What Josh Heupel said on Monday about Tennessee's bye week, New Mexico State

Everything head coach Josh Heupel said during his weekly press conference on Monday, as No. 21 Tennessee (6-3) prepares to host New Mexico State (3-6) on Saturday (4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement 

“I hope everyone enjoyed their bye weekend. Excited to get the opportunity to come back and play a game inside of our stadium with our fans. It’s also an Solute to Service game for us. I want to take an opportunity, from everybody inside of Tennessee Football, to thank all the men and women that have served our country, sacrifices that they’ve made, their families have made, that allow us to live the life that we do and play the game that we do. So I appreciate that very much. We’ll be wearing the Smokey Grey uniforms this weekend as well and look forward to going and playing and competing.”

What he wants to see most from Tennessee coming out of the open date

“I want to see growth. That’s a lot of different things in a lot of different areas. This is our next opportunity. Play hard, play smart for 60 minutes and play with discipline. That’s alignment, assignment, eyes, keys, technique and go execute. Defensively, win the line of scrimmage and get off the field. Do a great job on the back end, matching things out. Offensively, the the line of scrimmage, play with execution out on the perimeter. And special teams, go win.”

Keeping Tennessee players focused on this week, not looking forward to what’s ahead next week at Florida 

“Man, this is our next opportunity to play. There’s a lot of areas that we got to get better in. We’ve got good work in the middle part of last week and this is our next opportunity. What happens after, that’s after, you can’t control any of that. So it’s the same thing we’ve talked about consistently in our program, all phases of the year, control and win right now.”

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar leading the SEC in passing, how his passing numbers have always translated regardless of level of play

“I think all of his experiences, defensive structures that he has seen, certainly help him adjust quickly to what we’re doing. Performing well at the quarterback position, he’ll tell you it takes the guys around him. It starts with the O-line, pass protection, running backs, being a part of that. And it takes guys going and winning on the perimeter. Certainly excited about a Joey has done and what he’s done offensively on that side of it. There’s still room, left for growth out there for us and that’s what we got to go get.” 

Tennessee wide receiver Braylon Staley’s consistent production this season, if it’s something they expected

“We expected him to play at a really high level. And that was part of our decision making in the offseason as a staff. And I say that, as a young guy, how he grew throughout the course of the last season, during the regular season, his playoff prep, (we) expected that he would take another jump. And when we got back in January, his focus, his preparation, we expected him, because of that growth and how consistent he was every day, to play at a really high level. Mike (Matthews is) in that same boat, too, how both of those guys came back.”

What he has liked about David Sanders Jr.’s play at right tackle as a freshman

“I think a big part for him is how he’s handled adversity. Before Week 1 all of a sudden he encounters injury and is able to battle through that. That’s hard for everybody, certainly for a young guy. All the work that he’s put in has allowed him to prepare and go play at a really high level. His game is not perfect, but his ability to respond and come back and compete and continue to grow speaks volumes about who he is and also where he’s going to continue to grow as a starter.” 

Having a strong offense this year after having a strong defense last year, how that affects his coaching decisions

“I say it every year. I say it week by week too. Play the same game 10 times on the same day. There’s so many variables in this game, it’s going to unfold differently. That’s why you got to appreciate the win whenever it comes, however it comes. But certainly your team forms an identity and it changes a little bit how you function and operate in some of the situational calls.”

Tennessee tackling better against Oklahoma, if the Vols did something different in preparation

“I think tackling happens in a positive way because of body position. And some of that stems from your alignment and eyes allowing you to get into a good position. There’s things that we do during the course of every week. There’s some things that we added during that week. Some things we did this past week as well. Again, just placing an emphasis on those things and hopefully you want it to correlate to game day. It did against Oklahoma, but we’re going to need that as we go down the stretch.”

Backups quarterbacks Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, their growth over the course of the season

“The way we practice, we try to get our twos, at every position, a lot of work. It’s hard to get all of your quarterbacks the amount of work that in a perfect world you would want. But those guys got a ton of work last week. And when they get an opportunity, I expect them to go play at a high level.”

Balancing contact in practice in season, if that balance changes year to year

“Well, it is different. You’re limited in the number of bodies that you have. Even from a year ago with roster limitations, there’s always going to be a balance of what you need to do to be prepared for game day, but also getting them to game day. So that fluctuates year to year based on the health and where you’re at with your giving roster and what you’re doing and how you’re performing.”

Joey Aguilar finding a balance of pushing the ball down field

“I think some of the plays that we would all want back, some of that’s fundamentals, some of that’s seeing rotation, some of it’s stepping into the throw. So it’s a combination of all things. There’s a trickle down effect too. It takes all 11. It starts with your pass protection and your o-line but your backs. Everything plays a part in him playing on a competitive edge because you have to go make plays. You have to let your playmakers go make plays, but you’ve got to take care of the football as well. And so it’s a combination of all those things.”