Things Discussed

• Tyree Kinnel and Josh Metellus' progress
• Quinn Nordin is on the right track, definitely not the wrong track
• Trick plays! Michigan State might run some of those
• How Partridge tells players to respond to criticism

[After THE JUMP: A transcript]

 

In the past there’s been a lot of chatter about how Michigan hasn’t matched the intensity of this game. Do you think that’s been overblown?

 

“I’m not gonna talk about the past, but we’ll be intense this game. And we’ll bring the intensity.”

 

Where do you think Donovan (Peoples-Jones) has made the biggest strides on punt returns?

 

“Decisions. Making the right decisions. When he’s not catching the ball, getting the other guys out of the way from it. … Natural, he’s improved his catching ability. He wasn’t as natural, to be back there, but now he’s (overcome) that and I think he’s taken command of the punt return unit. He’s the only guy who’s got his eyes on the ball the entire play, so he’s gotta take command. He’s been doing that.”

 

Is that just a product of time and experience?

 

“Yeah, I think so. Before last year, an older special teams coach told me, ‘Hey, I would never start a freshman as a punt returner.’ But Donovan was the best guy we had, so we went with it. And he’s just grown in that position, and he’s pretty dynamic now. He’s dangerous back there. I know he scares the opponents, so I know it’s a good weapon to have. And he’s continuing to work on it daily, which is great.”

 

How well is Josh playing right now — Metellus?

 

“He’s playing at a high level. He’s practicing at a high level,  that’s what I tell — that’s why he’s playing at a high level. And he is. He’s just seeing the game really well, and seeing what’s gonna be — how we’re gonna be attacked really well back there. He’s taking command, (being) more vocal. And he’s finishing plays. And that’s — we gotta keep that going. We keep that going during the week in practice as well, and it’s paid off during the game.”

 

What has he gotten best at from the beginning of the season to this point?

 

“From the beginning of the season to this point, I would say the practice habits. Just finishing every play in practice. And then he’s just becoming smarter in terms of, just understanding what our defense is trying to do and what the opponent is trying to do, and getting everyone else in the right position. The Maryland game was really, really a great example, with all their shifts and motions and unbalanced sets and tackle-over sets. He took charge back there and was able to get the secondary and stuff all lined up so we didn’t miss any gaps or miss any coverages. It was a really good job by him.”

 

Back to a year ago, when he was maybe taking a little criticism here and there, how did you see him react to it and how did you, I guess, coach him to tune that out?

 

“Yeah, of course. Whenever you’re a young man, you’re not a man yet, so whenever that kind of stuff happens, you have to guide them. You have to make sure that they handle it in the right way. He handled it well. He took it on the chin and knew he had to improve on certain things. The best thing he did, he came in, in the spring, with an open mind and said, ‘Ok, what do I have to do? How do I do it?’ And he’s worked to do that. To improve and take those criticisms and make them positives and learning experiences. And that — we got a little bit of a rough start this year. He got thrown out of the Notre Dame game for targeting and made a couple mistakes in that second game. But then from there, he’s learned from them and he’s grown and he’s gotten better and better and better. I’m proud, the way he’s practicing and playing right now.”

 

What do you tell players about how to handle criticism?

 

“I think the main thing is they have to understand that it doesn’t matter. Anyone’s opinion does not matter out there besides the people in this building, and then the people that are really coaching them, in the know. For instance, the media might blow a blown coverage out of proportion when it wasn’t the guy that they’re being blamed for. So, you have to teach them to silence the noise. And that’s really in all aspects, whether it’s criticism or they’re gloating them, or it’s praise. You have to silence that to an extent, and just go to work every day with the people that you trust and the people that you’re here with. And just understand that it’s what — the product that you put in this building. It’s what we feel is the most important thing, is how you’re playing and what you’re doing.n And then the other thing is, when you’re getting criticized by your coaches or even your teammates, you have to have an open mind and learn from it. You can’t go in the tank. You can’t get down. You gotta react to it. If you do something bad, you have to do something right the next play. Or you have to learn from that mistake and never make it happen again. So I think those are all things that we talk about constantly.”

 

How do you get Quinn (Nordin) on the right track after Saturday?

 

“Well he was 3-for-5, he’s the leading scorer in the Big Ten, he’s kicking the ball at 79 percent, which is third all-time at Michigan percentage-wise. So, getting him back on the right track — he’s on the right track. The important thing is, everybody wants to be 100 percent. We strive for perfection, obviously. The important thing is, did he make his field goals at the end of the game? Did he put us in a chance to win the game? So, I think that, as he grows into a really, really, really good kicker, I think that we just need to make sure that if hr does miss, if he does have a mistake, is he able to fix it? Does he know why he did it, what the reason was, is his mental state ready to go back in the game and maybe hit a game-winner or hit a 50-yarder or what it might be? So I don’t think he’s off-track. I just think that he missed a kick and he reacted and then made a kick. He’s doing a good job form short distances. He’s 8-for-8 right now under 40 (yards). He’s 3-for-6 above 40. So we have to figure out, is he pushing too hard? What’s he doing wrong? What are the reasons that he might’ve missed those three kicks from over 40 yards? And hope that we can fix it and keep moving forward.”

 

How is his mental ability to respond after missing a kick? How has that improved?

 

“It’s great. It’s been phenomenal right now. We gotta keep it there, but it’s been really, really good. He’s matured quite a bit from last year, and there’s no — if he misses a kick, yeah, did we want to make it? Of course. But there’s no, I guess, angst about putting him right back in there again. He’s to the point where we feel like he can go in and be mentally ready to make the next kick.”

 

How do you prepare your position group for a thing that is gonna show you things they haven’t shown you all year?

 

“Well, you try to prepare them the best you can, right? You try to show them as much as you think that any other team has seen, but you can’t invent things. You don’t want to chase ghosts, right? Cause then, you’re looking for things that aren’t there, right? So I think that you just prepare them the best you can, and show them what could happen, based on scheme-wide or based on what they’ve done in the past. ANd then just allow them to go play fast. And if something does happen, it’s the speed that’ll make up for it. Run around, have your eyes in the right location and go knock the ball down, and things like that.”

 

The other thing is, with Michigan State, is there a heightened sense of awareness, special teams-wise, given their propensity for trick plays and things like that?

 

“There’s always a heightened sense of awareness special teams-wise. But yeah, they put it on the line and they do some things, and take risks more than other teams might. So of course you have to be prepared. But it’s the same thing, we’re not gonna chase ghosts. We’re gonna prepare ‘em, and get their eyes right and then hopefully we come up with a really good scheme and then mix up calls, don’t stay in one thing the whole time. But any team, nowadays, will fake in any situation, it seems like. So, you always have to be ready for it.”

 

Ambry (Thomas) and Tyree Kinnel talked about how the intensity of practice has really picked up for the secondary players after the Notre Dame game. Is that something you spearheaded or noticed yourself?

 

“Yeah, I think — shoot, I like to show my guys some clips from that game every week. Just to make sure they stay grounded and understand that if they don’t prepare the right way and they don’t play the right way, that anything could happen. So, I just think — yeah, I would say that. Coming off camp, it’s like, well you have, camp is way different from in-season practice, right? So it’s hard to say. They were coming off camp, we played that game and from there, the in-season practices have been really, really good. So, and we’re really happy with the intensity and the way those guys are playing, and playing with a chip on their shoulder. We just gotta keep that up.”

 

Chris, two road games, the defense gave up a lot of points early. Is that a point of emphasis going into this game on Saturday?

 

“Yeah, I think we always want to start fast. We always want to figure out why we gave up points and solve it. I don’t think we look at, ‘Hey, the road games are the reason,’ or anything. It’s like, ‘Hey, this is the scheme they ran, this is the reason that we got scored on and we have to fix it.’ And obviously we want to come out and start fast in every game. So I think that’s just always a point of emphasis.”

 

How’s Tyree playing?

 

“Good. Good, I think he had his best game last week. Personal opinion of course, but I think that he was physical, he was running around, he was making the calls, getting in the right spots. So, really happy with his play last week. And again, this is gonna be a great challenge for him in this one. I think he needs to step up even further, and keep stepping his game up. But I’m happy with both those guys. And again, it starts with practice habits. Finishing plays in practice, seeing the schemes in practice. Communicating, doing it all the right way, throughout the week. And then it just (shows) in the game.”

 

Is Don Brown willing to give added attention to a guy like Felton Davis, do you think? And do you have to sometimes?

 

“Great player, yeah. I think, yeah, they have a lot of great players. They got a bunch of good receivers and the running backs are running hard, the quarterback makes a lot of plays. So it’s hard, because once you give attention to one guy, then it opens up other stuff. I think Don is a real well-rounded, ‘Hey, let’s take care of our business,’ type of guy. More so than, ‘Hey, we gotta look over here and get tricked over there.’ So we’re gonna stay in our defensive scheme and just hope our players make the plays.”