Jimbo Fisher says JD Davis will be fine
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher had some good news on linebacker Jurriente “JD” Davis at Monday’s press conference. Davis went down with an injury in Saturday’s season opener against New Mexico, putting his status in question for a Week 2 clash with Miami.
Fisher cleared things up, saying the linebacker is “fine” ahead of the matchup against the Hurricanes.
“He should be good,” the coach said. “He’s banged up, but he’ll be fine.”
Davis transferred to Texas A&M this offseason after playing the 2022 season under Deion Sanders at Jackson State. He ranked as the No. 27 linebacker according to On3’s Transfer Portal Player Rankings. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Davis finished Saturday’s contest with four tackles.
Davis began his college career in 2019 at Hutchinson Community College and transferred to Middle Tennessee ahead of the 2021 season. He finished that year fourth on the team with 68 tackles (5.5 for loss) and three sacks. Last season at Jackson State, Davis recorded 58 tackles (7.5 for loss) and one sack.
JD Davis was second among the Texas A&M linebackers in tackles on Saturday behind Edgerrin Cooper, who had eight. The Aggies finished with 10 tackles for loss as a team and held New Mexico to 91 yards rushing while forcing one turnover. Texas A&M ranked last in the SEC this past season with 208.8 rushing yards allowed per game, so its performance Saturday was certainly a welcome sign.
With Davis good to go following the injury scare, he’ll hope to contribute to maintaining that level of play Saturday against the Hurricanes. Kickoff for that contest is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Jimbo Fisher shares initial impressions of Miami
This week, the Texas A&M Aggies are traveling to South Florida to take on the Miami Hurricanes in what should be one of the most interesting non-conference games of the 2023 season. Ahead of that meeting, Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher shared his initial thoughts on Miami.
“We’ve got a really good opponent coming this week, Miami, and Mario Cristobal is a very good coach,” Jimbo Fisher said. “Their offensive line is a big, physical group. They ran the football extremely well in the game against Miami of Ohio.”
In 2022, the offensive line was a major issue for Miami. Head coach Mario Cristobal has worked hard to correct that, using the transfer portal to add multiple starters. In the opener, it seemed like the unit had improved, rushing for 250 yards in their opener.
“Receivers, they’ve got big guys. Guy in the slot, seven [Xavier Restrepo] can really play, gets open. Big guy can really make plays down the field. They’ve got speed. The quarterback [Tyler Van Dyke] is an experienced guy, been around a long time. I mean, he was a frontrunner for the Heisman a year ago coming into the season. Can throw the ball, do all the things you need to do.”