different arm slots, quick release, and several talents that he has offensively?

JUSTUS BOONE: The quarterback of that style, just honestly puts you in a more focused mind state where you have to be very precise on spokes, keeping the quarterback in contain, especially a quarterback that’s going to be looking to scramble to extend the play, getting the receivers to move to the open spots. Yeah, that’s just focusing on the spokes and making sure we contain him and don’t allow him to do what he wants to do.

Q. How did you feel like you guys did today?

JUSTUS BOONE: I mean, obviously we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted. We’ve got to work on it.

Q. The early roughing the passer penalty, I know it was kind of close. I didn’t know your read on it. How did you regroup from that the rest of the game?

JUSTUS BOONE: I take full accountability, full responsibility for that. We were just talking about it in the team room. I was just telling them about how I take — the first mistake. 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 roughing the passer, just an undisciplined play, undisciplined call, and that’s something I’ve got to work on for myself, and that’s my take from it.

Q. 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 off-season 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?

JUSTUS BOONE: Honestly, this game right here does not define us at all. This is not what it’s going to look like for the rest of the year, I can promise you that. From a player perspective, like I said, we beat ourselves on a lot of plays from the standpoint of from the game. But there was just a lot of explosive plays that was on our mess-up, not nothing that they did special but more on our end. The biggest aspect is just going back, watching film and seeing what we need to do better, seeing how we need to communicate better.

Q. Billy said he was embarrassed, the players are — not throwing that in your face, but what was the mood in the locker room? Was it upset, angry, despondent? What was the mood in there?

JUSTUS BOONE: Yeah, I can definitely agree with Coach Napier coming from an embarrassing standpoint. I can honestly tell you I had no vision of us losing this game. No dream, no vision, no nervousness. I had full belief and full trust in my team and our coaches that we were going to go out there and execute.

Q. What was the team mood?

JUSTUS BOONE: Everybody got the same mindset as me. Everybody knows that we didn’t go out there and play how we need to play, and we know that we’re better than that. It’s kind of embarrassing and a little bit disappointed in ourselves because we know that we’re better than that. That’s just our mindset that we’re not fitting to be down, but that’s already out of our heads, we’re just fitting to go work on what we need to work on for the rest of the season. We’ve got more stuff to do.

Q. 17-10 you get the score from Montrell on the long run, and momentum is in your favor, and all of a sudden they come right back, 75 yards right before halftime. How 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?

JUSTUS BOONE: How should I answer that? Definitely in that point in time before going into halftime, going into the locker room, it definitely at that point in time, we was like, man, we feel like we should have capitalized on that. Honestly, our mindset once we get in the locker room, it’s 0-0. We’re not even worrying about what happened in the first half. We’ve got a whole new game to play, whole new juice to bring up.

Q. Did anybody speak up in the locker room after the game, and if so, what was the message?

JUSTUS BOONE: Yeah, I spoke up myself. Like I said a few minutes ago, my message was that we didn’t play our best ball, and we made too many mistakes, too many penalties, and I took accountability for being a part of the mess-up, being a part of the penalty. That’s just the main thing. I just wanted the message to be that this won’t define us. I won’t allow our team to be defined like that. We’re better than this. We worked so hard, entirely too hard, and we didn’t get a chance to present that today. We definitely will, though. That’s just the main message, that this won’t be us.

Q. The pass rush struggled; what was Miami’s offensive front like? Obviously very talented and had that reputation, but what do you think was going on there?

JUSTUS BOONE: No, no disrespect to them. Not saying that their offensive line is not good or nothing like that, but I’m just more of a — I’m an accountable guy. I’m just the type of dude that I’m not fitting to give nobody credit saying they did something to me. I’m the type of dude that that’s me; I’m going to do better. I’m going to get better on that side. I just feel like that’s from the standpoint we need to purse the pocket more, crush the pocket more and keep him in there. It’s nothing they did special. I feel like we honestly beat ourselves today. I don’t feel like we were a worser team.

Transcripts courtesy ASAP

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