A few additional observations on today's interactions with Strong and the players:
- There was no panic in Strong. No as in, NONE. ZERO.
- A few of the players seemed a little depressed by the news. But when pressed on it, both basically said that they were really feeling sorry for Ash.
Not a single player hesitated about having Swoopes be the quarterback on Saturday. (Although clearly some of them didn't know before they got there.)
- The players were a mix of "other parts of the team need to step up and compensate" and "Tyrone Swoopes can play, the offense will change but we'll be fine"
- It will be very interesting to see what Shawn Watson does with his pro style offense. A spread system with fewer reads and easier running seems more conducive to Swoopes' skills.
- An interesting side note: Ash called the coaches and trainers on Saturday night. That means almost 48 hours passed before anyone had info on this. Keep that in mind when considering sources & scoop.
- It was rumored by several media members that Dom Espinosa's ankle was broken yesterday. They stressed today that it is fractured, not broken.
- Charlie Strong: "...
just made the decision for him that he would not play this week." I've seen a lot of speculation about whether or not Ash should end his career. This Saturday's game was not his decision.
- Again, Daje Johnson & Josh Turner will not play. Desmond Harrison will play.
- Knowing Ash was hurt gives Watson, Swoopes & Heard an entire week to prepare. Silver lining.
- Strong said today that they distributed QB reps evenly all the way through camp.
- Tough love from Quandre Diggs "
That's the thing, those guys are on scholarship just like the guys in front of them was. It's time to step up and it's time to be a man. It's time to grow up. They are put in this situation for a reason so we have to see them blossom and get ready to go."
- John Harris on Swoopes "I just have a lot of faith in Tyrone. He listens to guys whenever a guy comes back and tells him where to put the ball placement, and ball placement between receivers and quarterbacks, that's key communication. He's really good at communicating with us."
- Desmond Jackson didn't want to talk offense or quarterbacks "I know that my team is just ready to play. It's the next game up."
- Strong and several defensive players all talked about BYU last year vs this year. To a man, they all said something polite about the Cougars, but clearly they are focused on themselves are what they need to do better. Answers included: gap control, maintaining lane disciplines, execution, know your own responsibility and don't try to make up for anyone else's, believing in the keys, and knowing the coaches' gameplan.
- Mykkele Thompson on what he can do about David Ash's absence "The defense is always striving to help as much as possible. David being out, we are still going to try to do as much as we can for the offense to make sure we give them help wherever it may be."
Transcript here
