Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans in Final Week of Preseason Camp
8/24/2021 3:56:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State football team is in the final week of preseason camp as it starts to shift its attention to Northwestern for the season opener on Friday, Sept. 3 in Evanston, Illinois.
MSU held an open practice on Monday night in Spartan Stadium for the 18th annual "Meet the Spartans" event, and was right back on the practice field Tuesday morning for the 17th overall workout of preseason camp.
Following Tuesday's practice, second-year head coach Mel Tucker and several players spoke to the media.
"We're starting to turn our focus to Northwestern right now," said Tucker. "We did a little bit of scout exchange (today), and we'll do some more scout exchange the rest of the week, and then we'll continue our preparations going through the weekend and onto next week. So we're continuing to make progress and gain ground."
The Spartans will return to the practice field on Wednesday morning.
Below are additional quotes from Tuesday's media session:
Michigan State Head Football Coach Mel Tucker
Opening statement...
Good morning. Thanks for coming out. First I want to thank the fans for coming out last night to the Meet the Spartans. I thought that was a really good deal, we were able to get some good work in and obviously, get a chance to see our fans out in Spartan Stadium, which our players were excited for that, and we appreciate the turnout. Obviously, you got a chance to see us work a little bit, and so I feel like we got better last night with what we're trying to accomplish.
The last scrimmage we had, I felt like we got better as a football team, and we're just really gaining ground and working to improve. We're starting to turn our focus to Northwestern right now. We did a little bit of scout exchange, and we'll do some more scout exchange the rest of the week, and then we'll continue our preparations going through the weekend and onto next week. So we're continuing to make progress and gain ground.
On how the ball protection was yesterday...
The ball security has been good, it hasn't been perfect, but it's been good. And we've emphasized that our entire out of season and then camp. Obviously, we know turnover margin is huge and we learned that a year ago. Ball security is job security, and we talk about that all the time. I feel like our ball security has improved during this camp.
On if the team will break camp and have a break and come back, or go straight through...
Camp is not like what it used to be, so we're pretty much out of camp mode right now, we're on a little bit different schedule. We're not doing as much in the evening with the guys right now. So that's why I don't have my camp hat on.
On a lot of new guys in and out in the defensive backfield last night at practice, and with all the new faces back there, how he feels the secondary is right now...
I feel pretty good about what we have, we're working to build depth in the secondary. We have guys that can cover, we need to continue to work on our perimeter run force, but I feel good about the guys that we back there, and the newcomers, they're going to contribute and they're going to help us quite a bit.
Junior linebacker Quavaris Crouch
On why he wanted to transfer to Michigan State…
The biggest thing was what I wanted a change, and this is coming to a place where I know it's going to be a new home. I had a good relationship with Coach Tucker, and then some of the guys just leading up here, and I just want to go somewhere just to have a fresh start, and so far it's been pretty good.
On how he feels fitting into the defensive scheme and being immersed into fall camp…
I feel like everything's been going super smooth. I mean, there's a few learning curves and stuff like that because it's new, but I've been adapting to everything pretty well. I'm just trying to go get with the players and just try to build a relationship, our bond, because we don't have a long time to do so. So, we're just trying to gel as fast as we can so we can be the best defense that we can be.
Senior safety Xavier Henderson
On the energy from the fans during Meet the Spartans last night and if feeling more real this year…
It was fun. More people came out than were expected, and it was really fun. My parents came up and surprised me. It's just fun to get that feeling back and have some people there. It definitely feels more real this year. Going to media day and having stuff like that, it makes it feel more like a football season than I felt last year on campus.
On wrapping up camp and preparing for the first game…
When you get to the first part of camp, you're just grinding the days out, trying to get better each and every day, and that's what we're still trying to do, but we got our eyes set on that game. But we still have to take it one day at a time, and get better each and every day at practice.
On his role on the field as a safety and how important cohesion is amongst the defensive backs…
It's very important, very important, because we all have to see the same thing, we're the net. That's what Coach [Harlon] Barnett likes to call it, the DBs out there are the net, and when a big play breaks off we have to net the ball down, so we all have to understand what we're seeing out there and do our job and leverage the ball. I think being in there together, compared to last year it's helped us out a lot, and Coach [Travares] Tillman and Coach Barnett are really good. So that's helped us out a lot.
MSU held an open practice on Monday night in Spartan Stadium for the 18th annual "Meet the Spartans" event, and was right back on the practice field Tuesday morning for the 17th overall workout of preseason camp.
Following Tuesday's practice, second-year head coach Mel Tucker and several players spoke to the media.
"We're starting to turn our focus to Northwestern right now," said Tucker. "We did a little bit of scout exchange (today), and we'll do some more scout exchange the rest of the week, and then we'll continue our preparations going through the weekend and onto next week. So we're continuing to make progress and gain ground."
The Spartans will return to the practice field on Wednesday morning.
Below are additional quotes from Tuesday's media session:
Michigan State Head Football Coach Mel Tucker
Opening statement...
Good morning. Thanks for coming out. First I want to thank the fans for coming out last night to the Meet the Spartans. I thought that was a really good deal, we were able to get some good work in and obviously, get a chance to see our fans out in Spartan Stadium, which our players were excited for that, and we appreciate the turnout. Obviously, you got a chance to see us work a little bit, and so I feel like we got better last night with what we're trying to accomplish.
The last scrimmage we had, I felt like we got better as a football team, and we're just really gaining ground and working to improve. We're starting to turn our focus to Northwestern right now. We did a little bit of scout exchange, and we'll do some more scout exchange the rest of the week, and then we'll continue our preparations going through the weekend and onto next week. So we're continuing to make progress and gain ground.
On how the ball protection was yesterday...
The ball security has been good, it hasn't been perfect, but it's been good. And we've emphasized that our entire out of season and then camp. Obviously, we know turnover margin is huge and we learned that a year ago. Ball security is job security, and we talk about that all the time. I feel like our ball security has improved during this camp.
On if the team will break camp and have a break and come back, or go straight through...
Camp is not like what it used to be, so we're pretty much out of camp mode right now, we're on a little bit different schedule. We're not doing as much in the evening with the guys right now. So that's why I don't have my camp hat on.
On a lot of new guys in and out in the defensive backfield last night at practice, and with all the new faces back there, how he feels the secondary is right now...
I feel pretty good about what we have, we're working to build depth in the secondary. We have guys that can cover, we need to continue to work on our perimeter run force, but I feel good about the guys that we back there, and the newcomers, they're going to contribute and they're going to help us quite a bit.
Junior linebacker Quavaris Crouch
On why he wanted to transfer to Michigan State…
The biggest thing was what I wanted a change, and this is coming to a place where I know it's going to be a new home. I had a good relationship with Coach Tucker, and then some of the guys just leading up here, and I just want to go somewhere just to have a fresh start, and so far it's been pretty good.
On how he feels fitting into the defensive scheme and being immersed into fall camp…
I feel like everything's been going super smooth. I mean, there's a few learning curves and stuff like that because it's new, but I've been adapting to everything pretty well. I'm just trying to go get with the players and just try to build a relationship, our bond, because we don't have a long time to do so. So, we're just trying to gel as fast as we can so we can be the best defense that we can be.
Senior safety Xavier Henderson
On the energy from the fans during Meet the Spartans last night and if feeling more real this year…
It was fun. More people came out than were expected, and it was really fun. My parents came up and surprised me. It's just fun to get that feeling back and have some people there. It definitely feels more real this year. Going to media day and having stuff like that, it makes it feel more like a football season than I felt last year on campus.
On wrapping up camp and preparing for the first game…
When you get to the first part of camp, you're just grinding the days out, trying to get better each and every day, and that's what we're still trying to do, but we got our eyes set on that game. But we still have to take it one day at a time, and get better each and every day at practice.
On his role on the field as a safety and how important cohesion is amongst the defensive backs…
It's very important, very important, because we all have to see the same thing, we're the net. That's what Coach [Harlon] Barnett likes to call it, the DBs out there are the net, and when a big play breaks off we have to net the ball down, so we all have to understand what we're seeing out there and do our job and leverage the ball. I think being in there together, compared to last year it's helped us out a lot, and Coach [Travares] Tillman and Coach Barnett are really good. So that's helped us out a lot.
Players Mentioned
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