Bye week giving Aggies an extra week to regroup ahead of bout with Alabama

Texas A&M narrowly defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday and have hit their much-needed bye week. Jimbo Fisher and select players met with the media to discuss how they are tackling their off week.

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The following are live, paraphrased notes from head coach Jimbo Fisher's press conference prior to Saturday’s game against Auburn.

• After evaluating the film, I am very proud of our team for coming out on top - getting a victory in a hard-fought football game. The offense was very resilient, starting very quickly. Special teams-wise, Seth hit a massive kick in a huge moment. We didn’t play as well as we needed to in all three phases. We will have a great work week this week to get back to the fundamentals of some things. Defensively, we struggled in filling our gaps. On two or three times, we didn’t take the edge, which was rare for us. On one of the punts, it had to be on the right, and it went down the middle, which created turn lanes. There are a lot of things that can’t happen that went wrong. 
• Our O-Line mistakes are short- and long-term fixes. We had those two critical turnovers that we can’t have. 8 out of 10 runs on two drives, we had runs for positive yards. We were right there. Some times our guys try to play mistake-free, and you can’t do that. We missed a couple of cuts that were costly. It’s a combination of a bunch of things. Our tight ends can help us out too on the end. We play too high at times; we need to get down lower to pad level.
• I bet you any team that says it’s close is wrong. We definitely aren’t. The mental strain to do it each and every day. We have some young guys right now that are doing an excellent job. People say, ‘What do you do to fix that?’ Make them do it again until it becomes a habit. To get pushed and challenged in everything that you do. It’s hard, but that’s the life we have chosen as players and coaches. 
• When you get to that older level, you have to set the example, but you also have to point things out for the younger guys. The difference in games in this league is so finite because there are good players on every team. We have done some good things, and at times, we look very good. But we haven’t done it consistently enough. 
• This week we have to focus on ourselves and the fundamentals. What do you think Tom Brady is going to do this week? Get back down to the fundamentals. That’s the key to success. Championship teams do ordinary things extraordinarily well. That’s the key. 
• I hope we see parallels from where we were last season sitting at (3-2) after the Arkansas game. We have to do things right and not just on Saturdays. You have to do it in practice, too. I will stop practice when things are going wrong and tell them. A lot of times, kids don’t know what they don’t know. Hopefully, we can do it in practice. 
• Roshaaud Paul is going to redshirt this season. 
• Roney Elam is not available right now. (Fisher was asked whether it was health-related or discipline, and Fisher repeated he was not available now.)
• The California ruling will be a game-changer. I am interested to see what will change and what the NCAA’s response will be. 
• What we are doing on offense is fine. There are open receivers; the plays are working, but we have to coach it better and execute it better. You want to hang pictures, but the drywall isn’t sound. It’s hard to keep expanding on offense when we aren’t doing the little things exactly how we want.
• We tried to play at a higher tempo so that we could get at a higher communication rate and get things going a little faster. Three out of six drives, we scored a touchdown. As far as moving the football, we did a good job of that. We had the turnover, and it cost us six. We can’t have that. 
• I am so impressed with the kick that Seth Small made. He was having a great year until last game, and then, he battled back today. How many times does a kicker get hurt? That was the first time that our kicker got hurt last season. It was the first time in 30 years that I can remember. He took advantage of the big opportunity on Saturday. 
• McCollum is getting healthy again. I like the receiving rotation we have right now. We aren’t going to see as many changes personnel-wise at wide receiver, offensive line or defensive line; we have to get better.