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Carter's Corner: Gators Say Monday's Practice was Intense
Carter's Corner: Gators Say Monday's Practice was Intense - Florida Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Swept away by the disappointment that crashed over the Gators following Saturday's loss to Georgia, junior receiver Freddie Swain sat gloomily in a corner of the interview room at TIAA Bank Field.
Swain, whose 36-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter put Florida ahead 14-13, was convinced the Gators had the Bulldogs on the ropes. Instead, it was Georgia that walked off the field in the driver's seat for an SEC East title.
The Gators made too many costly mistakes at critical times, an issue that in Swain's view stretched back to practice leading up to the game.
"Practice was kind of lackadaisical,'' he said. "Just the effort wasn't there and it showed. The execution today was poor so we gotta be better next week."
Based on what players said following Monday night's practice, the Gators responded the right way.
Safety Jeawon Taylor sensed a team determined to not let the Georgia loss linger by having one of its most physical practices of the season.
"I just felt like that loss was a little bitter,'' Taylor said. "We had to get it out on the field. It was a lot more physical. Everybody was flying to the ball. Offensive getting their right blocks. It was very different."
After Saturday's loss, Gators head coach Dan Mullen said he thought the Gators "for the most part, had a good week of preparation."
Still, Mullen opened his press conference by saying how disappointed he was with the execution. The miscues included three turnovers that led to 10 Georgia points. The Bulldogs also converted four third downs into touchdowns.
"I thought they were ready to go play in the game, and you could see at times how ready they were," Mullen said. "We'll learn as a team how to play."
Veteran defensive tackle Khairi Clark is confident the Gators are going to avoid any late-season funk due to the loss. Clark echoed Taylor's sentiments about the energy at Monday night's practice being on a different level than normal.
"Oh, it was way different man, because we have a different mindset than last year,'' Clark said. "We think differently. It's mainly because of our new coaching staff got us, you know, looking at things at a different perspective, so we're very much more professional-wise."
The Gators play three of their final four regular-season games at home, starting Saturday against Missouri on UF Homecoming.
Monday's practice ended about seven hours after Mullen's regularly scheduled weekly press conference. When discussing the team's mindset, he considered two primary responses available.
"The bad one is you have the 'woe is me' attitude and the other one is kind of like, you know, annoyed that that happened and I can't wait to get out there to go fix it,'' he said. "I hope we're the second with this one. We certainly were with the first [loss] and I hope we are with the second."
Sounds as if they are off to a good start.
Carter's Corner: Gators Say Monday's Practice was Intense
Carter's Corner: Gators Say Monday's Practice was Intense - Florida Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Swept away by the disappointment that crashed over the Gators following Saturday's loss to Georgia, junior receiver Freddie Swain sat gloomily in a corner of the interview room at TIAA Bank Field.
Swain, whose 36-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter put Florida ahead 14-13, was convinced the Gators had the Bulldogs on the ropes. Instead, it was Georgia that walked off the field in the driver's seat for an SEC East title.
The Gators made too many costly mistakes at critical times, an issue that in Swain's view stretched back to practice leading up to the game.
"Practice was kind of lackadaisical,'' he said. "Just the effort wasn't there and it showed. The execution today was poor so we gotta be better next week."
Based on what players said following Monday night's practice, the Gators responded the right way.
Safety Jeawon Taylor sensed a team determined to not let the Georgia loss linger by having one of its most physical practices of the season.
"I just felt like that loss was a little bitter,'' Taylor said. "We had to get it out on the field. It was a lot more physical. Everybody was flying to the ball. Offensive getting their right blocks. It was very different."
After Saturday's loss, Gators head coach Dan Mullen said he thought the Gators "for the most part, had a good week of preparation."
Still, Mullen opened his press conference by saying how disappointed he was with the execution. The miscues included three turnovers that led to 10 Georgia points. The Bulldogs also converted four third downs into touchdowns.
"I thought they were ready to go play in the game, and you could see at times how ready they were," Mullen said. "We'll learn as a team how to play."
Veteran defensive tackle Khairi Clark is confident the Gators are going to avoid any late-season funk due to the loss. Clark echoed Taylor's sentiments about the energy at Monday night's practice being on a different level than normal.
"Oh, it was way different man, because we have a different mindset than last year,'' Clark said. "We think differently. It's mainly because of our new coaching staff got us, you know, looking at things at a different perspective, so we're very much more professional-wise."
The Gators play three of their final four regular-season games at home, starting Saturday against Missouri on UF Homecoming.
Monday's practice ended about seven hours after Mullen's regularly scheduled weekly press conference. When discussing the team's mindset, he considered two primary responses available.
"The bad one is you have the 'woe is me' attitude and the other one is kind of like, you know, annoyed that that happened and I can't wait to get out there to go fix it,'' he said. "I hope we're the second with this one. We certainly were with the first [loss] and I hope we are with the second."
Sounds as if they are off to a good start.