10/26: Addazio, players look ahead to Georgia

Florida Gators offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Steve Addazio, freshman quarterback Trey Burton, redshirt senior guard Carl Johnson and redshirt senior wide receiver Carl Moore spoke to the media Tuesday as the team took a final look back on its bye week and ahead to its match-up against the Georgia Bulldogs.

IF HE PLAYS, RAINEY MAY BE GIVEN HYBRID ROLE

Asked if redshirt junior WR Chris Rainey will play some running back on Saturday should he be cleared by the coaching staff for game action, Addazio admitted that it is a realistic option for Florida. “Certainly the possibility exists for that because of injuries,” he said Tuesday. “Chris is a guy that’s very talented, that’s versatile and can do a lot of things. He does give you some versatility for sure in the event that he’s ready to go.”

However, just because Rainey has run the ball before does not mean he will be able to do so without mistakes now that he is back practicing with the team. “Guys have a lot of job descriptions, and that takes a lot of practice reps. Kinks can happen. That’s always a concern,” Addazio said. “What happens sometimes is, with the injuries, that becomes the problem. You want to be at competitive excellence, but sometimes the injuries don’t allow that to happen. Maybe a guy doesn’t really get the reps that he can get on a Tuesday or Wednesday, he’s not really cleared until a Thursday. And then another guy has got to take that spot so he didn’t get the [reps] that he’s supposed to get [at his normal position]. That’s always what happens when you’re into multiple banged up people. […] [Rainey’s] getting reps in practice, obviously getting even more because of some guys that are dinged up a little bit. You just hope that everything works out right.”

Burton also shared his thoughts on Tuesday in regards to what Rainey brings to the table. “He’s a special guy. He’s real fast and the things he can do makes the defense’s head spin,” Burton said. “It’s obviously a lot easier for me and a lot easier for Jeff [Demps] and [Emmanuel] Moody to get open.”

REMEMBERING EMBARRASSMENT WON’T WIN A GAME

One of the comedic masterminds on the Gators, Johnson was asked Tuesday if Georgia charging the field in 2007 is still a motivating factor for Florida. “That happened three years ago. That still plays a big role, but we can’t look back [on] what happened three years ago,” he said. “I didn’t even play so, I was like, ‘That’s messed up. How are they going to stomp on us like that?’” Though Johnson refused to forgive the act, he will not use it as motivation to win Saturday’s game – even if it is being played on a loop in the football facility. “They playing that thing like crazy, but it’s not going to help us,” he quipped. “We have to play to win, to beat Georgia.”

QUOTES (After the break…)

Addazio on the team blocking out the negativity from outside: “Believe it or not, you go about your business and you want to just get better every day. That’s your focus – to get better, to work hard, to fundamentally improve, to try to get yourself at competitive excellence. That’s what you do. You can’t control all that stuff. You can’t let that negativity shape you. You just got to keep working on the things that you know that you want to get corrected or you want to fix or you want to change.”

Addazio on the red zone issues: “In the red zone we’ve had four turnovers in the red zone and four missed field goals. […] It’s not hard to do the homework on that to figure that out.”

Addazio on how the team can play better: “We have to do better all the way around. OK? We have to do better all the way around – at every position – and just be more efficient and more effective.”

Burton on how the offense has changed: “[We’re] focusing more on detail, a lot more on detail and fundamentals and just the little things like that.”

Burton on the silver lining to three losses: “Somehow we have a chance [to go to Atlanta, GA], and we’re going to do the best we can to get there.”

Johnson on strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti: “He’s like one of them old, wise elephants – he never forgets. He knows your last rep, he knows the last time you came in the weight room. He never forgets anything.”

Johnson on if one mistake dooms the Gators psyche: “We train for this the whole summer for when we face adverse situations. We’re big on sticking together. We have to stick together if something goes wrong. If we play the old Gator way and play ball like we supposed to, then we should be fine.”

Moore on how the offense can be more efficient: “Just having 11 players doing their job at the same time.”

Moore on if there will be more deep passes: “We practice deep shots in practice all the time. Practice hasn’t changed for us.”