Khalil Barnes: 'No One Does This to Not Get the Result We Want'
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On how the secondary played without starting strong safety R.J. Mickens: “I felt we played well at times but it's hard to be perfect the whole game. We definitely had some mistakes. We have a lot of guys that can play a lot of different positions, but we just got to keep working and getting to where we can play as fast as we can in our primary positions and our secondary ones too.”
On taking a few snaps at free safety for injured starter Jalyn Phillips, who participated in only seven plays on Saturday: "It's still kind of the same because they [Mickens and Phillips] are with you in the preparation phase during practice. You still have Kubs (Andrew Mukuba) out there, a three-year starter, who really helps you. And then not having JP in the game, he's telling me things to look out for, telling me things I did well, and things I can improve on.”
On losing despite the defense holding the Wolfpack offense to only 202 total yards: “It's a complimentary game so there are times when the offense scored and we had a chance to have a three and out -- we gave up first downs. So, it's tough for sure. We want to win as bad as anybody. I see a lot of stuff questioning what we do in practice. We work hard. This is a year-long job. No one does this to not get the result we want. We stick together. So just like Coach Swinney says, you can’t wish for a better yesterday. You just have to move on and keep going.”
On avoiding the social media chatter: “I got all my media muted. Twitter is gone. Instagram muted. I really just talk to my friends on Snapchat and I text my parents.”
On facing the Notre Dame offense at Memorial Stadium on Saturday: “Last year, it [the offense] was physically dominating. This year, they can physically dominate every play, especially in the run game but they have weapons. They have a vet quarterback out there who they trust. So, it’s really hard to make them one-dimensional. It'd be a tough challenge but we got to prepare, get in that film room, figure out the plan, and go establish it.”