Tuesday Pressers 9-18-18: Players Comment Count

Ethan Sears

[Upchurch]

Things discussed

  • Shea Patterson on his own development
  • Patterson's relationship with Harbaugh, why he feels comfortable at Michigan
  • Ben Mason: Football Guy
  • Ben VanSumeren is getting linebacker reps
  • Karan Higdon and Chris Evans injury updates

[After THE JUMP: We've got a packed one today, folks]

 

Shea Patterson

 

How about Devin Bush in practice, what kinda look does he give you?

 

“Kinda like what the SMU coach kinda said last week about, ‘One of the best players I’ve ever been around,’ and just the way he flies around. He doesn’t take a play off. It’s very encouraging to have a guy like that on defense.”

 

 

Has (the O-line) progressed from when you arrived?

 

“Each and every single day. I’m trying to get better every single day at what we do, and the chemistry just keeps on building. I think that’s what we are — our momentum going forward on offense.”

 

 …

 

After watching the film and thinking about it, what happened on that interception in the last game?

 

“Umm”

 

Waited too long?

 

“Yeah, yeah. Waited a little bit too long to throw that one.”

 

 

Did you feel like you got away with the one earlier in the game?

 

“Oh yeah. I did.”

 

Could you tell when you threw it?

 

“Yeah, I was gonna say, ‘Ooh, ok.’ Oliver (Martin) made a heck of a play by going to get it for me. That was cool.”

 

 

Nebraska, what do you see from them personnel-wise, what jumps out at you, players or numbers, as you’ve been watching film?

 

“Yeah, they have a safety that came over with coach (Scott) Frost, and his first staff from UCF> Very good player, plays downhill, plays the coverage pretty good. But we just know that they’ve had a lot of success at UCF, so they’re just gonna come out ready to play. I don’t think they’ve had a win yet, so they’re gonna come out hungry and really try to get that first one, so we gotta come ready to play.”

 

What have you seen from their defense on film?

 

“Just big up front, athletic. They’re disciplined and very well-coached. They’re not gonna hand it over from us, we just gotta let them play.”

 

 

You seem in pretty good sync with what Harbaugh’s trying to do, the rest of the offense — did you have any expectation of how fast that would happen when you got here, or did you not know? Is this ahead of where you thought it would be or?

 

“No, I think it’s right where it needs to be. Just learning. Learning every single day. Learning every single day from him and the coaching staff who have been around the game of football for so many years. Any type of knowledge, I need to have the brain-picking that I can do, it’s what I do every single day.”

 

What does Harbaugh do for you that relates to the quarterback that he teaches — what are some things that are a little different than what maybe another coach would do, he played forever of course, all those things?

 

“I think there’s no — nothing left unsaid or unsure. If you make a mistake, he’s gonna come talk to you. Not necessarily yell at you, but tell you, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing, that is what I need you to do.’ So, I think that’s often. Just day in, day out, every single rep. You get so many reps at practice, which helps us a lot.”

 

 

What did you mean when you said he was the best coach you’ve been around? Why has he earned that?

 

“There’s a certain feeling you get. Coach Harbaugh, you just wanna play for him. You wanna win for him. You wanna win for the program.”

 

 

You’ve said you have a lot of work to do of course. You’ve played college football now for parts of three years, is this the best, you feel like you’re at your highest point now as a quarterback? Now, there’s room to grow, but considering where you’ve been?

 

“Lot of room to grow and a lot of stuff to learn from over the past few weeks. But as far as a comfort level, I’ve never been as comfortable (as) in our system and with this team and these coaches.”

 

Is that just personal growth plus what you’ve learned here? Is there anything separate from that?

 

“Yeah, just playing for two-and-a-half, three years, just watching old film and learning every single day, you always get better. And I’ve grown a lot as a person, as a quarterback, too. So I think coming here has really gotten me a lot better and more knowledgeable about the game of football.”

 

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[Barron]

 

Ben Mason

 

What was different in the running game this week, it seemed like you guys had a little bit more difficulty getting things moving compared to the week before

 

“I don’t know. Personally, I didn’t feel that way, but did it appear that way?”

 

Well, you didn’t get as many yards

 

“Oh, ok.”

 

(Everyone laughs)

 

“Fair. Not exactly sure.”

 

Do you like the position now? Do you feel like — Jim Harbaugh said you’re an old-school fullback, do you feel that way?

 

“Yeah, I love playing the fullback position. Very downhill position, get to get out in the flat a little bit and run some routes. And you get to — it’s really just, to me, it’s the epitome of football. You get to do a little bit of everything.”

 

 

How much work has Ben VanSumeren gotten at fullback, or is he mostly playing linebacker right now?

 

 “Right now, he’s doing a little bit of both. He’s a guy, he’s pretty versatile, so he could factor in at both positions.”

 

Have you taken him under your wing at fullback?

 

“Definitely. He’s my guy. He’s a tough kid, and he works very hard. So I like that.”

 

 

Ben, are Chris (Evans) and Karan (Higdon) — have they been practicing this week?

 

“Yeah.”

 

They’re good, you think?

 

“Yeah, I think they’re good.”

 

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[Barron]

Kwity Paye

 

What have you taken from Rashan (Gary), what have you learned from him?

 

“From Rashan, just go out every day and just work the best I can. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him miss a practice, even when he’s injured, he’s out there practicing. And that just motivates me to fight through injury and go out there.”

 

How much weight did you gain this offseason?

 

“This offseason? I would say like, well from freshman year to now, I would say like 25 pounds, 20 pounds.”

 

 

What have been sort of the big lessons that the defense has learned, just in these first three games?

 

“I would say the next-play mentality, you know, I was talking about it over there, after that Notre Dame game, in the first quarter, when they had those two touchdowns, our second half, we came out and we played good defense that we know that we could play.”

Comments

gpsimms not to…

September 19th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^

Hey Ethan, we really appreciate the transcripts from pressers. However, your "no spoilers" style bullet points are kind of pointless.

Instead of saying: "We discuss Evans/Higdon injury update."

Just say: "Ben Mason says Higdon and Evans are practicing."

 

Thank you again for all your work!

gpsimms not to…

September 20th, 2018 at 4:50 PM ^

This is buried and will never be seen, but wow was this taken incorrectly.  I am not suggesting to get rid of the bullet points. And I tried to do it in the most respectful way possible.

What I asked, is if he could please "put the news" inside the bullet point.  So, instead of "read ahead to find out the injury update on Higdon," please just give the update directly in the bullet.  That way, those who don't want to read the entire transcript still get the news.

jimmyjoeharbaugh

September 19th, 2018 at 9:10 AM ^

Shea Patterson is growing on me every week.  Not just a plug-n-play 5-star QB. Really seems to be a team leader and has command of people around him. This kid is what, 20? 21 years old?  

I noticed at the beginning of the ND game, instead of a Harbaugh Gif slapping Shea around to get him motivated, Shea was the one running around barking at his teammates to get psyched. 

And his comments about Harbaugh being his best coach, wanting to win for him, and how much comfort he has in the situation and the system - those words are the finest champagne to go with my morning orange juice. But then, not being too comfortable, always trying to grow, learn, soak up all he can from the coaches and the experience. 

All aboard the Shea Train!  Let's go team!