Everything Jeff Lebby said at his Monday morning press conference

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby held his weekly Monday morning press conference to talk about Saturday's OT loss to No. 15 Tennessee and to preview this week's game against No. 6 Texas A&M.

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Lebby's opening statement...

Yeah, for us just again, our statement today and how we met and our guy’s body language and understanding what we've got ahead of us. And it's always about what's next. It doesn't matter what happens on Saturday on the right side or the wrong side. You got to get better on Monday, and we got to have the best Monday we've ever had. That is the message. And I think because that's the message every single week. I'm hopeful our guys are able to clear this and have the ability to go prepare the right way. And again, our preparation got to be advantage us and it's how we do what we do on Monday and throughout the rest of the week. So, I do, I think our guys sense that there's great urgency and fixing the problems and being able to get ready to go one and all.

We grew up in a time when you won, you were your coach's favorite and when you lost, you were a bum. How do you kind of manage that where it's not so transactional, where it's really more consistent with the brand?

Again, our guys understanding that Monday is a mental Monday. It's a way to be able to clean up the mistakes from the prior game and it's the ability to get on to the next opponent to start preparing, to give ourselves a chance to be the best that we've been all year long on Saturday at 630. So again, the consistency in the message every single week, good or bad, I think is what's most important and hopeful that our guys feel that and understand that.

Could Kamario Taylor possibly start seeing some more time or just involvement in the office?

Yeah, I think for us as we move forward, Mario is still going to have the packages that he has as we get into it. But that'll all be dictated on how the game's played and what situations we're in.

Coach, he probably hadn't been a surprise to you, but the fans, DJ Reed's kind of been a surprise on the defensive line so far this year. When you're evaluating guys in the transfer portal and you have somebody like DJ that didn't play much at Auburn at all, what's kind of the pathway there? What's kind of the evaluation process when you look at a guy like that?

So, we've got some people in the building over there where he came from that we've got great familiarity with and have worked with and there's a really good relationship with and trust opinions. That's helpful through this whole portal thing. And being able to get somebody on the phone, man, that you've worked next to, and you understand who he is every day and how he can sign off on a kid. That's, again, that's incredibly helpful. So, we felt really good about DJ's ability. There's got to be this great maturity from him. He's continued to mature the right way. Man, he's affecting the game. I just got through talking to him about wanting more. This kid is really talented, but man, want more and more and more and proud of how he's doing what he's doing right now.

When you have a game like that, when you go back and watch the film, how difficult is it for you to not be overly critical of yourself in some situations? Are you able to give yourself the credit that you're due at times?

No, I'm not able to give myself any credit. We got our ass beat and it's very frustrating. And I got to do better. I got to coach better. I got to get done what we need to get done so that at the end of the game we're plus one, and that's bottom line.

Zakari had a really great game. He was frustrated after the game because he missed that tackle in overtime. But just talk about his development and what have you seen about him and maybe being able to bounce back from that moment?

Yeah, he's affected the game and the guy plays really, really fast. He's done a really good job. He's got to continue to play cleaner, and he can play cleaner football. And that's the stress with him, but he's doing some great things. And again, we've talked about it since I've been here. Guy's got a chance to be an exceptional player for us. He's got to continue to get better and better. And again, get ready to go play that next play on Saturday at 6:30.

Coach, we saw a lot of guys go down with injuries during the game. What can you say about the guys that stepped in and filled that role and played, I guess, the rest of the game?

Yeah, we had guys, again, that did some really good things that got in the game. You've heard me say this a ton. Regardless of who is in the game, the expectation is to be able to go execute at a really high level. Some of the guys were able to get that done and some were not. And for us, man, we do, we've got to get healthy while getting better. And that's a huge strength for us this week.

You only have a short time to, I guess, evaluate what happens on Saturday before you focus on what's next. What's that process been like turning ahead to Texas A&M this week, and what have you focused on with them?

Yeah, again, as we cleaned the game up for me Saturday night and into Sunday morning, then it was just ready to get on to A&M. A really, really good football team. I think we understand their roster and talent level, things like that. But offensively, they've been really explosive in the throw game. Two great receivers. They've got two really, really good running backs. And they've got a veteran O-line that's played a lot of ball defensively. There are some similarities from the standpoint that they've created a bunch of sacks. And that's going to be a huge point of emphasis, again, for us this week. We've got to find ways to protect, keep two upright, and give him a chance to pitch and catch.

I know you'll have a more detailed injury report, but is there anything to report yet on the guys that went out, like Albert and Brennan, some of those guys?

There's not. We'll let the Wednesday report do the talking.

When you look back at the game two and the pressure they were able to get on Blake, if Albert is out, what's your confidence level on those tackles being able to get it done in the SEC?

We're going to look at a couple of different things. Hopefully, Albert's going to be back. That's the hope, obviously. But have a couple of different options to be able to go roll guys and make sure we got the best five on the field.

Pretty loud defensive performance from A&M last week, I think 176 yards. 0-11 on third downs, 0-2. 0-13. When you start looking at that aspect, that when a team has kind of like that coming out party, does it change kind of how you do things? And what are your thoughts about what they did?

They, again, they were dominant situationally and ultimately why they won the football game without a doubt on third and fourth down. And then them, again, applying pressure and being able to get to the QB. So, we've got to counteract that. We've got to make sure we're doing a great job of getting the ball out of two's hands and then giving those big boys a little bit of help when they need it. Whatever that looks like, that looks like a lot of different things, but it is. I mentioned it and going to be a huge point of emphasis for us.

With Mario Craver being one of the receivers that transferred out, but you guys just had to replace a lot in that room. How would you just assess how that's gone so far in the production you've had at the wide receiver position?

Yeah, I think our wide receiver room is, again, I've talked a lot about it, in a really good spot. We've had good production. The room is in a great place, and really like where we're at and where we're going.

Last year we saw some flashes from Zakari. You kind of saw it earlier this year, too, but on Saturday he showed it throughout the whole game. What did you see from him, and is there any rhyme or reason why it just starts to click with guys?

It's been the last couple of weeks, and mentioned it a minute ago. He's got to continue to play cleaner, but he is incredibly active. We know how athletic he is, and he's affecting the game, and he's got to continue to build on that. I think him and Eleven, as they're starting to roll with Eleven coming on, I think that tandem there has got a chance to be really, really good for us. But again, proud of Zakari, and want Zakari to continue to get better and better, because the sky's the limit for him.

One of the things that you said post-game the other day is you guys, you knew you were gonna have a chance to win that ball game on Saturday night. And that wasn't always the case last year, I'm sure, for your team. And how much growth have you seen in this team to be able to go toe-to-toe with a playoff team like that, be in position to win the game? I know it was heartbreaking for those guys, but what kind of lessons did you learn from your team again this week?

Yeah, there was, there was a ton of growth. I told the guys today, the thing that I was most proud of was, without a doubt, how things had gone from play one to play 87. Man, our guys continued to play and believed that we were winning the football game the entire time. And there was, there was great energy, I thought we fought our butt off. Very disappointed and frustrated that we weren't able to make the plays to be plus one at the end of the game. And so, obviously, proud of, again, our toughness, our effort, our physicality. But, man, making sure we're ready to go make the plays to go be plus one and be on the right side.

Coach, you guys have been at home for about a month now. Going to your first SEC road game of the year. I mean, Kyle Field, obviously, 100,000 plus people in there. Were you telling the guys about the environment that they're gonna go play in on Saturday night?

Yeah, I just got through talking to the travel squad, and I think the coolest thing about going on the road in this conference is we got 74 guys getting on the plane to go play in front of over 100,000 people. It's about us and having the right mindset and mentality to, man, go play one play at a time and give us the best chance to go win.

Your fans turned out in some incredible environments, and you had a lot of recruits on hand to kind of see the best of Mississippi State. How do you feel like maybe your message is being received, especially from some of those guys maybe early on that maybe passed on you now giving you a second look?

Yeah, guys have been incredibly positive, and that piece has been really good. I think my messaging with all of them has been, Saturday, again, for us was about finding a way to win. And again, there's been a ton of positivity. We're in on some great ones as we go down the backstretch of this thing. But finding ways to win is all that's going to do is continue to help get the right guys on the ball. It's not anything that you can do about it, but you played four straight home games, now you're not going to be back at home for basically a solid month.

As a coach and the way you wanna prepare your team, how does that affect you?

Yeah, for us, obviously, it's just one day, one week at a time. And understanding that, again, what we have on the backside of this is an open day. So, I mean, we're all in on Saturday at 6:30. Everything we can do to go 1-0 on Saturday night in College Station is all that's on our mind. Then we're going to be able to reset. We'll be six games into the season. We've got an open date, and then obviously we'll go back on the road. But I do, I think the timing of it is really pretty good. And for us, man, it's being all in every single day to give us an opportunity to win Saturday.