LB Alec Ogletree -- September 26, 2019
Q: Is it upsetting to get hurt on a play that didn’t end up counting?
A: Yeah, it is. That’s pretty terrible. It definitely sucks to get hurt on a play… to get hurt, period. But when it doesn’t count for anything, it definitely stings a little bit more.
Q: How are you feeling?
A: I feel pretty good. Rehab is going well. I’m looking to just continue to take the steps in that direction.
Q: Does this play change your opinion, or impact it at all, on the referees kind of letting those plays go and not blowing the whistle?
A: I think it’s something where they need to make a decision. They can’t just… I don’t know how you say it. It’s kind of like ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’ It’s one of those things where if you make the call, okay you make the call. But you will hear people talk about it, such and such. It’s just kind of one of those things like ‘Alright, you all clearly saw that it wasn’t a fumble or something like that, so blow the whistle. Slow everybody down.’ Like you said, some of the plays are like ‘Okay, he fumbled the ball.’ There are close calls in each one of them. But sometimes you just definitely wish they would just make the right decision and just blow the whistle or leave it alone. Not in between.
Q: Obviously, you’re going to play the whistle, but did you have a sense that it probably wasn’t a fumble when you picked it up?
A: I kind of saw the ball falling and I was kind of just like ‘Well, I think it’s incomplete.’ I honestly thought it was incomplete. Then everybody was like ‘Pick up the ball, pick up the ball!’ So I picked it up and took off running. I kept running and I heard no whistle, so I’m like ‘Oh, it really is a live ball.’ It’s kind of one of those things… I think they said some of the refs were holding up their fists for fourth down, and some were saying it’s a fumble. It’s one of those things, like I said, ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’
Q: Can you describe the end of that play? There are players running on the field, you pull up lame and then Jabrill (Peppers) kind of takes you down.
A: Jabrill didn’t have anything to do with me getting hurt, I’ll tell you that.
Q: No, I mean he kind of helped you to the ground.
A: I was already going down. It just looked like that. I was going down. I was running and I just felt it. I had never really felt something like that before. I was going to the ground already, but like I said, it didn’t make it look any better when Jabrill did run into me a little bit. I honestly didn’t even feel him hit me. I was just worried about my leg.
Q: So this is the first time you’ve had this kind of injury?
A: I did last year a little bit. I rehabbed it and finished the season out. Then this year, kind of the same thing happened again a little bit. I think each one is a little different, but basically the same thing.
Q: Do you have any idea on a timeline?
A: No. I’m just going to do my rehab and try to get as healthy as possible. I’ll be back whenever they clear me to come back.
Q: Can you compare it at all to last year, as far as how you feel versus last year’s? Does it feel better?
A: It feels the same. It feels the same, so I’m going to go through the rehab process. Hopefully it goes well, I have no setbacks and I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Q: Besides for you not being out there, what did you think of the defense’s performance in the second half in that game?
A: I thought they performed pretty well in the second half. It’s kind of one of those things that you wish we could do that, well, we need to do that, at the beginning of games and do it throughout the game, where we’re not waiting until halftime to make those adjustments and play well in the second half. Granted you want to play well in the second half. Most games are won in the second half. We were able to get some great stops out there, a turnover, and kind of just end the game. I was proud of the guys for continuing to fight and finish, but there are definitely some things you wish you could do in the first half that will help you play even better.
Q: Do you guys have any reason why, because you’re really struggling in the first half and it’s completely different in the second half. Any thoughts on why that’s happening?
A: It’s a number of things, I guess you could say. It’s kind of one of those things where you miss an assignment here, or they threw a screen on one of the plays last week and we should have just buried the back. It’s just little stuff that we have to take care of to not have those big plays happen.
