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00:00 to get started today.
00:02 Aubrey, start with the scary moment of your injury.
00:06 You know, it's a while now, and you're coming back,
00:08 but just walk me through what that was like.
00:12 Were you scared at that point?
00:14 What was it like?
00:16 I was definitely scared.
00:17 Probably one of the scariest injuries
00:19 I had of my career playing football.
00:23 Once I hit the ground, I knew something was wrong,
00:26 but I didn't know how bad it was.
00:29 Once I heard the training staff coming over,
00:32 they was telling me, "Squeeze the hand."
00:33 I couldn't do that.
00:35 I didn't have much feeling in my hand.
00:37 Once I heard that they had to get the stretcher,
00:39 I knew it was something bad.
00:40 Just happy to be here.
00:42 I'm blessed.
00:43 Thankful for the people in this building,
00:44 the support system I have back at home, my family,
00:47 the support system I have here.
00:49 And now that I'm playing, you know,
00:51 I'm just excited to keep playing, moving forward.
00:53 How long did it take before you knew it wasn't catastrophic?
00:58 Well, when I was laying there on the ground,
01:02 it was probably a good five minutes.
01:06 Just hearing Zach, the trainer,
01:09 he was with me the whole way through.
01:12 But it probably wasn't that long until I knew.
01:15 Like I said, just happy to be here, though.
01:17 Yeah, scary moment for everybody,
01:18 scary moment for me, but just blessed.
01:21 Did they tell you what caused it?
01:23 I mean, as far as numbness and --
01:26 The numbness and tingling.
01:27 I don't know if any of y'all watched the play,
01:30 but as I was going down,
01:33 my neck was kind of turned going in for the tackle.
01:36 I'm not taught to tackle like that.
01:38 Always have your head up.
01:39 And I came in, and my neck was kind of tilted a little bit.
01:43 And, you know, that's probably what caused it.
01:45 When I got to the hospital in Fort Worth,
01:48 they were just saying it was a bad concussion.
01:51 So that was the biggest thing I heard through that night
01:54 was nothing's wrong with you as far as your nerve
01:57 and all that is going to come back.
01:58 The biggest problem is just you have a bad concussion.
02:00 You just got to take it one day at a time.
02:02 So...
02:03 You're currently fired, right? Right.
02:04 Yes, sir.
02:05 So your own guy got you.
02:06 Yeah, yeah, he did. He did.
02:08 Yeah.
02:09 But you don't brace for those, right?
02:10 Those are the ones you don't really brace for.
02:12 Right. Yeah.
02:13 Sorry, Greg.
02:14 Not necessarily as far as you want something like that
02:17 to happen, but it's a part of the game.
02:19 So you just got to be prepared for it when it do come to you.
02:22 Trey joined you in the hospital.
02:25 Were you guys together in there?
02:29 We wasn't together. So when I got to the hospital,
02:30 I was in a neck brace for probably two hours.
02:34 So, funny thing, Zach, I mean, he's sitting right next to me.
02:38 I'm just laying in the hospital bed looking in the sky.
02:40 He's giving me updates.
02:41 So I heard about the first block field goal.
02:45 Then the game kept going.
02:46 I said, "Zach, please be quiet.
02:48 I don't want to hear nothing else about the game.
02:50 Just tell me if we won or lost."
02:52 Then probably like five minutes later, he like,
02:54 "You got a buddy joining you."
02:55 And I was like, "Who?"
02:57 He was like, "Trey Latham."
02:58 That's when I heard what happened to him.
02:59 We wasn't together that night, but the next morning I woke up,
03:04 I made sure I went to go visit Trey,
03:06 made sure he was okay once I was able to walk around
03:08 in the hospital and stuff.
03:10 Clear after everything was done.
03:12 What's it that? Monday?
03:17 Yeah, I could have came back home to Morgantown,
03:20 but Trey was going through a lot of pain.
03:22 I told Zach and stuff, like, you know,
03:25 if we need to stay this extra day for him,
03:26 I wanted to, you know, stay.
03:27 I'm not in a rush or anything.
03:29 I just want to make sure we all get back safe.
03:33 How did you learn that you guys won the game?
03:36 He actually told me.
03:38 He was like, "AB, they're about to kick a field goal."
03:42 Then he was like, "Oh, we blocked it.
03:43 We getting in victory formation."
03:45 And I kind of wanted to jump up,
03:47 but then I realized where I was at
03:49 and what I was going through, so I kind of had to be happy
03:52 and just lay down and just be happy about it.
03:56 From the point where you're on the field,
03:57 they're telling you to stay still.
03:59 The competitor, the athlete in you,
04:01 are you wanting to test?
04:02 Are you wanting to see, "Hey, what can I do?
04:04 What can I feel?" How hard is it to hold that back?
04:07 It was really hard.
04:09 Tears started coming out of my eyes.
04:11 Once I knew I couldn't squeeze this in as much as I wanted to,
04:16 the main thing they just kept telling me is to breathe
04:18 and end a situation like that.
04:20 As a competitor and playing a sport that you love,
04:23 you want to get back on that field,
04:25 but you also know this is all a part of the game,
04:28 and this can happen to you at any moment.
04:30 You just don't want it to happen, but when it do happen,
04:32 just keep your composure and just make sure,
04:34 at the end of the day, you're well and healthy.
04:37 Does a part of the sport help with that,
04:39 from being coached, from being told what to do,
04:42 time and again, knowing, "Hey, I got to do this"?
04:44 Yeah, yeah, most definitely.
04:45 Discipline does tie in that.
04:48 Like I said, my neck, my head was kind of tilted a little bit
04:52 when I went to go make the tackle,
04:54 and that's something that we're not taught.
04:56 Like I said, you just got to learn from it and move on.
04:59 What was it like knowing that you could play again,
05:02 you know, that nothing serious was wrong,
05:05 and running out on the field there?
05:08 Great, great feeling, just because I want to help my team,
05:11 help this defense accomplish what we're trying to accomplish.
05:14 So once I heard that I was cleared and everything
05:16 and was able to get back to football,
05:18 I was definitely excited about that.
05:21 Obviously, I'm going to be a little slow
05:22 just from knowing that I got hurt,
05:25 that it was a serious injury,
05:26 so I was a little slow coming back first,
05:29 like tackling and everything, but now I'm all back,
05:32 and I know I'm okay, so I'm healthy.
05:34 When did you get cleared?
05:36 When did I get cleared?
05:38 After Houston, that first practice we had, I got cleared.
05:46 So you didn't do anything the whole week at Houston, right?
05:49 No, I didn't do nothing football-related
05:51 the whole week at Houston, yes, sir.
05:53 After the Houston game, that's when I got cleared.
05:57 When you got back out in the field,
05:58 I mean, what you just went through,
06:00 were you, you know, I don't know, fearful, but hesitant?
06:04 Yeah, yeah, definitely going to be hesitant,
06:07 just because, you know, that was a serious injury,
06:10 and then that's something you don't want to happen.
06:12 Like they said, we can't make this play like --
06:14 they can't go and replay the play
06:16 and make me go do that hit again.
06:18 It's just something I got to do.
06:19 I got to go tackle somebody
06:21 just so I can get the feeling of, you know, hitting again,
06:24 and once I got the feeling of that, I was full-headed to go.
06:28 Jeff, talk to anybody, any sports-like people
06:30 or anything like that to help you out?
06:32 Dr. Sophia. Okay.
06:33 Yes, sir. She's helpful.
06:34 Yeah, helpful, real helpful. Thank her.
06:36 I'm pretty sure everybody in this building
06:39 is thankful for her and all the work that she put into
06:41 and that she does for us.
06:45 What would you characterize yourself now
06:47 versus when you first came back in a different mental space,
06:51 now that you're -- to get fully back into it
06:52 and not be worried at all about getting hurt again,
06:55 or is that not a concern?
06:57 I don't think it's a concern.
06:59 My job is to help us go 1-0,
07:01 help this defense win a ball game,
07:03 and that would be my only concern.
07:05 I can't -- if I'm on the field,
07:07 hesitant about tackling or hesitant
07:09 about putting my head in there again,
07:10 that means I shouldn't be out there.
07:11 I need to take some more time off.
07:13 So I don't think it's a concern at all.
07:16 Talk about the BYU defensive performance.
07:19 37-7, almost had the shot out there.
07:23 What were you guys doing right?
07:25 Doing our 1-11, having fun.
07:27 That's what we was doing.
07:28 We was having fun out there,
07:30 enjoying the night game in this stadium.
07:33 Appreciate the fans coming out and bringing the intensity.
07:37 And, you know, we was feeding off them
07:38 just how they feed off us.
07:41 But, you know, our defense stepped up, played big.
07:44 Same as the offense.
07:45 We played complementary football together.
07:47 Special teams, we got to clean up a little bit.
07:49 But other than that, we played some complementary football,
07:51 and that's what we needed for this program.
07:53 Some things defensively, the group wasn't doing well
07:58 in the other games recently
08:00 where things weren't going quite as well.
08:01 And you said clean things up,
08:03 but give me some examples of what you cleaned up.
08:08 Some of our tackling was better last night
08:10 than the previous nights or previous games.
08:13 Just us dropping in our landmark,
08:16 that was a big thing that we cleaned up.
08:18 And then just alignment, assignment, and effort.
08:20 Everybody just doing their job.
08:21 At the end of the day, that's what it takes on defense
08:23 is everybody doing their 1-11,
08:24 and that's what we cleaned up a lot.
08:27 This year seemed to be kind of streaky.
08:29 You had that stretch there, I think,
08:31 from probably the end of the Duquesne game
08:33 through probably Houston where you guys played really good.
08:37 And there were a couple games there
08:38 where it was a little uneven and not good.
08:41 And then the last couple games have been really good again.
08:44 Why has this defense been so streaky, you think?
08:47 I'm not sure, honestly.
08:48 I'm not sure why we've been streaky.
08:51 But you noticed that, right?
08:53 I mean, there have been some pockets here
08:54 where you guys have been dominant,
08:55 and there have been some times there
08:57 where it's been a little shaky.
08:59 Yeah, I'm not sure why we've been shaky.
09:02 We got to be more consistent every game,
09:03 especially in November.
09:05 We got to be consistent through these next three games
09:07 if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish.
09:09 Give big thanks to our offense for always having our back.
09:13 When we're not hot or on, they're always on fire.
09:15 And I want to say thank you to them for always,
09:17 you know, going out there and putting some points up for us
09:20 and us allowing us to give them a chance.
09:24 Pretty important game coming up for you guys, obviously.
09:27 What you went through not to be able -- not to miss that.
09:31 What does that add to you going into Oklahoma game?
09:35 As far as -- say that again one more time.
09:38 It's an important game. Right.
09:39 You could have missed it, though,
09:40 the way you got hurt.
09:41 And now you're going to be able to play in it.
09:44 What does that mean to you?
09:46 It means a lot. Another big week for us.
09:48 Primetime game on Fox, I want to say.
09:51 Night game.
09:52 My freshman year going into Oklahoma,
09:53 that was probably one of the best atmospheres
09:56 I've been to since I've been in college.
09:59 But like you said, it's a big week for us,
10:01 and big week in general for our defense and our offense,
10:04 just to go 1-0 this week
10:06 and chase what we want to accomplish
10:08 at the end of the season.
10:09 Was that freshman game, was that the walk-off field goal?
10:11 Yes, sir. 16-13.
10:13 Yeah, they got a walk-off field goal on us.
10:15 Yeah, so that part was disappointing.
10:17 But, I mean, defensively, you guys played a terrific game
10:20 against a high-powered offense.
10:22 Right. Yeah, we did.
10:23 Our freshman year, we came out punching first.
10:26 I believe we got the ball first that game and scored first drive.
10:29 And that gave the start.
10:31 We just -- we didn't have enough to finish off.
10:33 Walking through the fumble this past week,
10:37 do you see that ahead of time?
10:40 I mean, it looked like you intentionally punched it out.
10:42 So do you see that?
10:44 Do you do that other times?
10:45 And when you saw the ball loose, what's your reaction?
10:50 So I have -- you can ask a couple of guys on our team
10:54 and the coaching staff.
10:55 I do practice that.
10:57 I practice.
10:59 Earlier today, Coach Scott came up to me.
11:01 He was like, "About time you did that to the other offense."
11:04 So that was a funny moment.
11:05 But going through that play, actually, I seen him.
11:09 You know, how he was running with the ball.
11:11 It was kind of loose.
11:12 And I felt -- I knew where Marcus Floyd was at.
11:15 He was on my left side.
11:16 So I knew I had help that way.
11:17 So at this point, I'm just thinking,
11:18 go in and go head up and make the tackle.
11:21 But once I see Marcus and Ant on both sides of me,
11:24 I'm like, "Somebody got to go for this ball."
11:26 So I put my hand in there.
11:27 And once I felt my hand get underneath it,
11:29 I was just like, "Yank it out."
11:31 And that was a crucial moment for us.
11:33 Too many in the half going into, you know,
11:36 they'll make -- they'll get points on the board.
11:37 They was going to have some fuel coming out.
11:40 So once I got the script and I took it out,
11:42 I was thinking, "Just get on the ball.
11:44 Just give it back to our offense."
11:45 And I'm glad our offense was able to go put points off of that.
11:48 That was some complimentary football right there.
11:52 Kevin Cunter talked about that there was something different
11:56 in the air before that game as a defense.
11:59 And talked about replicating that going forward.
12:01 Did you have the same feeling?
12:02 And how do you go about trying to replicate
12:04 that going forward to other games?
12:07 Well, this week, since the start of November,
12:09 our coach, like, "If you want to win the championship,
12:12 this is the one that, like, you have to win in November."
12:14 And that's just our whole mindset this whole November.
12:17 Like, we must win if we want to really get
12:18 to where we want to get to.
12:21 And then just that night game,
12:22 that night feeling in Morgantown,
12:24 I don't think there's no better feeling at any other place.
12:27 Just seeing them fans out there, hyped, loud,
12:30 and we feed off that.
12:31 And I want them to know, like, we really appreciate that
12:33 when they bring that energy, because we feed off that,
12:36 and we make plays off of them.
12:37 You're one of the better guys. You played out there.
12:40 You know the atmosphere.
12:42 What do you tell some of the younger guys about that?
12:45 Just keep your composure.
12:46 And, you know, when the play, you know, comes to you,
12:49 make sure you make it or do your best to make it.
12:51 Just do your job.
12:53 You know, these fans, they're going to be here.
12:54 They're going to get loud.
12:56 You're going to enjoy moments like this.
12:57 But at the same time, you got to keep your composure.
12:59 And that's my job as a leader and as a captain,
13:02 just to keep everybody cool,
13:04 cool, come and collect, and, you know, play the next play.
13:07 You haven't played in a bowl game yet, right?
13:08 You were hurt that --
13:09 I was hurt freshman year going to Minnesota, so.
13:12 So now you're bowl eligible.
13:14 I mean, you got things in front of you before then,
13:17 but exciting that that opportunity
13:19 is going to present itself?
13:20 No doubt.
13:22 I definitely don't want to just go, like,
13:23 bypass that of us being bowl eligible.
13:27 That's big.
13:28 That sends some of the seniors out with an extra game
13:30 going into the postseason.
13:32 That's just more fun for everybody,
13:33 you know, want to get to the next level.
13:34 That's big for us.
13:36 So I'm definitely excited about us going bowling.
13:38 Obviously, you're in a bowl.
13:40 Now the job is to go up the rung here
13:43 and get to a nicer bowl, right?
13:44 Is that kind of the approach? Right.
13:46 Yes, sir.
13:47 Our defensive coordinator, Coach Leslie,
13:48 said that this morning.
13:50 He congratulated us on making a bowl game,
13:53 but he told us the more games you win,
13:55 the more exciting the bowl game is,
13:57 the more gear you get,
13:58 the more perks you get off of it.
13:59 So, yeah, we're definitely wanting to --
14:01 It's more gear.
14:03 Not necessarily gear, but that postseason gear would be nice.
14:07 Our freshman, we got a fresh new pair of Nikes
14:09 in a Nike Tech jumpsuit, so you never could go wrong with that.
14:12 That's something nice, and then to have the West Virginia
14:14 on it so not too many people have what you got.
14:16 Well, the nicer the bowl, the nicer the gift.
14:17 The gift's right. Right.
14:18 Yes, sir.
14:21 After going to a big bowl eligible
14:23 a couple times in your career,
14:24 how does this one feel after that number 14
14:28 to begin the year?
14:30 It feels good. It feels real good, honestly.
14:32 Just because we know who was picked at 14,
14:35 they still show us that 14 every single day.
14:38 Every single day we step into this building,
14:40 they're not letting us forget what was picked
14:42 and what other people talked about us.
14:45 So, you know, just being bowl eligible
14:47 and then being picked at 14 is big for us in this program.
14:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]