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Okay, let’s get the big one out of the way. After reports that he shoved an assistant coach on Saturday during the game, Jim Grobe said Monday afternoon that his plan was to not have Shock Linwood take the field on Saturday against Oklahoma.
The official word on Baylor RB Shock Linwood is that he is suspended for Oklahoma on Saturday.
— Nick Canizales (@NickCanizales) November 7, 2016
According to Grobe in the Meet the Press event earlier today, Shock has some "attitude issues" to work through. It’s not entirely surprising, seeing that Grobe built a reputation for having a short leash on disciplinary issues prior to taking the interim gig at Baylor. That being said, losing the most prolific rusher in program history will definitely hurt against Oklahoma on Saturday.
Grobe also acknowledged distraction issues had an impact in Saturday’s loss to TCU, both for the coaching staff and for the team.
Grobe: I don't think there's any doubt our coaches care about our kids and are invested in our kids. Our focus needs to be on these kids.
— Craig Smoak (@CraigSmoak) November 7, 2016
Jim Grobe on players wearing #CAB bandanas on Saturday vs TCU. pic.twitter.com/WAjGVvTm69
— Nick Canizales (@NickCanizales) November 7, 2016
This was the first I’d heard of the bandana issue, but it doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t come as a shock after the events of Friday night that both the team and coaches were distracted. Grobe was asked if there will be any repercussions for the staff’s actions on Friday. He responded that while he thinks the sharing of differing viewpoints is a good thing, he also said:
Grobe also dismissed any discussion of declining a bowl invitation.
After Grobe spoke, Seth Russell took the podium and also addressed the focus issues:
Seth Russell says coaches told players they let off field stuff take too much focus away, but now they're all about football.
— Sean Giggy (@sgiggy_kwtx) November 7, 2016
I certainly hope that’s the case. Seth also spoke about regrouping after two losses:
Aivion Edwards echoed the sentiment about taking care of the small things: "We have to focus on the basics. We have to work on tackling this week. The tackles that we missed went into bigger plays down the line, so we have to focus more on execution."
Ryan Reid thinks that while the Oklahoma game will be a challenge, he thinks that the coaches will be ready:
"Coach Bennett and his staff are going to put together a great game plan. It will be a challenge." - Aiavion Edwards on #SicOU pic.twitter.com/xnIrY5jkSc
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 7, 2016
Click here if you want to watch all the interviews from the Meet the Press event.