What Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said about facing Georgia

Everything Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said during his press conference after Tuesday morning’s practice, previewing the SEC opener against Georgia on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ABC):

The challenges for Tennessee wide receivers when facing Georgia’s defense 

“I think they try to throw a lot at you on the back end. Normal downs, they play a bunch of different coverages. You’ll see some two-man, you’ll see season two, you’ll see one, one blitz, cover three, quarters. They kind of do everything. What we got to focus on is just working our technique, make sure we get into the line, get a pre-snap plan, and just being able to go operate after that. 

“A good thing about, practicing the way we practice, our defense throws a lot at us too. So we’re kind of used to that type of volume, seeing different looks and being at the idea on the fly. It’s just about going to go to battle every snap, operating with technique, and going to win one-on-one matchups.”

If it’s a bigger challenge mentally or physically for the Tennessee receivers

“I think the challenge is always in practice. We do a really good job of putting pressure on our guys in practice. We do a really good job of making our guys uncomfortable in practice. That way game day, it’s easier. So I think that the DBs that we go against in practice, the way we challenge you with the tempo, with the urgency, the focus, I think all of that stuff has to get you prepared for game day and you have to put stress on these guys. And I think also when you do that, game day feels like a breeze. So that’s been our motto and we’re going to continue to go with it.” 

If it’s a different challenge for receivers who haven’t played against Georgia’s defense

“We face good secondaries. This team is a really good team, but we faced good secondaries before. I think part of playing a good opponent is you got to understand your opponent, but you can’t give them too much credit either. If we go out and we do us, if we go out and compete, if we go out and we execute the way we’re supposed to execute, we’ll get the results we want.”

What he has seen from Tennessee’s Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley so far, if they play with a chip on their shoulder

“I think they all got chips on their shoulders. I think they all keep receipts. They’ve heard some of the stuff, like we all have. But that’s the good thing about being an athlete, is you can channel that stuff the right way. In the end, you can have the world in your hands and you can have the last say so. And I think those guys are very in tune with that. And they’re channeling it the right way, which is in practice with the way they work and the way they prepare in the building. And we just got to keep doing that to build consistency. That’s what we’re looking forward to now is, we don’t want to be one-hit wonders. We don’t want to have a few good games. We got to build consistency in order to be a real elite offense.”

Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell II being productive early on this season

“I think he’s growing up some. I think the room, that room has benefited each and every one of those guys. It starts with Chris, it starts with Mike, it starts with Bray, even the young guys. Travis (Smith), Radarious (Jackson), Joakim (Dodson), some of those guys coming in the room, and they’re setting the standard every day. And I think that creates competition. And what you see is guys can’t take plays off, they can’t take days off. And so naturally you just get almost an environment of excellence that they’re trying to achieve daily. Even when they don’t meet it, they still know the things that they need to get better, they’re aware of it. But as long as they’re chasing it, I think we put ourselves in the spot to go be successful.” 

The relationship quarterback Joey Aguilar has with Tennessee’s receivers

“Yeah, it’s awesome. Joey, man, he’s a people person. He does a really good job, even back to the summer and the spring of spending time with those guys. Like, I can’t tell you how many times we leave a meeting, a receiver meeting— I tend to go over in the receiver meetings, we tend to stay longer. And the guys are like, Coach, we got to go. We got dinner with Joey. Which is kind of cool to see. But he’s poured into those guys and he is very emotionally adapt to who they are. He understands how to get on to each guy, which sometimes is in different ways. But he’s very emotionally intelligent when it comes to talking to those guys and pouring into them. 

“Which at the quarterback position you have to have, because you’ve got a lot of personality for the most part in wide outs. You’ve got to know how to deal with those guys which buttons to push in order to get the most out of them. Hats off to him. He’s done a great job of not only investing, but studying and learning those guys to be able to get the most out of them. And they want to go play hard for them, which you guys, you’ve seen on Saturday.”

The play of Tennessee freshman Travis Smith Jr., Radarious Jackson and Joakim Dodson against ETSU

“You saw a different array from a couple of those guys, like Radarius, you saw him fo make a couple big grabs, huge grabs. Travis played hard in the run game. He didn’t get as many looks or as many touches, but I thought he graded out well. Joakim’s still coming along as well with him getting here in summer. He’s done a good job of adapting and kind of carrying that week to week. He’s done a good job of coming on in such a short amount of time also.”

Chris Brazzell II’s comfortability in Game 2

“Yeah, I think year two is always easier. I think, in any realm. Chris obviously didn’t go in fall camp because he was being held out dealing with injury. But what he’s done since he’s been back is just he’s operated with urgency. He’s been in the building, and he’s given himself a shot. With that kid, a lot of times when he just prepares and on Saturday, when he’s able to just play and not have to think, I think you get the best version of him. So we’ll continue that model. We’ll continue that routine. For him it’s just to continue to prepare, keeping his routine the same, and I think he’ll be able to play loose and continue to make plays.”

Tennessee creating explosive plays early this season

“Early in the season, it’s two-fold, right? You enjoy seeing success, but too much of that enjoyment, right, can stunt your growth. On the other hand, I think the kids need to see success. Because it creates a buy-in that helps you create consistency down the road. So obviously we enjoy seeing it, but I enjoy seeing it because now I know for sure there’s a buy-in. What we got to do. Like, I continue to preach this, man, it’s got to be consistent. It’s got to be day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out, and we can’t get away from our routine, our habits and our details.”

How big it was for Mike Matthews and Chris Brazzell II to have big games against ETSU, from a confidence standpoint

“I think it’s huge, man. Playing this position is 99% confidence, right? Like, it’s a lot of receivers around the country that make a ton of plays, and it’s because they’re confident. So, as a coach, you got to understand that. We were up by a hefty amount, but for me, having those guys operate and finish that game, going out on high, and I think that’s crucial, especially going to a conference game. Not that you’re trying to get away from whatever the mission is, but if you got receivers playing confident, you got your quarterback playing confident, I think you got a shot to be really good on offense in any league, anywhere. And then you look at the opposite, when they aren’t confident, I think that shows also. So I think being in the receiver room, and it’s all about how do I get these guys confident, how do I keep them urgent, and how do I keep those guys detailed. I think if you can check off those three boxes, I think you got a shot at winning your room.”