I'll have a said and unsaid up for you guys in a couple of hours and video from Trajen Greco, Drake Hesimeyer and Nick Rodriguez, but for now, here are my quick notes from Eli Drinkwitz's Tuesday press conference.
"Mississippi State has had an extremely challenging schedule ... I don't think their record accurately represents the type of football team they are"
"They are very explosive. Wide receiver Kevin Coleman ... dynamic ... really good route runner, really good after the catch. As good a wide receiver as there is in the SEC."
"Devin Booth has really given them a boost in the run game."
"I know they spent the bye week putting it all together."
"I know the last time we went to Starkville was in 2020 and we really didn't play as well as we needed to. Challenging road environment."
On bouncing back from losses: "I think there's a competitive character. Winning and losing has to matter to you, but you have to be quick to move on ... learn the lessons from the game, but don't let them drag you down."
On explosive plays: "Kind of the perfect nightmare for us. The first play of the game was a miscommunication ... That kind of set the tone. Then we had a corner blitz ... if it's an over-split by the X then technically the rover goes, miscommunication by three people. ... That last two drives, there was two combinations, rush didn't quite get home and on the play that was the big break, we had an edge pressure called and it wasn't executed. Man-to-man coverage and a guy crosses the field, that's a long time for the quarterback to go without pressure and for a guy to cover."
"We needed one more play on both sides of the ball. The third-down execution in the red zone by the offense and one more play by the defense. ... At the end of the day, it's on all of us."
On Brady: "It's been mentally taxing on him, a mental challenge to stay positive. ... He's dealing with multiple injuries that aren't fully recovered yet, he's choosing to play like he did a couple of years ago. ... He can't quite snap his wrist the way he needs to, which is why some of the throws are left short, like the first third down to Theo."
"We've challenged our guys to be better in the first half, to execute better, but obviously it hasn't happened. Good job adjusting in the second half, though."
On Heismeyer: "I was really, really impressed. ... There were only a handful of plays that weren't executed the way we wanted to."
"Nate comes in and provides a spark, Marcus comes in on the goal line and finishes, Kewan looked really good in his drive, Jamal does what he does. ... Those guys buy into the position coach and the position coach continues to let them prove themselves."
On Lacy: "The role is what he earns, we had a couple of specific plays we wanted him in the game for. We weren't sure how long Nate could go, so if Nate couldn't go, those plays were for Kewan. We want to keep getting him integrated into the offense"
On young guys playing: "It's a combination of depth and need and readyness. ... Especially with the injuries we're dealing with, we need them to finish games."
"Mississippi State has had an extremely challenging schedule ... I don't think their record accurately represents the type of football team they are"
"They are very explosive. Wide receiver Kevin Coleman ... dynamic ... really good route runner, really good after the catch. As good a wide receiver as there is in the SEC."
"Devin Booth has really given them a boost in the run game."
"I know they spent the bye week putting it all together."
"I know the last time we went to Starkville was in 2020 and we really didn't play as well as we needed to. Challenging road environment."
On bouncing back from losses: "I think there's a competitive character. Winning and losing has to matter to you, but you have to be quick to move on ... learn the lessons from the game, but don't let them drag you down."
On explosive plays: "Kind of the perfect nightmare for us. The first play of the game was a miscommunication ... That kind of set the tone. Then we had a corner blitz ... if it's an over-split by the X then technically the rover goes, miscommunication by three people. ... That last two drives, there was two combinations, rush didn't quite get home and on the play that was the big break, we had an edge pressure called and it wasn't executed. Man-to-man coverage and a guy crosses the field, that's a long time for the quarterback to go without pressure and for a guy to cover."
"We needed one more play on both sides of the ball. The third-down execution in the red zone by the offense and one more play by the defense. ... At the end of the day, it's on all of us."
On Brady: "It's been mentally taxing on him, a mental challenge to stay positive. ... He's dealing with multiple injuries that aren't fully recovered yet, he's choosing to play like he did a couple of years ago. ... He can't quite snap his wrist the way he needs to, which is why some of the throws are left short, like the first third down to Theo."
"We've challenged our guys to be better in the first half, to execute better, but obviously it hasn't happened. Good job adjusting in the second half, though."
On Heismeyer: "I was really, really impressed. ... There were only a handful of plays that weren't executed the way we wanted to."
"Nate comes in and provides a spark, Marcus comes in on the goal line and finishes, Kewan looked really good in his drive, Jamal does what he does. ... Those guys buy into the position coach and the position coach continues to let them prove themselves."
On Lacy: "The role is what he earns, we had a couple of specific plays we wanted him in the game for. We weren't sure how long Nate could go, so if Nate couldn't go, those plays were for Kewan. We want to keep getting him integrated into the offense"
On young guys playing: "It's a combination of depth and need and readyness. ... Especially with the injuries we're dealing with, we need them to finish games."
