Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman met with the media Tuesday at the Vanier Complex.
Opening Statement…
“Good afternoon everyone. It's good to see everybody again and excited to be back getting ready for a game. Last week was a good week. We had an open week, did a lot of stuff with our younger players, worked a little bit of Iowa State as well, but focused a decent amount on our young guys. Then gave them the weekend off so they could recharge their batteries and get themselves as healthy as they can get. Had a good workout yesterday for about an hour, hour and 20 minutes or so. We'll get back into our padded stuff today on Tuesday and have kind of a normal week leading up to Saturday. We're going to play a really good football team in Iowa State that we know well, and they know us well. So, we've got to do a great job coming up with game plans and, most importantly, being able to execute on both sides of the ball and on special teams. So, looking forward to a great crowd, looking forward to a great evening to play football. It's going to be a great atmosphere.”
On who stepped up during the off week…
“Probably Krew Jackson. He might be able to provide some spark somewhere, whether it's on special teams or a little bit on defense. I thought he had a really good week. I thought Tyrone Howell – although he's played – started to understand more and more of our system. I think Tyrone can be a guy that can be a factor for us. Those two guys kind of stick out for us, one on each side of the ball.”
On if Skylar Thompson will be back to normal this year or have to deal with his injury…
“I think he's going deal with it. He's going have the brace on. I don't know how long, but I know it's going to stay on, but he felt a ton better yesterday. He practiced on Tuesday, Wednesday, and a little bit on Thursday of last week, not a ton of repetitions but practiced some. I asked him when we had our meeting yesterday, and just the weekend off and him continuing to do rehabilitation. He's got to always continue to take care of his body, and he said he felt pretty fresh yesterday.”
On the special teams…
“Well, we need to continue to do a good job on special teams. We've had a couple of splash plays the last couple of weeks. We need to be consistent on our coverage teams as well. But, without a doubt, trying to find a spark in the return game. We punted the ball well last week and Taiten (Winkel) continues to kick the ball really well. So, it has to be a big factor for us.”
Kansas State hosts Iowa Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. You can hear the game on 107.9 FM/1420 KJCK AM. The pregame show will begin at 4:30 p.m.