RTI)
With no Tennessee football game scheduled this weekend, Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar met with the media during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. So far, he is responsible for 1,459 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Aguilar was asked about the pass interference call on Chris Brazzell, where he wants to improve, the bye week and more.
Here’s what he said.
More From RTI: A Look At Joey Aguilar’s Advanced Stats Through The First Month Of The Season
On putting mistakes aside at the end of the Mississippi State win
“The saying here is live to the next play. If I try to just focus on what had happened, it’ll make me worry too much and just worry not to make that mistake again. You just got to go out there, stuff happens, and just live to the next play and go out there and execute.”
On where he’s grown the most since week one
“I think I got a lot of growing still. I think I got a hold of the offense better, for sure, but I can still get so much better in understanding more of the offense. Definitely, got a better grasp of the offense from that point to now.”
On if it’s exciting to see success with areas that still need to improve
“When you go back and watch film and see there’s still so much more than we can do better at, all around and starting with me, just makes it exciting. We’ve been explosive, but we can be more explosive than what we have been if everybody just dials in and gets into the details, starting with me.”
On his reaction to the OPI call on Chris Brazzell
“That play looked familiar. But it is what it is.”
On the play of Chris Brazzell
“All-around, they’ve been great. Chris is a leader in that receiver room, he’s shown it on and off the field. I think thank those receiver corp enough. They’re making my job easy to just go out there for them and let them make a play.”
On the chip on their shoulder from the offseason
“You always go into the season with a chip on your shoulder. You got to worry about what’s in this building and everybody on the team. All that outside noise is just rat poison. We knew what we got. We don’t gotta say too much. Just got to go out there and play and execute.”
On Chris Brazzell’s mental toughness
“Like I just said, he’s a leader. Those younger guys look up to him. The way he carries himself on and off the field, good play, bad play, mistake or not, he’s out there and he’s giving his all. Just showing that he’s a top contender as a receiver.”
On Chris Brazzell’s catch radius, when he realized how big it was
“Not long. Just watching film from him last year and the whole offense. Out there throwing in the summer and fall camp and stuff like that. Just the confidence he has. He tells me, ‘If you throw it, I’m gonna go grab it.’ Just go out there, playing around, throwing the ball around to different areas, trying to test where he’s good at and where he’s not. He’s good at everything.”
On evolving the offense from last year, it fitting him as a QB
“It’s just super quarterback-friendly. It’s a lot of different things we do in this offense from last year. Coach got a lot of trust in me and I got a lot of trust in Coach. We go out there in the film room, talk about plays, dial things up, get out there on the practice field, run it, see what we like and what we don’t like. Just the space of open communication that we have with each other to discuss what we like, what we don’t like, what we want to add, what we want to take out is very helpful.”
On his decision-making
“I’ve been pretty decent I would say. Definitely a lot I can improve on. I would say I’m decent right now. There’s still a lot of stuff I can clean up all-around, get in some better situations, get the ball in some better places for receivers.”
On what he wants to clean up this week
“Definitely getting feet right. I felt myself, feet a little fast, little slow or a little rushed to where I’m trying to go. Definitely get my bottom half involved more.”
On his favorite play from the game-tying drive against Mississippi State
“The one where I was falling down and threw it to Mike.”
On what was special about that play
“I wouldn’t say nothing was special. Pocket was collapsing, brought blitz, stepped up, saw Mike, just let it go.”
On calling it a quarterback-friendly offense, if it’s compared to past offenses or being coached by former quarterbacks
“I would say both.”
On how having quarterbacks as coaches helps
“I think it affects a lot. You get two different perspectives of great coaches, including Jared (Peery) and Landy (Jones). Everybody has pictures and ideas and thoughts and everybody is just talking through what is that, what is this, what if we do this, what if we do that. It helps me, obviously, you see those guys play at a higher level and you nitpick their brain and just learn.”
On freshman OL David Sanders Jr. playing
“That guy, you got to be ready no matter what when your number is called. He’s been out a couple weeks, but when his number was called, he was ready. He went out there with aggression and passion and that’s what we look for in an o-line.”
On if he’s a perfectionist.
“Most definitely. Nobody is going to be perfect. I can try to be as perfect as I can and that can look different in different ways, But, there’s always something I can do better to get the offense in a certain situation or put the receiver in a better spot. I think I can always strive to be perfect whether I had a good game or not.”
