Just Breathe: Aggie focus on physical, mental health during bye week
It’s possible the bye week could come at a bad time for a team who’s won five of its last six games, including a physical road win in the SEC over a tough-minded Florida team, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for Sumlin and the Aggies due in large part to the number of young players seeing the field for the Maroon & White in 2017.
“The bye comes at a good time for us. These young guys are a little different,” Sumlin said during Tuesday’s press conference. “This comes at a good time to gather our breath. There's a lot going on in school, and these guys don't get to go home for Thanksgiving. We need to utilize this time in the right way.”
The Aggies will likely spend the majority of the week trying to get healthy with this break from the grind of Southeastern Conference play.
But some players may already healthier now than they have been in weeks. Sumlin talked about redshirt sophomore quarterback Nick Starkel and his availability coming off the injury he suffered against UCLA.
“Starkel wasn't 100-percent Saturday, but I thought it was important that he was there. He's been fabulous on the sideline, but there's nothing like having a helmet on,” he said.
The Aggie head coach was much quieter on the injury front when it came to senior safety Donovan Wilson, who has also been out of action since UCLA, simply saying, “We’ll see where he is.”
Fortunately for A&M, the 2017 team has been one of the healthier teams since Sumlin arrived in Aggieland. Sumlin pointed out that a lot of that has to do with the added depth provided by the younger players, especially on defense.
“We've gotten better, and we can continue to get better. The rotational depth has helped us in the front seven.”
One of the key pieces in the rotational depth mentioned by Sumlin has been true freshman linebacker Anthony Hines.
“Hines continues to get better every week," Sumlin said. "We can move guys around because of that.”
That was never more evident than late in the Florida game Saturday night when linebacker Otaro Alaka was off the field and Hines proceeded to record a tackle for loss and a sack of Feliepe Franks in a span of three plays to force a Gator punt.
Getting right physically isn’t the only thing Sumlin is worried about with his young group of players this week; he thinks the mental side of things is important, as well.
“The message for us is not just about physical health but mental health, particularly for guys with midterm exams. They're in a tough league, and six months ago they were going to prom. They were playing high school ball a year ago.”
The Aggies seem to have solved the problem of finishing games in the aftermath of UCLA, and if they can find a way to shake the late-season slides that have plagued the last few seasons, maybe this young team will find itself playing in a New Year’s Day bowl game two months from now.
