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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 1, 2008Obinna EzehDonovan WarrenQ. Coach said you did a lot of good things in the game, the linebackers as a group, what was going on in the first half in terms of pass defense, and what did you do better in that second half? OBINNA EZEH: I thought maybe in the second half we came out, and we were a little more technically sound. In the first half, we weren't really, I mean, getting to our drops. I guess we were not getting as much depth as we should have been, and they were dropping it in right over our head. And we came out in the second half and I thought we played with a little more intensity. Q. Yesterday they harped on a lot about playing faster; did you get that sense that the defense wasn't playing fast enough the first half? OBINNA EZEH: The first half I felt like we had some guys out there who had not really played a lot and they were playing a little antsy and a little slow and I think make they got the butterflies out of their stomach in the second half. They played a lot better in the second half. Q. Do you think they were worried about this assignment and that's why they were slower? OBINNA EZEH: There are a lot of things it going through your mind when you're first out there. Messing up is one of them, you just have to get pass that and know that if you're going to mess up, do it full speed, that's football. A lot of plays are made going off assignments for offense and defense. Q. Do you expect more opportunities this week, what kind of players -- OBINNA EZEH: Jonas is a good player. When he came in, I was excited and thought he played physical, and that's something the coaches like. So they will be taking more time to show the coaches and us what he's capable of. Q. Was there any shock at all that you guys have been training since January for that moment, and back on your heels a little bit, especially the first half? OBINNA EZEH: Yeah, but at the same time, you don't want to take anything away from them. They are a great team and they came in and executed real well and capitalized on our mistakes. I feel like Saturday Michigan beat Michigan a little bit, and that's something we want to come out and not do. Q. After the second half -- DONOVAN WARREN: From the first half to the second half, I felt like guys were communicating in a lot better back there, just talking about what was going on and what we were seeing. Things started clicking a little bit more in the second half. Q. (Inaudible). DONOVAN WARREN: Knowing the coverages and had a couple wrong coverages and stuff like that. Just putting guys in the right places to make plays. They got a couple big plays from guys not being in the right spots. That cost us some points. That was more what it was in the second half, getting guys lined up in the right places and just making those checks. Q. Yesterday a couple of balls -- one of them looked like it was out of your hand -- DONOVAN WARREN: Those plays, you know, they was just trying to make plays for the team. The ball that I had, it should have been a pick but Brown (ph) came across my face and those things happen and just keep going back to practice and working on it. A couple of those punt returns, I should have caught one or two of those, but I was just trying to make a play for my team and needed a big play and just something I've got to learn from. Q. From last year to this year, what have you tried to work on and how do you see yourself? DONOVAN WARREN: Last year to this year, I feel like just playing faster and seeing a lot of things this year, not thinking as much out there just like Obi said. A lot of times your first year out, there you're thinking a lot and not playing as fast as you're capable of playing. I just need to play faster this year and also be a little bit more physical. Q. What did you think after seeing the film? DONOVAN WARREN: After seeing the film, I felt like in the first half, we came out a little tentative, soft on our heels like I said, lethargic, and I felt like in the second half, kind of got a little bounce in our step and was able to put the stops to them and not let them bring it to us. Q. Does it that surprise you that -- your word, you were lethargic in the first half? DONOVAN WARREN: Surprising, I felt like we were on our heels, like I said. We let them come up at us instead of going at them. That's something that it's our first game out there, so it's something that we have to keep going out there and keep learning from. Q. Is that something -- DONOVAN WARREN: Not at all. Not at all. They did a lot of things that we were seeing on film and they brought a lot of things we didn't see, also. But that's just something that just has to be a habit, going out with that mentality defense-wise. You have to be aggressive from the jump and I felt like we learned that from the first game, that you just have to come out on top right away. Q. (Inaudible). DONOVAN WARREN: That's how we are going to practice. That's the kind of attitude we're going to have from now on, just come out and bring the fight to them and not let them bring the fight to us. Q. Given the way your team's offense played on Saturday, do you feel defensively that it's even more important that you guys don't have a letdown like you did? DONOVAN WARREN: Without a doubt. I feel like we have to come out and set the tone for everybody, the offense, the defense, special teams and things like that. You know, if everything is not going so well, I feel like the defense has to be one step up to make big plays and put some points on the board, also. End of FastScripts |
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