BLAWGIN' FER YER NOGGIN: Gene Chizik speaks

Hey everyone. It's another week. Let's make it rain.

• He has arrived.
  
  
• He's excited about homecoming.
  
  
• "We're moving on. We've got more challenges ahead of us. We've got to get back to work, get some things corrected that weren't as good as we felt like they needed to be."
  
  
• On Zac Etheridge: "Zac is, obviously for the season, he's out. He's out of the hospital. He's in really good spirits. Some of his teammates have had a chance to see him. He'll rebound from this. He's made a lot of strides since Saturday.
  
  
• Will he play again? ``We really can't go in that direction (as far as speculation). We're going to take everything day by day. He's walking. He has full use of his arms and legs and things of that nature. He is expected to have a full recovery. That's a bright outlook."
  
  
• On Furman: "It's one of those games where we see some improvement in our game. We have to win the game. After that, we'll have to see where that will fall as far as playing people."
  
  
• On the situation at safety: Demond Washington is going to play there. ``Our goal is to put the four best on the field. That's what we're doing."
  
  
• On how things will work without Etheridge back there: ``There's a communication gap that will difficult to fill. He always knew what we were trying to do within the defense. That was a huge help. Daren -- he'll have to fly solo. He should be ready to do that. It's game 10. It's somewhat of an issue."
  
  
• On how this affects rotations at CB and nickel: "We're going to try to do this with as little disruption as possible. We just have to be smart on not giving him too much stuff. The safety position is going to be his."
  
  
• On D'Antoine Hood, who now is in the real rotation: `You have to be ready to participate. He needs to step up."
  
  
• On what it means for players to see Etheridge in a good situation: ``This football team is vert close. Zac is one of the leaders of this team. It's really important for the guys to see that he's OK. Anytime a family member goes down ... we saw you never leave a fallen teammate."
  
  
• On Travante Stallworth: "He's one of the younger guys who have come on. He's come along. He gets the big pictures. He understands where he can fit on special teams. He's fitting into places right now. He took on some of those places where we'd use Onterio. He's growing up. He's maturing as a football player."
  
  
• On regretting taking the redshirt off any freshmen: ``I think we handled every situation just about the only way we could."
  
  
• On T-Zac's game against Ole Miss: ``That was what we needed -- we needed somebody to do that. He's come on as a wide receiver. He's come on with his blocking. His catching Saturday really gave us an edge."
  
  
• On the timing of Furman and Demond Washington's first game at safety: ``It's going to be a learning experience for him. It's challenging if your first time against Georgia or somebody of that nature. In a perfect world, this is the best time for this."
  
  
• That's a wrap.
  

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

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