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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 29, 2009

Greg Jones

Q. Greg, how has Coach Dantonio dealt with the adversity, the record that you guys have, because his first two years it was mostly wins and good news? How is he the same and maybe different right now than the first two years?
GREG JONES: Really he's been more like just -- he wants us to stay together. I think that's the biggest thing. When you try to look back in the past, he's always saying, you know, we've got to correct our mistakes and move forward. That's what we try and do together as a team.

Q. Last year you had some pretty big hits against Michigan players. You're familiar with this offense. It looks like there's a lot more firepower this year with the team. Could you talk about what you remember about their offense and what more challenges they create this year?
GREG JONES: I really felt like they tried to spread us out a whole lot on defense. But I think I remember they're pretty fast. They have some pretty good offensive linemen. So we've just got to do our best.

Q. Against Wisconsin it looked like you guys were maybe a little bit overanxious at times. Is that something where because you guys haven't had that big play yet, whether it's a pick-6 or big 4th down stop, is that something where you feel like you guys are getting a little over anxious trying to make that big play, and how do you try to contain that against Michigan when emotions are obviously going to be the highest?
GREG JONES: It's a little bit different. We feel like Wisconsin is our biggest threat, mostly with their run. We knew the quarterback was a big run threat. Him getting outside for a few yards here or there, having one big run didn't hurt us so bad. If John Clay just went 80 yards up the middle, that's what we thought. That's what will be different with Michigan, though.

Q. As a captain, you're not the most vocal person in the world. Have you spoken up more this week to these guys, helping them get their mindset right?
GREG JONES: I tried to. I tried to. Like always, I don't like to just yell at guys like that, but I tell them how I really feel, try to speak from the heart a little bit and make sure we're on the right page. Usually if I bring everybody together from the top, I make sure to ask them, Do you think what I said was right? And they'll tell me, I agree with you.
That's all I want. I want everybody to be on the same page, because if we're not, you're going to be able to see that there's breakdowns in the game.

Q. Your name gets called a ton in games. You have your typical 14-, 15-tackle games. This year is no different. But given the fact this defense has taken its lumps, does that put more pressure on yourself and how much more responsibility do you think you can take as a single player or this team, given the way the defense has gone so far?
GREG JONES: I don't really put pressure on myself, because like you said, we're a team. If one guy makes a mistake, it makes it a little better for all of us. I just want to try to get guys together, that's all you can do, and try and move forward. We don't try and look back. We've got to move on to the next play. Coach D always talks about playing in the moment, and you look ahead, just play for the next play.

Q. How have you grown into this rivalry in the past few seasons?
GREG JONES: Well, first of all, I'm not from Ohio -- I mean, I'm not from Michigan; I'm from Ohio. That's the first thing. But I realize, you know, that my first game here, my first game against Michigan, it was a hard battle out there, and I knew then what it was going to be like for my whole time being here. Really, you just grow, and you have to pick a side. You can only be green or you can only be blue and gold. And obviously that's how it is, and that's how it has to be.

Q. You mentioned you're from Ohio. Being from Ohio, was there a hatred for the University of Michigan before you even came here?
GREG JONES: Yeah, you know, like whenever anybody talking about Michigan State, say, Ah, we don't really like Michigan, I'd correct them, you know, it's Michigan State, you know. People were always in Ohio State, but they came into the territory, and I accepted that and I embraced that, and I'd do my best to try and turn some people green when I go back home.

Q. How do you feel like you've adapted to your role just playing in the middle this year?
GREG JONES: I kind of found that I get a little bit more comfortable. But I think I am. I think I am comfortable. It didn't take a whole lot of time but really just took me time to get used to my keys and get used to calling the huddle and setting the front right and just getting guys lined up.
That didn't really take as much time as I thought it would. And I was a little bit skeptical, but I told Coach I'd give it a try. I want to make the defense better and help us win. And it's been working out so far.

Q. What was it like for you running off the field with the trophy last year?
GREG JONES: It was great. You know, it was a really great feeling, and even more I felt like it was the greatest feeling for the seniors because those guys had not beat Michigan since they had been here. So it was more gratifying for them than it was for me I felt like.

Q. It's been 42 years since this program has beat Michigan two years in a row. Given the fact that Coach Dantonio stressed the history of this program, probably good and bad to you guys. What would it mean to get that monkey off your back, and would it make it even more of a rivalry if you can get that done?
GREG JONES: It would make it a huge deal, 42 years is a long time. But we've just got to take it one step at a time. We can't really just look at it like that. As long as we take one step at a time, we should be ready to go.

Q. This team has three takeaways in 282 defensive snaps. What's the problem with that, and how do you change it?
GREG JONES: Just got to get guys' confidence back. Playing the deep ball is extremely hard. It's very, very hard, and I have a lot of respect for all our corners and safeties. I just try to keep those guys confident. That's the best thing you can do out there because they're out there by themselves, and in their confidence drops you're going to be able to tell obviously.
All you can do is try to keep their confidence up and try to be ready to go for the next player.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
GREG JONES: First and foremost, you've just got to play hard. You've got to play hard and bring your hits and wrap up when you tackle. You don't want to go for the fumble every single time because then, you know, you can just gain yards easily. So really you just want to gain and tackle, just gain and tackle, just everybody being at the ball.

Q. Speaking of the secondary, do you feel like communication has been maybe part of the problem back there between those guys, maybe they haven't gelled as well yet? And then also on Michigan's offense, does it look like the same thing to you, just with a lot more speed and ability at quarterback, or does the offense look different in other ways to you?
GREG JONES: As far as the communication goes, it's a little bit different. We've got a couple young guys back there, not a whole lot of guys with a whole lot of playing experience. You know, it just takes time, and they're getting better at that.
As long as they're working together, like I said before, as long as they're confident about what they're doing and as long as they're on the same page, they should be fine. They should be ready to go.
But as far as Michigan's offense, yeah, they have a lot of speed at quarterback, but it can't be just one guy doing everything. He has to rely on his teammates, also. We're going to do our best to try and make him use his teammates as best as possible.

Q. You're very close with your father and you've seen him be steadying. You've said before you look to him when you go through adversity as an example. What can you learn from your dad in dealing with this?
GREG JONES: My dad, the first thing he tells me after any -- I mean, lose or like if I didn't have a good game, the first thing he tells me, just hang in there. Even though it's tough, don't get worried, just stay in there and stay confident. It'll get better eventually, just keep working hard because if anything if I lose confidence in myself, my teammates won't believe in me, either. That's what he tells me whenever I talk to him on the phone.

Q. How do you prepare for a guy like Forcier when you really don't know what he's going to do? And the way he bounces around, you don't know if he's going to run, if he's going to throw, what he's going to do. For a middle linebacker, how tough is it to prepare to that?
GREG JONES: Really you just want to contain him. It's going to be 11-man defense. It's not going to just be me in his face. It's going to take all pressure from the D-line and kind of confusing him on the back end, really try to get him jittered up a little bit is really the best way to affect the quarterback.

End of FastScripts

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