Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer discussed everything surrounding the Buckeyes during his weekly appearance on the Big Ten coaches conference call on Tuesday. While answering questions from the media, Meyer discussed the areas of his team that need the most improvement, national anthem protests and more ahead of their game against Rutgers on Saturday.
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The transcript of quotes from Meyer's Big Ten press conference is below. The general questions are bolded, with Meyer's answers in quotes below.
On areas that need to improve for Ohio State
"Pass defense continues to be #1 as far as the three pass interference penalties last week. Other than that, they played well but that's #1 where we need to improve. #2 is consistency on offense, especially as we hit conference play and start facing better defenses, you have to play much better. It was such an inexperienced team coming back with a lot of new players in key positions. I think we're doing pretty good with the normal development that you see with young players has taken place. This week's a big one to continue to get better.
On President Trump's comments, national anthem protests and keeping team focused
"I think that goes back to developing culture, a culture of team, a culture of respect and a culture of focus. I was unaware that anything was going on until yesterday. I honestly didn't know the depth of it. We'll talk to some players and do what we normally do after a good conversation - let people have their opinions and never cross the 'R' word, which is respect."
On Tracy Sprinkle's leadership
"He's one of our top players as far as leadership, as far as respect amongst our players because they know hard he works, what a character guy he is and how much he loves his teammates. He's getting back to that groove he was in before he got hurt. His last two games have been much better and we anticipate he'll continue to improve as he gets more confident on that leg.
On if he'd support a player protesting the national anthem
"That's between me and the player. To be honest, I don't know. And if I did, I probably wouldn't share it. To me, those are the types of meetings with players that you have trust. It's no different than if my son or my daughter came home and asked me what I would do. That's between me and them.
On Jim Harbaugh's comments about Purdue's facilities
"I think years ago there was some gamesmanship about putting people in bad places and all that. Right when I got off the phone, I asked our people to make sure we'd never do that because that's not something I check very often. You never want to put a team in a stadium without air conditioning or those type of things. I was not aware of what happened at Purdue. We played there years ago but we were in a couple of situations where you look around and go 'You've got to be kidding me.' I just think that the commissioner and [Ohio State athletic director] Gene Smith said this will be brought up in Big Ten meetings. These players do a lot for us and do a lot for our conference. They should be treated right. That's a very clean environment, obviously proper heat, proper air conditioning and a sanitary environment. I imagine that, from this point forward, that will be something that is looked at very closely."
On if he'd buy stock from Sam Hubbard
"Whatever he's going to sell, I'm going to buy it from him because I trust him. I know he's going to outwork everyone in his field. He's one of my favorite players."
On true freshmen that may see expanded playing time
"I can see Pete Werner and Baron Browning. They have really made strides, plus they're very talented guys. Jeffrey Okudah is a guy that has taken a giant step and deserves some playing time. Trevon Grimes had a couple of good weeks of practice. He's not in position to be in the rotation yet but he's working towards that."
On seeing more from Demario McCall
"Yeah, he wasn't himself [against UNLV]. He wasn't dynamic when he had the ball in his hands. That's something we're still looking at and it's really up to him. When he feels that we're pressing along and trying to do the best we can to get him ready to go. When you watched him play, that wasn't the Demario McCall that we've seen in the open field. It is a real injury and it's something that's getting better."
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