TheWolverine.com - Rodriguez talks Cissoko, more Monday

October 12, 2009

Chris Balas
TheWolverine.com Senior Editor

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez talked about suspended cornerback Boubacar Cissoko, Tate Forcier's health and much more Monday prior to Saturday's non-conference game with Delaware State. Here's the recap ...

On the offensive line play: "They played pretty solid. It wasn't our best game. Coach [Greg] Frey and I thought that they really played hard, which was to be expected, but [against] a very talented active front. They held their own in there and did a nice job.

"There are some technical things and fundamental things we need to continue to get better at. But I was pleased with the effort, and it gave us a chance."

On playing Troy Woolfolk at cornerback: "Yeah, a little bit out of necessity, a little bit out of trying to just, again, solidify our back end, our secondary. And Troy had a tweaked ankle, but I thought he performed pretty well for not being out there. He was there during practice. But not having been in the game, I thought both the corners played pretty solid.

On how much it affected the secondary: :Not too much. The guy that had to make the move was [Jordan] Kovacs, but he knows it well assignment wise. He is pretty sharp. Troy to corner, that is a little easy to learn. But playing the other safety, he was pretty good at his first game there at strong, I should say."

On who starts at quarterback this week: "Tate [Forcier]."

On what he thought about the last series after watching film: "Further thoughts is that they did exactly what we thought as far as quarterback-wise. We made a few mistakes, as a freshman will make. And Denard [Robinson] gave us a little spark at the end.

"Tate got a little concussion, which I didn't know at the time. On his last play, he got hit pretty good. So he wasn't -- you could tell he was not quite himself afterwards, and he'll be limited today. Those concussion things as you probably following the [Tim] Tebow situation are kind of day-to-day.

"I don't think it was a severe one, But he still has a headache today. I know everyone wants to talk to him after the game, but when you're a true freshman and you've got a pretty good headache and a tough ballgame, I hope you can realize you need a few days to decipher that. Some people don't let even upperclassmen quarterbacks talk sometimes, o don't get too upset when I make a decision not to let the true freshmen speak sometimes."

On whether Forcier's thumb was okay: "I don't think there is anything with his thumb. And his shoulder really limited his practice time the last couple of weeks, but it didn't bother him too much in the game. Even in warm-ups because it's a little chilly out there, I thought Tate would take a while to loosen up. But really in the warm-ups he said it felt pretty good.

"Even though he got treatment on it after the game, I don't think it bothered him as much as it did the week before."

On if he was more cognizant of sliding or diving instead of taking a hit: "He does that anyway. A couple of times he almost lost his balance trying to get just short of a first down. He and Denard aren't real big guys yet physically. They're not 220-pound guys. So you want to limit the amount of hits they take."

On whether there's a chance he might not play against Delaware State because of the concussion: "That is always a medical decision. I don't get into that. The doctors and the trainers tell us each day and each week who is available and not available. And we would never put anybody out there that is not 100 percent or able to go.

"I don't think Tate's was -- again, I don't know because I haven't seen him yet today -- how severe it was. But I do know that after the game our trainer said he got dinged a little bit. Because you could tell a little bit on the sidelines at the end of the game, and again, today this morning he came in for treatment and still had a little bit of a headache. So those things can clear very quickly.
Like Carlos is fine. Carlos BROWN, and he got dinged last Tuesday and still wasn't cleared for Saturday, but he's fine today.

On not knowing about Forcier's decision until after he decided to go with Robinson on the last drive: "No, I didn't know about it until after the game ? that's Denard anyway.

On pulling Forcier back when he started on to the field: " I don't remember grabbing anybody. Denard was going in the game. All right ? I have to be patient here. What we did in the game is what we did in the game, and that's what happened. And Denard went out there and did a nice job on one drive. On the last drive we didn't score and they won."

On blocking the back side end against Iowa: "We did sometimes ? we had some different [looks]. Depending on how teams play us defensively, we have some different calls up front, whether we read the end or block the end.

"Sometimes the quarterback reads the end, sometimes he reads somebody else. And in this game, in particular, we had some different reads for the quarterback. And Tate made some good decisions. There were a couple I think he'd like to have back. But, yeah, we did change some schemes up a little bit.

"We have a little bit more. Again, that's part of the offense as we go along -- we have a little bit more we can do. Not just up front, because the running backs and the quarterbacks are involved in those run-game decisions. As we go forward, we'll do what we can with them as well."

On getting up for Delaware State: "You worry about it a little bit. It's not the same atmosphere you have on a primetime Saturday night game we had last week. But you have to talk to them quite a bit. Everybody knows if you're a I-A team, you're expected to be a I-AA team. Everybody knows that. That's not a big secret. But as we all know, this year, last year, and the last several years it doesn't always happen that way. They've got players that can play. Watching their team speed, I've been really impressed.

"We'll get their Super Bowl --it's their best shot. So our guys have to understand that.

In particular as a coach you worry about everything. You worry about a team that has, you know, 21, 22-year-olds which they do, eight or nine seniors. They've got a chip on their shoulder because they want to prove they can play against our guys who are 18 and 19-year-olds in some spots. So we better prepare our guys to handle that.
I hope the way our guys have been focused really the last ten or 11 weeks will continue to carry on. I would be shocked if it doesn't."

On Brandon Minor's ankle: "We're different when Brandon is in there because of his physical presence. Not just running the ball, but pass blocking. He just brings that hard-edge attitude. We just love the passion he plays with.

"We'll probably limit him a little bit. I have not seen him yet. But he's different -- we're different when he's in there because of his physical presence. Not that the little guys aren't good. Carlos is a very good player, and Mike Shaw and Vincent Smith ? we think Brandon Minor is one of the most physical runners in the country."

On what they get out of playing Delaware State: "We get a home game. We play 12. And I think we don't have to belabor the whole deal. But it is not easy to schedule as maybe everybody would think, in particular when you have to have home games, a certain number of home games. We were in such a short time period to get it scheduled.

"The future is not as much of an issue because you can plan out the next five or six years. But even then it's become more and more competitive. I guess, the schedule of that 12th game, and to get one at home because just about -- not everybody, but most people are playing a 1AA team. I think there are some of them playing two.

"But for us to get that, it was a struggle, particularly in the middle of the season when we had that open day to get scheduled. It was very, very difficult. Earlier in the year it's a little bit easier. But mid-season most teams are in their conference schedule and it's more difficult to do that. So we had to find a home game, scramble it around, and we're lucky we got one.

"I don't mind playing one (I-AA). Our schedule, we always have an attractive home schedule with the Big Ten slate. We have Notre Dame every other year. The way we've scheduled some of the other one for nones, I guess you could say, bring another school that doesn't have to return the date, that's worked out good for us."

On playing better opponents at West Virginia: " We were there when it was scheduled there -- we were able to get it four years in advance.

"You have to be careful. But I think as you go forward, again, I think you have more time to schedule four, five, six years in advance. If you're going to put a I-AA on your schedule, you can get one that is maybe the better fit or more attractive name-wise.
But let's not dismiss the 63 scholarships. If you looked at our total of guys that were on scholarship originally out of high school, not counting the walk-ons, we're pretty close to that."

On how comfortable he is with Robinson and what he's been able to learn since the start of camp:

"Tate's had a few months ahead of him. But 15 practices in the spring is not a whole lot more. But with both those guys you hope every week that you can not only get them to understand what we're doing offensively, but understand how teams are defending us. That is the thing you get in with during the season is that every defensive game plan you go against is maybe a little bit different.

"Iowa's package defensively was a little different than what Michigan State was, little bit different than what Notre Dame was, so you have to balance that time. Okay, this is what we do, and this is what they're doing, and it sometimes stunts their growth. You can't put as much in.

"As a coach, I talked about it. Regardless of who we're playing this week, it's mid-season. We've got to step back a little bit and say what really do our guys understand? Not just Tate and Denard, but our young guys. What do they understand in our offense, what can we execute well, and how do we go forward as far as putting things in?
So there are so many things more we want to do offensively, but we don't want to confuse the young guys. And they're, again, true freshmen at quarterback. And it's not just quarterback. I don't know if I can express how much they're learning, not just from a football scheme standpoint, but class and time management and being here in the college setting.

"This is a school you have to -- you all know -- you have to pay close attention to your studies. It's a challenge. That's what makes this a great institution. To balance all that out, most freshmen get redshirted. Nearly every freshman at quarterback gets redshirted.

"Chad Henne -- that's remarkable. Chad did it. Before him the legendary Rick Leach. So there's not been a lot. These guys are doing pretty well accordingly. I get excited when I think about how much they'll progress when we have some time in spring practice and all that to go with it."

On the outside receivers: " I wish we would have gotten them more involved in the last game. We did some things that either didn't get involved or didn't get open. [Iowa] did a nice job with that. We have talented guys out there, but we have to get them [involved] whether it's Greg or Junior or Darryl. I think they did one of their best jobs this year blocking on the perimeter. I was really proud of the way they got after them pretty good. But we've got to get them more involved."

On whether he's happy where they are after six games: "No, I'm not happy with the two losses. I think, again, there were two pretty good teams in tough environments. But there were also moments we'd like to have back, whether it's unforced errors? they forced some of the errors, but there were a lot of errors that were unforced, on offense or defense. You'd like to have those back, and all of a sudden maybe you won those games or sneaked one of those out.

"But I've been really happy with our guys' preparation, really happy with their focus and intensity. I think a couple of games we've been a little more intense coming out of the locker room than others. But the road games guys were ready to play, and they really played hard. And I really like the way they stayed together and worked toward a common goal. It's frustrating when you lose a couple tough ones like we have, but I don't think this team will not continue to be a work in progress."

On his inside receivers: "I think Martavious Odoms has played really well. For a little guy he's getting better. Kevin Koger at tight end. Martell [Webb] has played really solid. Kevin Koger I think has been really solid. We're challenging a little bit more some those guys in the running game. Their production has been pretty solid so far.

"We throw the ball to the tight end quite a bit. How many catches does he have? I'm not looking at stats. Maybe you all could. He's got 12? Seems like more. That's a record for me for tight end. You double that the rest of the year, that's 24.

"He's gotten quite a few opportunities. We've not thrown it as much at times. A couple of games we were running it quite a bit, but they've done pretty well."

On whether he attributes late game interceptions to the environments: "Not really. I would consider that if it was a communication. You know, whether it's a sideline to field communication or on the field communication issue. But I don't think it was.

"I think it was maybe a decision they'd like to have back or a fundamental thing when they're throwing. Denard's and Tate's, both, were maybe their eyes weren't right, I think in both of those cases.

"Again, not going through all the technical jargon, but a lot of time as a younger quarterback - and you see this quite a bit -- is when they make wrong decisions with their eyes first, it leads to a wrong decision with their arm or their feet. And that is usually the case with younger guys. They're not looking at the right spot or right thing."

On Forcier's four turnovers in the last three games: "I think it's a combination of a lot of things. Again, sometimes you're a young athlete and you're pretty talented. You want to make every play. When you have success doing it, you want to continue to do that even though sometimes better judgment is to not try to create something that is not there.

"But you don't want to limit it. Tate and Denard both, part of their outstanding ability is their ability to create. So you don't want to limit it too much. Yet at the same time you have to try to do it within the structure of the offense. That is kind of unique.

"Shaun King called me yesterday. You know, Shaun is one of those talking heads now, and doing pretty well at it. But anyway, Shaun was in the offense, 10, 11 years ago at Tulane, and Shaun had some of that same creativity. What we tried to do is harness him in and we talked about it yesterday quite a bit. There is enough in our offense that you can have creativity and create something within the framework of the offense. It takes a little while to learn that. To let your progressions go through, and then if it breaks down and if a key or clue comes up there, then you can go ahead and create.

"That is part of what a lot of quarterbacks learned. Shaun learned that, Pat White learned that, Rasheed Marshall, and Tate and Denard are learning that as we speak."

"Tate's not a taller guy. Sometimes he tries to create vision by running around. Sometimes it's worked for him, and sometimes it doesn't. So part of our thinking, Coach [Rod] Smith and I talked about, and we'll talk about with Tate, is that we don't want him to lose his ability to do some things. But there is also some discipline involved.

"Everybody says be in the pocket. Sometimes it's dangerous when the quarterback gets out of the pocket. We know that from our own standpoint. But there are other times when you can stay in there if your eyes are right and create some vision by moving this way instead of running over here and running over there. He'll get that. Tate is very coachable. Both those guys ? Denard is very coachable. So what they've learned so far is pretty remarkable.

"Again, you look at being in that environment, it's tough to communicate and all that kind of stuff. They've been pretty sound in a lot of that stuff. But there's a lot of coachable moments, too."

On whether the rest of the freshmen who haven't played will redshirt: "I couldn't tell you that yet. There are still so many games left. With six games left there is still so much football out there that we were going to tell our guys that they have to keep playing. I'm sure a lot of them in their mind want to say that. That's why I've said it for many years -- we ought to have five. We ought to have five years of eligibility. Let's not have five for four. Let's have five for five.

"Football's a different sport. It's a tough, violent collision sport. Guys get injured. You see it more and more all the time now. I'd love to have a couple freshmen on special teams and ease their way into there and all of that. For whatever reason, that rule is not getting passed. That is baffling to me. Coaches seem to be behind it. It's not a cost measure at all. But somebody's got to take the flag and carry that up the hill for us to get a pass."

On cornerback J.T. Turner: "Yeah, he's traveling and still in our thoughts. It really depends on how much he learned."

On whether Boubacar Cissoko is practicing after being suspended: "Yeah, he's practicing. He's been practicing with the scout team. He'll continue to do that until he does all the things that he has to do to get unsuspended.

"It's a couple of other things, but [academics] is part of it. That's part of it. So hopefully he'll do -- it's important to him, I know that. Playing football is important to him. And I think his academics are important. But to what level? It has to be at the right level.

"He was pretty good in practice last week. He was on the scout team all week. Talking to our academic folks, he was doing things he's supposed to do there for the most part. But it's a daily thing, so we'll see.

On lingering effects from Forcier's concussion: "I don't think so. He still played and didn't show any after effects after the game."

On whether there are more concussions because of more games: "I don't think so. I know that's a good point. We've talked about that. It's more games. In the old days you played ten. Now you're going to play 12, conference championships games, or whatever.

"But in the old days you used to hit a lot more in practice, too. I remember in spring practice you had T-shirts, I hit for 20. You had 20 full pad practices, and now we have eight that we have full tackling in. I know in the old days even in our practices, we used to hit on Tuesday and Wednesday and half shells on Thursdays. Now Tuesdays are the only days that we really go full. So I think coaches in general have all scaled back. It used to be two-a-days every day or three-a-days and you had full pads on all the time.
I think the athletes have gotten faster, and stronger. And as good a job as the helmet manufacturers have done, I don't think you can keep pace with that. You see it in the NFL all the time.

"They've probably had -- back in the day, we've all had concussions and didn't know it was a concussion, it was just a headache. Now they're diagnosed with a question. Ask somebody a question back in the old days, if they didn't answer right they'd say this guy ain't very smart. Now they say he didn't answer the question right because he's got a concussion.

"I only hope the guys don't use that as an excuse in class [laughs]. I think it's a good thing that there is more recognition of exactly what that area is. But I think it is still ongoing. I don't know that anybody has the answer to it other than to continue to monitor the helmets, the mouthpieces, keep the head out of the game as much as possible.

"Nowadays we have to teach. We urge our guys all the time about it. I'm sure high school coaches do as well. You cannot lead with the helmet. That is a great rule that they put in. Those guys coming down and spearing with that helmet is dangerous, and you should never do that in football."

On whether Brown was in full contact when he got hurt: "Yeah, he got dinged pretty good. It wasn't a spear job. It was on the inside period when I think the offense was going against the defense, and I think it was one of the big D-linemen that hit him. I don't know if it was on the side of the head or something, but it was a good pop. A good, physical practice.

"Speaking of which, I don't want you to blame Bruce, but we do have to limit or not have the media at practice on Wednesday anymore. Not because it's anybody's fault, but I made the decision because I guess it was out on -- I don't know if it was newspapers or Blogs on certain plays that we were running. I thought, 'geez, you know, I've been pretty open about practice and let everybody view practice and see who is out there. But when plays get written down, I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. When plays are described on newspapers or Blogs and, you know, what you're seeing ? I can't have that out there. That's not fair.'"

On plays or personnel: "Both."

On how much he knows about Delaware State: "We've been watching their films since yesterday. They look very similar to us offensively. Shotgun, spread, read zone, some of the things, defensively, you know, the even front. They don't pressure a whole lot, but will probably bring a little bit more against us."

On whether he'd prefer a bye week as a coach: "Yeah. I'd play 11 games. Our athletic department probably wouldn't like that ? they want the revenue from a 12th game. But from a football coach, heck, yeah. Let's play five or six, or four or five and then have a bye week and go.

"Now I believe next year the way the calendar falls and we move our game with Ohio State back a week, so there is a bye week I think in the schedule next year, correct?
Most coaches that I know of would like to have at least one. In the NFL they all have one. They play 16 games and they have a smaller roster. But if in the NFL if a guy gets hurt, they bring somebody in from the practice squad or pick somebody up off waivers.
We're not doing that. We're trying to redshirt our guys, there is no practice squad or waiver wire to get our guys.

"Our guys have class. Again, they're being student-athletes so they're going to class. So you'd like to have a time where you can catch your breath a little bit. Take a couple of days off and do all that. But you can't afford to do it when you have 12 straight.
We're not the only team in it. There are a lot in the Big Ten, I think. The Big Ten in particular has, I don't know how many ? several of us doing the same schedule. Illinois and Wisconsin, I think, are doing the week after Ohio State."

On when Forcier needs to be able to practice to play: "By Wednesday. He's missed a little bit of practice the last couple of weeks. I don't know that it's helped in his development. I think he's smart enough that he's been okay. He's been limited in our Monday and Tuesday practices the last couple of weeks. He's done some things, but not everything. He has to be cleared by Wednesday, I think, in order to be ready to go.
Again, I don't know how severe it is. After the game he could tell you the headache, and the towel over his head and all that. But I don't know. Until I see him today or the trainers see him for another 24 hours, we'll know."

On the decision to move Troy Woolfolk to corner: "Really last week, after the Michigan State game. The defensive coaches may have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks, but it was last week when he mentioned it to me."

On David Molk's progress: "Well, I think he did some snaps yesterday. I think the trainers are going to take him out on the field, and do some limited things with him and see if he can run around and see how sore he is afterwards.

"Same with anybody. We don't want to rush anybody who is not ready to go. So I know he's been itching to get out there as soon as he can."

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