Vols DE Maggitt "Out For Extended Period Of Time"

 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones held his weekly Monday press conference to preview the Western Carolina game and review Oklahoma's matchup.

(Opening Statement)
"I was extremely disappointed, and everyone in our organization needs to continue to improve and learn from the experiences that we had from not only Saturday night but to the week leading up to it in our effort and our preparation.

We must continue move forward and make great strides. Although it was a tough loss, I am encouraged by the progress we are making and the positives. I will tell you this; as a caretaker of Tennessee football, I refuse to allow any negativity to creep in or around our football program.  

"Western Carolina comes in really dynamic on offense. They have a really good quarterback in [Troy Mitchell]. He manages there offense, is very athletic and can extend plays. They challenge us schematically with all of their run-pass conflicted plays. It's going to challenge your discipline. It's going to challenge your eye discipline. They can throw the ball, and they can run the ball. They run a spread offense up-tempo. It's something we have faced the last couple of weeks. Defensively, they are very, very active. I think they have a very good front. I think this is a very well coached football team. We are looking to get win number two, and we are looking to be a better football team this week. That is why this week is paramount."

(On if Jumper is the best middle linebacker to go into SEC play with)
"Well, just like every position, it will be every group with competition. He has done some good things, but we continue to need productivity from our MIKE linebacker, and just like every week, they are going to have to compete for the position. The individual who has the best week of preparation and practice will be the one who runs out with the first unit. To me, that is healthy. You want competition. As a competitor, you want competition each and every day because that is how you grow, develop and mature."

(On fixing the passing game)
"Last week, we talked about our pass defense. I talked about all 11 individuals working together as one. The throwing game is exactly the same. It starts upfront with pass protection. It starts at the running back position as well as the tight end position, and then out on the perimeter, being able to beat man-to-man coverage and tight coverage and creating separation. Those are all things that go into being a very efficient throwing team. We had too many drops and too many drops at critical moments in the game. That is all what it takes to play winning football. The disappointing thing is the penalties. That was the most penalized we have been since we have been here. We had 10. That is inexcusable.  

(On Curt Maggitt's status)
"Curt Maggitt has a hip injury. He will be out for an extended period of time. I still don't know to the extent of how long it will be. He is in the process of going through the evaluation process. I should know a little bit more by the end of the week, but he will be out for an indefinite period of time. It's just a true freak injury. It's probably the freakish injury that I have ever been a part of. We were in punt safe, and he went to avoid a guy and hurt his hip. That is unfortunate, and we all know what Curt means to us, not only from a leader standpoint and a character standpoint but from a productivity standpoint as well. I will know a little more on his status as the week moves forward. LaDarrell McNeil has been cleared to play, so he will be back to full-go in practice today. It will be great to have him back. The other injuries of players who had to sit out last week of Max Arnold and Ralph David Abernathy IV will also be out this week."

(On who will step up in the absence of Curt Maggitt)
"Kyle Phillips will have a great opportunity this week in practice and preparation to get game-ready, so we'll get him going. And then, it'll be pretty much everyone else in that position group. I did think Shy Tuttle, playing really his first extensive period of downs in a very meaningful game and a hard-fought game, I really, really like what he brought to the table. His playing time will increase at D-tackle. I thought Kahlil McKenzie did some very good things too, this being his first real live-game action. I think both of those individuals, in terms of their volume of repetitions, will continue to increase.”

 (On addressing Eric Striker after the game)
"First of all, I think that's overblown, and the Oklahoma game is over with. I have a tremendous of respect for Eric Striker. I think he's one of the best football players in all of college football, and he plays on great emotion. It was a compliment to him. I don't know where any negativity came from that. I told him he's a heck of a player and [to] leave this place with class. To me, I would respect that if an opposing coach said that to our players. That's wanting to respect your opponent. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Eric Striker and Coach Stoops and the Oklahoma football program."

(On how the defense improved from Week 1 to Week 2)
"I thought they improved greatly from Week 1 to Week 2. When you look at the competitive aspect of your opponent across the board, Oklahoma's a really good football team. I thought we got back to our style of play. [Todd Kelly Jr.] helped us with taking the ball away with two interceptions. We need to still generate some more turnovers, particularly some balls on the ground. I thought they gave great effort. I thought our technique [was great.] I thought our overall eye-discipline improved.

"We did have some breakdowns, in terms of, `You can't let the quarterback escape the pocket,' like he did. He was able to extend plays and it hurts us. We had a couple defenders come out of coverage a couple times. Again, if you take away the penalties, we don't give them three critical third down conversions with penalties. I thought our defense really gave us an opportunity to win the football game. I thought they performed very, very well. They gave great effort, and again, they got back to our style of play and our Orange Swarm that we talk about. Now we need to continue to grow and elevate that this week."

(On the status of Alvin Kamara)
"Alvin's healthy, and we would have liked to give him the ball more. We had some designed throws to get him the football, not only in the run game but in the passing game as well. Sometimes, the defensive front or the pressure looks dictated whether or not he was getting the football. Every game has a storyline in and of itself. It has a different flavor, and Jalen [Hurd] was running the ball well. He was running behind his pads, and it was kind of his style of game.”

(On Todd Kelly Jr.'s success)
"It was great to see. That was needed. TK gave us a great lift with the two interceptions. Again, it's just consistency and performance with him. It's important to him. He works very hard, and we needed that. I think having him back--we really benefitted from that."

(On Todd Kelly Jr.'s health, impact on defense)
"First of all, TK brings a level of stability and intelligence in getting us lined up. TK has great instincts, understands the defense and what we are trying to accomplish. It's important to him. He invests a lot of time, effort and energy into preparing himself for the games. He just brings a comfort level, and he is a good football player. He is always around the football, and that is all instincts. His football instincts kick in. In terms of injury, he is fine. He will be at practice today. We don't see any affects from Saturday."

(On more difficult task: bouncing back from emotional win or loss)
"I think the team dictates it. The maturity of a football team dictates it. You can never let your previous opponent beat you twice, and that is the maturity of a football team, the leadership of a football team. We have to learn and continue to move on. Each football team is different. I have been around ones that when they had an emotional loss, they would bounce back and play their best game. I have been around teams that struggled, and vice versa, coming off a big emotional win."

(On team being tested first two weeks) "I think that helps us tremendously. We've played some good football teams and both are going to challenge to win their conferences. We've had no quote, unquote tune-up game. Every game has been very, very challenging, very difficult. I expect Western Carolina to come in here and expect to win the football game. I think we saw around college football again, if you just look at this past week you never take winning for granted. Anything and everything can happen."

Junior QB Joshua Dobbs

(On playing Western Carolina prior to visiting Florida)

"We are focused on this game. This is an important game like last game was because it is the next game. This is still an important game. We still have to come out ready to play, ready to go. We can't have an off day. We have to be ready to play, ready to compete to get the win. I don't think it will be hard [to not look ahead]. Our team understands that every game is important. You have to be thankful for each opportunity that you step on the field, and you can't look ahead to other opponents. We know to focus on this week's task. Florida will come when it will come."

RS Senior DB Brian Randolph

(On the Neyland Stadium crowd noise)

"It was definitely loud. There was no talking on the field you had to do all hand signals; pretty much use eye contact to get your point across. It was definitely a good environment. The offense couldn't communicate either so I feel like that helped us out a lot."

Junior DB Cameron Sutton

(On wide receiver Josh Smith's strengths)

"Smart and tough; he's a great route runner, competitive. He has a knack for getting open and receiving the ball. Dobbs does a great job of finding guys, finding those open targets. [Smith] does a great job of finding those creases and those spaces in the defense to get the ball."

(On mood of the team)

"We know it's a tough loss but we learned from it. It doesn't define our season; we have a lot of games left in the rest of the season. We talked about it yesterday after the recap and treatment, things like that. We learned from it. It's a building process, it's a stepping stone for us. We're just going to move forward from it and prepare for this week, every game is crucial. Just do a better job this week preparing and get ready for Saturday."

Sophomore DB Todd Kelly Jr.

(On how effective Jalen Reeves-Maybin was vs. OU)

"Well actually I text him right after the game and I told him that I'm happy he's on my team and not on the opposing team because he imposed his will last Saturday. I told him that's what we need out of him as a leader. He's one of the leaders on our team and basically he just has a dog mentality that no one can block him and that he can make every play on the field. I told him to keep doing that and hopefully he can rub off on me."

(On what he tells freshmen on stepping in and playing)

"They have to step up. I played as a freshman. Sometimes I didn't know if I was going to get in the game or not. You've always gotta be ready at all time. Have your cleats tied up and ready to go. So I told them, be ready at all times. You came here for a purpose and that was to win for the University of Tennessee and play with your all. So, I hope they're ready to go."

NOTE: Tennessee’s game at Florida on Sept. 26 has been picked up as CBS’ national game. The kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)