On what the offense is working on during the bye week

Number one, the big thing we took away is fundamentals. The little things, you know, on offense, hand placement, leverage, on defense, angles. That was the biggest thing we took away. And those will prevent the explosive plays when you're tackling on defense. And the little things on offense up front, you know, there's a lot of good. And then there's plays you look at, you're like, man, that could have been it. But you can't live in those worlds. You got to live in what we did. So we just got to get better on the little things. And I think that's what we really worked on last week and going into this week. And I asked Adam about this, but it looked like there was some slippage with the cleats.

On slippage on the turf at Washington

We're always ready for it. I mean, that's something that, you know, came up in the game. And we got to do a better job just with our footing and all those things to help the guys.

On what the team worked on during the bye week and whether he believes they improved

Yeah, I think fundamentals, technique, the little things make the big things. And it's not, you know, the scheme part of it, you know, we got to adjust and do different things. But really it's about the little details. And when you make those little details work, it's going to make you a better player. It's going to make you a better team. So that's what we worked on throughout the whole week and even yesterday when we had practice. So it was a good day yesterday, and we continued to have a good week last week.

On what he saw from Jyaire Hill against Washington

Yeah, you just got to play confident. You just got to, you know, play with great technique, play with great eyes, and do little things that, you know, the coaches are asking them. Just have confidence in yourself that you can do it because he's done it on great stages before and he's a really good player. So just continue to do that and do it in practice and carry it to games.

On where he's seen Jack Tuttle step up as a leader of late

I mean, he's been who he's been. You know, obviously he hadn't practiced for a whole length of time and then got to practice and played the game. So, you know, being a, they call him Uncle Jack, the seventh-year guy that's done it, seen it, been in the big game, been in all the games. So he's done a really good job and he'll just continue to progress and do those things right now.

On why he felt like he needed to call Tuttle to tell him to not be hard on himself after the Washington game and what the message to him was

I mean, nobody beats themselves up about a loss or anything that happens more than the players do. And it's my job to make sure that they're in a good mental headspace and can continue to push forward. So I felt for three weeks of practice, you know, or three days of practice really, winning the game and competing at a high level, and obviously the turnovers are what they are and we have to eliminate them. But I wanted to make sure that he knew we were confident in him and what he could do. And I think, you know, pushing forward and how he's prepared these last couple days, last week, into yesterday and the end of the day. He's up there watching film. He's gone in the right direction.

On the win over Illinois in 2022 and can be used to help the team this year

Yeah, I mean, that was a different team. We had a different team. They had a different team. It was a physical battle. It was physical, like the line scrimmage. It was physical in the air. I remember it was super windy. We couldn't throw one direction, so you can only run one direction because the wind was all over the place. And it went down to the wire and I thought our kids fought to the end, offensively, defensively, special teams. Obviously, Jake Moody hit the kick to win it. It was a tough battle, and we know it's going to be a tough battle down there. And it's a physical team that Coach Bielema does a great job coaching. The program from his days at Wisconsin to now. So, we're just ready for the challenge.

On whether it was a crash course for Tuttle to get up to speed against Washington

No, I mean, even though he didn't practice, he's been in meetings, he's been out there, so he's seen it, he's done it. He just hasn't been able to practice and do all the things at full speed, and obviously throwing and the timing and all that. So, from the perspective of knowing and understanding the system, no, but getting the things done and timing with the receivers and the tight ends and timing the handoffs and all those things, that's what he had to really progress at, and he did a really good job.

On who the back-up is for Tuttle

We'll see. Right now, we still have Alex, and Alex will be there, and he'll have a role, and we still got Davis, so we'll continue to roll those guys.

On how the team regrouped during the bye week, especially when banged up

Last week, we came in, practiced, did what we needed to do, but also wanted to get the guys, the bodies, back, rested, get them mentally clear, too. That's a big piece of it. They had Friday and Saturday off just to be to themselves, and whether they went home or most of them were here, the guys were still in the facility doing stuff. But it was a good time for everybody to refresh and get their time. The coaches went on the road recruiting, so it was good.

On making sure his players are having fun

You got to have fun. You got to have fun. You can't dread this. You got to love this. It's just a blessing to walk in this building. So every day, I just pinch myself and think about the thought process of that. You had the last three years. But there's a lot of hard times in those three years. It wasn't all peaches and roses. It wasn't all happy times. But the wins showed that made us happy. But there's plenty of times we came in here and said, we got to learn from these wins, and we did. So we got to do the same thing with the losses.

On whether he expected being thrown at a lot and how to scheme against it

I don't think you can really expect anything. You guys just expect everything. You got to expect that they'll try to run, they'll try to throw, they'll do different things. The guys are getting the ball out fast. The pass rush is going to be there. So we just got to do a good job with our schematics and then our fundamentals to make sure we can stop them.

On Rod Moore's timeline

Still progressing. Yeah, can't really speak on the exact timeline of the day, but he's still progressing in a good way.

On whether he's hopeful Moore will return

Yeah, we'll see.

On why the pass defense needs to improve

I think it's really just the little things that we talked about. You got to get better fundamentally. You got to get better at our angles when the ball is caught, and that will help all the big things come to fruition.

On whether to not send DBs on blitzes to help with pass coverage

I mean, when you study our film from the past years and this year, people say, well, blitz more, don't blitz more. Really, that's not the case. We just got to do a really good job with how we scheme, when we scheme, but also executing at a high level. We're all in this together, so there's no pointing fingers.

On Sean Magee's role in putting a roster together and how he's doing

Yeah, he's done a great job. You're exactly right. This is a different era of football, and you got to have forward thinking of what you're doing. We're compiling names and data, not only of college, but high school, and try to build it from the high school ranks and make sure we get a core foundation of that. I think we're doing a good job with this recruiting class and what we'll continue to bring in and bring the pieces needed that we need help immediately to replace and do things and sustain the success that we need to get. So he's done a really good job of just managing the numbers and the roster, and we got the 105 and all those changes coming.

On concentrating on the current roster and the players on it

We got to make sure that our guys are here. That's the number one group we got to recruit, and we got to make sure they're happy mentally, physically, and spiritually, make sure the guys here are in a good place.

On the reasoning of having one true freshman burn a redshirt so far this season

I mean, just guys that are ready. So just trying to make sure that the guys that we put in the game, that they're ready physically and mentally. When you bring in five offensive linemen, it's hard to play all five offensive linemen. Bring a couple of DBs, sometimes those guys will play. And the skill guys, I always say it's easier to play farther away from the ball early. So the skill guys will play more than the guys up front. So it's just really a product of the guys that are ready, and we'll see how the rest of these games go and who we need and what the guys we need to put to them will win.

On the bye week being good for self-reflection during the bye week

Yeah, I mean, I told everybody. I told everybody, myself, players, coaches, you know, that was the message in the locker room. It's not time to panic, but we have to evaluate what we need to do and how we need to operate, and you saw that last week in practice, how we practiced, what we did in practice, and really into yesterday on how those guys practiced. They came out with a ton of energy, enthusiasm, but also a lot of detail on the little things and not so much of this holistic thing, but the little details are the things that will help us win, and we've got to continue to focus on that.

On whether the coaches feel like changes needed to be made, too

Yeah, I mean, I think you're always self-evaluating, and this is a great time when you have a biweekly self-scout to see what you've done, how it's effective, what's worked, what hasn't, and you have the data, you have the film, so we did a lot of that, and I think it's going to help us as we go through.

On the Dave Portnoy talk

(Laughs) I'm not talking about that right now.

On how much time he spent looking at the turnovers and what can be done to fix it

Yeah, I mean, I looked at everything. The biggest thing in the picks was either route distribution and timing of the throw. Protection was one, but really it was that, and so when you get a mistimed route and a mistimed throw, that's what happens. So we got to really focus on, again, the little things, the route detail, the precision of the throw, the precision of the route, making sure those things are all time up, and then putting guys in a position to make sure they're successful. So moving guys around in different places, which I think we did a really good job with this past week, and excited to see them as we practice this week go.

On whether he noticed any effects from the time zone change

No, not from going there, because you gain the time there, and we tried to adjust our time when we went there to make it as similar as possible for them being a night game playing here. So everything, we gave them the time to rest, and we just kind of went down the schedule like it was. And then coming back, obviously, it's good to have the bye weeks coming back, and I think those are necessary if you go through the schedule and continue to do that. But going there, there was an effect. But obviously, coming back, we got back at like 530 in the morning, so that bye week was much needed.

On what he sees from Illinois

I mean, well, Coach, Coach Bielema just does an outstanding job building a program, physicality, toughness, detail in what they do offensively. Luke Altmyer, the quarterback, he's gotten so much better. He's just progressed from last year to this year. You can see him being in the system for another year. And then we've got skill guys all over the place with the receivers and the two backs, really good. And then defensively, tough physical front. They've mixed up the coverages in these past games, played a little bit more quarters last game, and that could have been who they were playing. But they're mainly a one-high team. They don't go into two high stuff. But physical defense, and we've got to be ready for that challenge.

On the difficulties absorbing the issues on defense when the offense has been a work in progress

Well, you know, we've got to adjust and keep overcoming. We've done a really good job of staying together. And, you know, we're a couple plays here, a couple plays there from, you know, those big plays not happening or something not going the right way. And we just continue to work. That's all we're going to do. We can't worry about the past now. We're going to help that lead us to the future and continue to work and get better.

On Dominick Giudice, Myles Hinton and Derrick Moore's availability

Looks like they're turning it all in the right direction. So I feel good about them. I think they'll all practice this today. So I feel like we're in a good place with them all.

On what has allowed Amorion Walker to see the field

Yeah, confidence, man. He's such a talented kid. And confidence and knowledge of the system, knowing the system, and us just moving him around different places. And, yeah, definitely going to have a role here a little bigger as we grow. And he's, you know, started last week and really gotten it this week and excited to watch him grow this week.

On Ja'Den McBurrows missing considerable time

Looks like it. So we'll just keep working with the doctor.

On whether he expects changes on the offensive line

We'll see. You know, if Myles is back, then I think Myles will be the starter at left tackle, and then we'll see at right tackle. I thought Crip did a really good job. You know, I think he did a really good job controlling lines for us with the call, especially in that environment, you know, being pretty calm. But he's been a guy that's traveled to different places, seen it. So it looks like he'll cement himself there and continue to work there. But, you know, we'll see what happens with Dom. And, you know, Persi gives us great experience being an older guy, so it gives us a challenge at the other spot to see what he can do.

On whether there's competition at right tackle

Yeah, there's always competition.

On Aidan Hutchinson

Yeah. I really just want to – I texted him. I also just want to say a prayer to him and his family. Horrific injury. I mean, what a great human being. Obviously an outstanding player, but a great human being and left a legacy here. I mean, I know he's the heartbeat of that team. So I really just want to say a prayer to him and his family, tell them that they're in our thoughts. And also Coach Harbaugh, you know, I sent him a text. He's going to the doctor today, so he better go. So I hope he's doing well. But just a prayer to both of them.

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