Brohm changed up his depth chart...trying out some new guys in secondary...Sindelar broken clavicle...the backup right guard who got hobbled also needs surgery. broken fibula/ankle.
Rondale Moore will be out this game. Update status later today.
Lorenzo Neal will be out this game.
Tario Fuller will be out this game.
Richie Worship will be out this game.
And Jared Sparks will probably be out this game.
JEFF BROHM: I'll know more information by the end of the day hopefully.
Q. Talk about the decision to change personnel at cornerback this week with Cory Trice and Jordan Rucker now the starters?
JEFF BROHM: Well, I think right now, there's not a starter for sure at those positions. We're going to have open competition in some of the positions, especially on defense.I think it's important that we open things up and we allow guys to have an opportunity to play and compete and see where they are at. There are some young guys that need to play more, need to see exactly what they can do for us.
Q. Back to Elijah. Will he be out for the year?
JEFF BROHM: It's too early to tell. We'll see how this goes, and go from there; that he will be out an extended period of time.
Q. With Rondale, is that a potential season-ending thing or an extended period of time?
JEFF BROHM: We hope it's not, but I'll know by the end of the day where we stand with that.
Q. And back to the cornerbacks. What do you want out of that group now? What do you want to see in practice and obviously carry over into the game on Saturday?
JEFF BROHM: We have to get better. It's not all in the corners as far as mistakes. We have to coach better. We have to get our guys in the best position to succeed and win. We have to work extremely hard in practice. As you guys saw, I want to challenge routes. I mean, way too many open guys down the field. Way too many guys not being disruptive at the line of scrimmage. Way too many huge holes in the secondary, and sometimes it's not all them.
Those things need to start to decrease, and I'd like to see us be more sound in what we are doing. Make sure we understand what the strength of the offense is coming in and what we need to take away, which has to happen and then we've got to find a way to take that away and make them beat us doing something else, or at least make them beat us as we contest something very closely and they just found a way to be better.
Q. Are you looking at a scheme adjustment or just how you -- how you play the secondary?
JEFF BROHM: Well, I think all things need to improve. So like I said, it's not all on one person. We have to be sound in what we're doing. We have to make sure that our guys understand exactly where we need them to be and how to play it. We've got to make sure that when we're playing press coverage, we're not allowing receivers to free and untouched the entire time we run the route. We have to disrupt it. We have to disrupt the timing. We have to, you know, in our zone coverage, be where we're supposed to be, and be in those zones and areas and there were just way too many open guys running around the field all day long in my opinion.
Q. How much do the safeties play a role in this, as well?
JEFF BROHM: They play a role. I think that linebackers play a role. To a certain degree, the D-Line does, but we have to shore up our pass defense, and that's been an issue for a while. We need to -- it needs to start this week, and it's going to be a tough week to start it against a very good football team that's had a lot of success and they are playing as well as I've seen them play since I've been in the league.
Q. Is Lorenzo just not ready, or did he experience a setback?
JEFF BROHM: He's just going to be out this week is all I'm at liberty to say.
Q. Jack Plummer told us yesterday he basically had the playbook down during his first semester. He felt he learned it. I don't know if you completely agree with that or not. What about his mental makeup allows him to absorb that kind of knowledge, and is it just transforming that knowledge to game experience now?
JEFF BROHM: Well, that is Jack's strength. He's very intelligent, and yes, he picks things up very quickly and he has a great grasp of what we are doing. He has very good knowledge. You know, the things he just has to work on is just getting some experience out there on the playing field. I think driving the football and throwing it with conviction a little bit more can help him.
But you know, with Jack, and really, our quarterback position, we've got to get better around him. So you know, fortunately for us he was able to make a few plays with his feet when he needed to and that gave us a spark. He competed and played hard to the end, and that was great to see.
But we've got to get better up front. We've got to get better running the ball. We've got to get better at being more physical. We've got to get better at knocking people back in everything we do. Even if it's receivers and tight ends and guys that are in press coverage and they are guarding us; no, we have to knock those guys back, as well.
JEFF BROHM: Well, there's always tweaking going on. There's always adjustments being made. I think that, you know, Jack maybe doesn't quite have the arm as Elijah, but he's an accurate passer and he can move around and make some plays.
So we want to still be on the tag, but it is important to have some balance and it is important to try to establish the run, if we can. The last game we were able to do some things. We put in a couple new runs that probably were our best runs.
