Everything Jeff Lebby said during Tuesday's press conference

Mississippi State (4-2) is on off this week, which is why head coach Jeff Lebby's weekly press conference wasn't held on Monday.

The second-year coach met with reporters Tuesday to talk about some final thoughts from the Texas A&M game and talk about the team's plans for this week.

ICYMI: 2026 prospects decommit from Mississippi State amid eligibility, portal changes

But, most importantly, he provided some health updates that'll put a smile on many fans in maroon and white.

Can you give us a health update?

We got good news back on Fluff. As we move forward, there's not a hard timeline for us right now. All the pictures came back and they were positive, so feel really good about that. We will continue to evaluate, it will be a day-to-day deal. Really fortunate the images came back the way they did.

What's your philosophy in having top players in the game late?

We're trying to finish the right way. You get minimal opportunities to play this game and we're trying to finish the right way. We're still, as a program, incredibly green and young. As we're sitting here six games into year two, it's still about how we do what we do. Finishing is a huge point of emphasis. It has been. Playing and winning games in the fourth quarter is a real thing in this league. Our guys need to understand how to sustain to get it done.

Your running back room has some guys ready to step in.

We feel good about that room. We've talked about the depth. We'll need some guys to step up. That's important. The stress and strain becomes more as Xay(ten) has a little bit more impact at running back as he's been a core-four guy for the first six weeks. There's some shuffling going on there. We'll need some guys to step up and own their role.

When you reviewed the (Texas) A&M film, what just kind of stood out to you about it?

Offensively for us, we couldn't get out of our own way. The negative plays on first and second down, we averaged third-and-11 on our third downs. And you got no chance to be able to go win a football game offensively when you put yourself in those situations. That was the most frustrating part is that we had some things that felt like we were in a great position and we did not execute. And it's all over the tape and we took turns doing it. And so that was the thing for us as we watched the tape. It was every single position group from the second play of the game. It was every single group offensively.

Defensively, the first eight series of the game, we played winning football. Gave us the opportunity to go win. And we didn't finish the way we needed to. Again, the sustaining part of how we need to go finish games is gonna be a huge piece of it, really hard and not an excuse. But the reality of for our defense to be able to go play the way they played the first eight drives with being on the field as much as they were on the field. And again, that's us offensively.

From a special team standpoint, plus 44 in hidden yardage, no penalties. Had a couple game changing plays with the tackle inside the 15 on kickoff. And Ethan (Pulliam) doing a great job. From a special team standpoint, we're playing winning football. So, man, we've got to execute offensively. That is the biggest thing. And we've just kind of been like this. So we gotta make sure we're doing everything we can to put our guys in positions of success to go win.

How's the team responded in the following days following the loss?

Our team understands we got everything out in front of us. That's the reality of it. In the first six weeks, we played three top 15 football teams. We're 4-2. We've got an open date to reset. And we've got the ability to control exactly what we can control. We've got everything out in front of us. Our guys understand that. They're excited about the next opportunity. Excited about getting better every day.

Just what are your goals with the bye week here?

Yeah, we do. We want to get healthy and we want to get fresh. We understand the back half of the schedule and what that looks like. That's the first part of it. The second piece, we did some situational work today. Again, just leaning into the situational parts of the game to where we've got to be able to stay on the field offensively. A lot of that, again, is the first and second down piece. But then, the protection and being able to do what we need to do on third down the field. So making great strides in those situations is important as well.

What's the schedule this week?

We were team meeting lift meetings yesterday. We're on the grass this morning and obviously met this morning. Same thing tomorrow. And then Thursday, we'll get another great lift and meeting. So just practicing Tuesday and Wednesday with good workouts. And then having the ability to get three lifts in, a ton of meetings. And then those guys will get out of here once we finish up on Thursday and we're back in the building Sunday.

You brought up Ethan's name, but just talk about him going out and winning that punting job and what he's been up there for.

Yeah, he's done a great job. Again, he's done a great job hitting the ball, flipping the field. Man, giving us a chance to put the defense in really good positions. Again, I'm proud of our special teams, the way we've played the last two weeks. We had one week where it was messy, and man, have we rebounded the right way. And so we've got to continue that trend, and that's going to be important for us.

Related to that, how has Kyle (Ferrie)'s work in theory helped your play calling, especially on the plus side of the field?

Just knowing that you have the ability to go make field goals, and from a real distance, that's a weapon. And that's gonna be a huge piece as well.

We saw a handful of decommitments yesterday in the recruiting side. What's just kind of the situation going on there?

There's a lot going on, obviously, from a roster standpoint. Whether it's the five for five piece of it, as we move forward with things coming down the pipe, we've got to be ready to go adjust. And again, that's all very fluid as we're getting closer to that December signing day.

You mentioned the health situation, what's Albert recently like right now?

Albert's better, did not practice today. But again, he's making great strides. Our hope is to be able to see if he can go practice next Tuesday, as we get ready for really physical practice that Tuesday. And if he can, that'll give us the ability to get him back.

You talked a couple weeks ago about wanting to get those three tackles, three guards, have a center, maybe a backup center. The injuries that kept you from doing that, but how close do you feel like you're getting to it?

We're not there. This past week, obviously, we played two tackles the entire game. We played two guards the entire game. We played the same five guys. As we get through this week, we'll be able to see exactly where Albert is as he gets back ready to roll. But again, those five guys were the five that gave us the best opportunity to go win.

What will you and the staff do during the open date this weekend when the guys are out of town?

We're recruiting. So, I'm leaving early Thursday, as soon as I really, I'm in the building, have a couple of meetings, and then I'm headed out on the road. Everybody's getting out here Thursday morning or right after meetings to be able to get on the road and go recruit Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

For the last couple of weeks, it seems like Blake, after the games, has been frustrated, not only recognizing that those were games that they could go win. But the offense just wasn't getting the job done. What have those conversations with him been like as you try to, I guess, channel that frustration into positivity?

It's him just continuing to control what he can control. You go back and you watch the tape of Blake, he's 15-and-20. He's unbelievably accurate. He has two plays that I want back, and it was in the exchange when we had the fumble on second and three. And then he had the ability to dirt the ball on one of the sacks at the start of two minutes. And outside of those two plays, that guy played incredibly clean. If he'll play like that, we're gonna have a chance to go win. And just continuing to control what he can control, inspire the ten guys that are out there with him, and continue to figure out exactly who it's gonna be as these front five need to go play really well for us as we move forward.

How about Isaac Smith?

He didn't practice today. The goal for him and Albert is the same, having a real evaluation next week, Tuesday morning, to see where those guys are to have the ability to go play.