Isaac Owusu
Ticats.ca
Tiger-Cats head coach Kent Austin, linebacker Simoni Lawrence and running back Mossis Madu met with the media after Wednesday’s practice. Here are some of their key quotes:
Coach Austin on CJ Gable’s status:
“I have not ruled him out yet. Until I get the tests back, and until the doctor says that he is for sure not a ‘go’, if in fact that is the case, then we’ll know.”
Coach Austin on Gable’s potential replacement, Mossis Madu:
“Mossis is a skilled football player. He has great feet and really good ball skills. He’s a good blocker in the backfield, he comes from a great college program and we feel like he’s a player that’s proficient in all three areas. That’s the kind of tailback that we like.”
Mossis Madu on his playing style:
“I do a lot of the same things that CJ does. I can do everything he can. So I’m just going to go out there and try to help the team win the game if I get the chance to.”
Madu on pressure in performing as a running back in this offence:
“I’m confident in my abilities and if I get the chance to go out and play, I’m going to try and make plays. I’ve been on teams that use a tailback a lot, like at OU [Oklahoma University] when I was there so its nothing new to me.”
Madu on how Hamilton’s fan base compares to the Oklahoma fan base
“I would say about the same. There’s times when they get super loud and I’m looking forward to being in the new stadium, just see how it’s really going to be. Because even during the Ottawa game it got really loud towards the end of the game, I remember looking around saying ‘wow, it’s really loud here and we only have one side filled with fans’.”
Simoni Lawrence on the coaches potentially reducing playing time for players who commit penalties:
“I feel like whatever Coach Austin and the coaches agree with because they’re the leaders and that’s who we follow and we follow. We preach everything they preach. It’s a trickle down effect, so if that’s what we have to do then that’s what we have to do.”
Lawrence on players policing themselves:
“We’re harping on each other, and we talk to each other as a group. Especially myself, because I got an objectional conduct penalty because I said something to the ref that I shouldn’t have said, and I apologized to Mr. Murphy because it’s not appropriate for me to say that to a ref. We just have to learn from them.”
Does Lawrence feel the team has been ‘snakebitten’?
“Honestly ,I feel like it is what it is, and the situation is what it is. We can’t complain about anything because at the end of the day, wherever we play our job is just play football. That’s what we focus on everything else is an excuse and you can use that excuse if we’re in college or high school but we play professional football.”
Lawrence on the team’s confidence level:
“I think everybody still very confident in our ability and we understand that we’re starting off slow right now. The entire East Division is starting off slow. We just have to get going and just win our games. No more of ‘we’re close, so we’re doing a good job’, we’ve got to win games in the end. That’s what it comes down to.”
