Monday Practice Report: Preparing for Western Michigan

Florida State held its usual Monday practice to start its week of preparation for the 2 p.m. contest against Western Michigan, which can be viewed on ESPN 306, available at ESPN.com.

• The Seminoles worked out in shorts and helmets for ten periods on Monday evening, starting with agility drills before going into special teams and individual position drills.

• Most of periods were spent with the offense and defense working against the scout teams.

• Against the scout team, Weatherford connected with Chris Davis for passes of 15 and 20 yards, as well as a 15-yard strike to Joslin Shaw.

• Xavier Lee hit Shaw for a 10 yard pass to go along with a 20-yard pass to Preston Parker.

• Florida State will be back on the practice Tuesday afternoon.

QUOTES
Head Coach Bobby Bowden
(On the Weatherford and Lee during practice):
"They looked alright, pretty good, both of them."

(On the team's moral after the weekend):
"I met with them tonight, they looked like they were okay. They were pretty receptive. I told them they've got to look ahead, can't look back."

Wide Receiver De'Cody Fagg
(On the loss to Wake Forest):
"Right now it's difficult on the team and the coaches. It was our first time getting blown out at Doak Campbell. We had a big team breakdown on offense and defense; it didn't go right starting from the first kickoff. We have to come and practice hard to finish the last two games strong. "

(On making improvements):
"The first thing we have to do is go in and watch film, go over all of our mistakes and then go out on the field and correct them there. We have to be a little bit more focused in practice this week than we were last week."

(On keeping the spirits up):
"One thing I like to do is say a little joke, crack a smile on everyone's face and make sure they're not down. I try to tell them that everything is okay, we've got two games left, end with a bang and get ready to go to a bowl."

(On needing one win to be bowl eligible):
"That's big motivation. We don't want to go home after the Florida game. We know we have to win six games in order to go to a bowl game and we're going to do that in these last two games, we want to go out and win both of them."

(On Western Michigan): "We know they're a pretty good team. When anyone comes in to play Florida State they bring their `A' game and we have to be ready to play with them."

Defensive End Darrell Burston
(On bouncing back):
"It was a tough loss, something I haven't experienced since I've been playing sports. I think it's something we're going to have to go back and learn from, put it behind us and get ready for this week."

(On keeping the spirits up):
"I'm not really a vocal person, but at a time like this, it's time for me to speak up and encourage the guys to continue to get better and work hard. I'm pretty sure a lot of guys are probably down and disappointed, but players like myself, Buster and our seniors we have to rally everyone together and encourage them. We're not bowl eligible yet so we have to practice hard to get better. I would like to win out and get these last two games."

(On the performance of the defense, given all the injuries):
"Overall I'm proud of the defense as a whole. We've had a lot of injuries; a lot of guys have had to step up, true freshmen had to come in and play and they've been doing pretty good and I'm proud of them. The future is pretty bright for them. We have a lot of great athletes out there and they're going to be pretty special."

(On Western Michigan): "I've heard they're a pretty good team. They've only lost three games so they're no one we should take lightly."

(On his career winding down):
"It's hit me. It was a very disappointing loss last week, but it's still been a blessing for me to play here these last five years. I've tried not to get too down about it because I've only got two games left so I'm just trying to enjoy it, have fun and hope we come out with two wins these last few weeks."

Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews:
(Opening Statement):
"It was certainly a disappointing loss; we didn't play at our best. It was the kind of game that we needed to be at our best. We thought during that game that we weren't playing hard enough, then you go back and look at the tape and that's not what you see. We just had some guys get out of position, not taking care of responsibilities a few times, and it kept us from being able to do what we needed to do. We weren't consistent, too many missed tackles and missed assignments. In order to be successful against a good team, you can't let that happen, and certainly they were a good team, and better than most of us wanted to agree that they were."

(On the defensive play after a turnover):
"We call that situation when you go in after a turnover sudden change. You go out on the field griping because you lost field position, or you can go out there with the idea, that here is an opportunity for us to do something big. You hope that is the kind of attitude that you take as a coach and a player in that situation, because it certainly takes a lot more out of you. When you look at the field zone chart, your percentage of scoring are a whole lot lower when you are backed up as opposed to when you are across the 40 or the 50 yard line. That's when you have to reach down and find a little extra. We did a couple times, and that was important. I think they got 2 field goals, then after that one turnover they made that 18 yard pass."

(On the week to week improvement of the younger players):
"We're pleased with the progress that they are making; certainly you are disappointed that it wasn't enough to be the difference in a ball game. But all we've asked of these guys is to do their best. We are seeing progress out of these guys. The progress that we saw from last week to this week is different because we were playing a different ball team, and we saw a different result."