Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Bye week

The following are live, paraphrased notes from Texas A&M's weekly press conference. Videos of the interviews will be added to the story as they are rendered.

Kevin Sumlin

• The bye week doesn't change our focus. It's about us. Realistically, we want to fix issues that we've had over the first six weeks. Whatever we deem necessary – schematic, internal, anything. We want to look at where we are health-wise. We want to get guys up to speed again. We aren't different than anyone else across the country. Our guys have done a good job of not making excuses and playing when they can. They communicate well. It's a mature team. We don't want an injured guy to hurt our team or themselves with their performance. That comes with trust. They've played physical football over the last six weeks. This week comes at a good time. We put the Tennessee game away yesterday and have moved on to Alabama.

• Turnovers were a point of emphasis going into the game Saturday. The defense wants and needs to play better. We gave up big chunks of yardage. That was because of a few different things, but they can be fixed. Those are the things we'll work on this week. They were a good team and made good plays. They have coaches too. Whatever you do, you're putting on video tape as a resume. They're looking for your weaknesses. We have to tweak those things. There are things we can do better in all three phases. We won and we've played some good teams. We've played as good a schedule as anybody in the country. We've been in some tight ballgames, but we have to look at who we are and what we're going that is giving us some difficulty. We have to fix those things this week.

• Jim Turner recruited a lot of the guys from my first few years here. He's a good technician and understands what it takes. We're playing every level of player on that offensive line. We have a true freshman and JUCO guys. Getting all that to gel regardless of age level has been great. It's a line people were worried about. This is a line that is the biggest we've had since we've been here. They're athletic, and because of that, we can do a few more things. Noel Mazzone has done a good job playing to their strengths. David Turner has come in and given guys like Reggie Chevis new life. Nothing is going on with Daylon Mack. He's playing a lot of snaps. The guys in that rotation are playing a lot of snaps. Zaycoven Henderson and Kingsley Keke have been playing well. We haven't been able to rotate guys like that since I've been here. Those guys aren't here for tackles and stats. We want them to hold the point and not get out of their gaps. We want to force the ball east and west. That's one of our biggest improvements.

• I don't think anyone is surprised by Armani Watts, Justin Evans and Donovan Wilson this year. They played like that last year at the end of the year. We'd be disappointed if they didn't play like that. I was shocked they weren't on pre-season lists, but that's okay.

• I haven't watched Trevor Knight's win over Alabama. I'll probably watch it next week. I don't know that I will. So many things have happened since then. I saw part of it on television that night. I hadn't thought about watching that yet. I don't know that I will. It'd be like watching our game in 2012. I don't know what we'd get out of that either. It's been a while since he played them. Their guys that keep scoring defensive touchdowns weren't playing in that game. I'm more concerned with them. I've been watching their games from this year.

• I don't think about leading the conference in offense. Maybe some coaches do, but I didn't think about it. I thought that we had enough weapons on the perimeter. Everyone wanted to talk about one running back during preseason, but I thought we had five guys that could play. We're going to need them all. Skill-wise, we were in great shape. It depended on how our line and Trevor came along. We needed those skill guys to help them out, along with the scheme and play-calling. We've been up and down, but from a sheer numbers standpoint, we're in a good place. There are places we need to improve. The staff has done a good job recognizing that, having answers and anticipating things that are coming down the road. Everyone in this league wants to stop what you do best. If you don't have an answer, you're in trouble. There are some things we need to correct if we want to be the team we want to be at the end of the year.

• Trayveon Williams and I have talked about the fumble at the goal line. He was a little tired there. He wanted two more yards too. He didn't do it on purpose. Hell of a play by the Tennessee player. You see it all the time. He didn't drop the ball on purpose. He felt terrible about it, and thank goodness, Coach McKinney was able to talk him into getting back on the field. He put us back in position to win the game. It's a learning experience. Our guys have been ripping the ball out near the goal line too. It's a hell of a play by the defender.

• Trevor Knight has been good. He wants to get better. He's a guy that works extremely hard. He wants to be great. The biggest deal is how Noel has gotten to know his strengths and weaknesses. We have two plans. We have to win and keep developing him, but we have to play to his strengths. He's not going to be here for four or five years. That relationship has grown every week. He's a winner. Stats sometimes say one thing, but the win and loss columns say a lot more. He's been as impactful as any player on this team.

• Tennessee and Alabama can give us a reference point from a talent standpoint. Sometimes we don't know what that's going to look like. I watched Ole Miss and Georgia, and it was hard to get a reference point. We don't play Georgia, but Ole Miss looked really good. It was hard to tell. Speed-wise and matchup-wise we'll get a better feel because we have some common video. It being a week before might not be helpful, but we do get to see them match up.

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John Chavis

• It was a big win for our football team and program. I'm very excited about that.

• The first thing I took away was how hard we played. Give Tennessee credit for some of their big plays. We are a work in progress. We have to get better. There are things to clean up. I need to do better. We're not satisfied. We're going to get better every day and every week.

• There was a big emphasis on takeaways this week, as there is every week. 600-something yards. I haven't been there before. We gave up a bunch to Arkansas, and I felt the same. They did it to Alabama this week. We play a lot of good offenses. We don't want to be in those situation, but we play good teams. There are plays we have to make, and we need to tackle better. Our kids rose to the challenge with the turnovers. The thing we don't have to fix is our talent and attitude. Our guys are willing to work to get better.

• The safeties have played well because they are great players. We've talked about the defensive ends and safeties for a long time. Coach Joseph is doing a tremendous job, and those two young men are competitive and talented. More and more people are seeing that now.

• Our players have bought into the scheme. We work on turnovers. That's a bright spot. They believe, and I think they have to believe that they will get them. They can change ballgames for you.

• Cullen Gillaspia caught my eye the first spring I was here. He's tough and has a good skillset. He told me he was going to be the 12th Man one day. I'm excited for him. He's worked hard.

• Myles Garrett playing hurt says a lot about who he is. He played more than we anticipated. He made a big tackle and got the strip fumble early. He made the decision to play more. He wouldn't come out during the overtime.

• You have to give Tennessee credit. Kamara is a special player. They broke some tackles. They schemed us up a little bit. That goes back to me. There are a lot of factors. They are a talented football team. We didn't have our best day tackling. We won the ballgame, so I won't say we got out-coached, but they had a good game, as well.

• The season takes a toll. Without going into details, Coach Sumlin has a great plan. You have to recover sometimes. Your body gets beaten down. We have to get the guys rested and keep them playing fast. It doesn't matter who you're playing next. We've played six weeks of football and before that was fall practice. The bye week comes at a good time. You have to make sure you come off of it ready to play.

• Our corners played as well as they've played all year this week. We had one interference call. Priest Willis was a big part of it. They played aggressive. I was really proud of them this week.

• I'm going to watch someone else sweat it out this week. I'll watch some football. We'll have Saturday off. It's good to watch college football. I don't get to see much of it. We'll get back in on Sunday and get to work.

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Noel Mazzone

• Trevor gets better every week. He's obviously a good athlete. He has a lot of skills. He working to be an athletic quarterback instead of an athlete that plays quarterback. There's no way to replicate being in a football game. I'm happy with the way he's progressing.

• We're in a quality not quantity of completions area. We're throwing the ball downfield. That makes your completion percentage go down. We have the athletes to do that. For Trevor, I'd like the completion percentage between 63 and 68. We'll keep working on that.

• I haven't talked to Trevor about him beating Alabama. I won't look at the film. I won't care. I'll look at what Alabama did this year and maybe last year. Sometimes with thinking, less is more. He feels comfortable with what we're doing. I don't want to say I used someone's plays (laughs). That was what? Two or three years ago?

• The zone read is hard. On Sunday watching the film, I make the right read every time. In this offense he's making a lot of quick decisions. If that snap takes his eyes away from where they need to be, nothing is going to be where it was. You're making a decision on some great defensive ends in this league. I never second-guess any of his decisions during the game. On Sunday, sure, but during the game, I don't want him to hesitate on his decision.

• Jim Turner is very involved in the run game. I'm not going to compliment him because he won't let it go (laughs). All I do is call some plays. He's unbelievable. The thing I've noticed the most is his in-game adjustments to what is happening. He's been awesome with that. He makes great halftime adjustments, and he's a lot of fun to be around.

• I think Trevor wants to improve his completion percentage. I want it to be higher. We'll work on it, but I like the way he's improving his play in the pocket.

• Third down and third-and-short killed us. It wasn't anything they did. It was what we did. Fundamentally and technique-wise, we weren't good enough. That is the one thing right now that we've been talking about with the players. It's going to happen sometimes. We hit that one period where it's two or three three-and-outs in a row. We need to stay on the field and help our defense a little bit. We created points on our last five possessions, which was good.

• When you break away, you look at the scoreboard to see if someone is chasing you. Trayveon is a freshman, so he hasn't learned that yet. He thought the guy was being blocked by Speedy. He made a heck of a play. No matter how tired you are, you have to keep the ball high and tight. It was a great play by their defense.