Q: DJ, just thoughts on your performance tonight, what you were able to do well and how they kind of adjusted defensively with you in the second half.

A: Didn't make the plays when we needed to make them. Like I've been saying this whole year, it starts with me. I’ve got to do better.

Q: On the interception, what did you see on that play?

A: I scrambled out (of the pocket), had (wide receiver) Aidan (Mizell), he beat his defender, but the guy in front of me just made a good play and tipped it. From our defensive tip (drills) you know they gotta get it, and they got it. And at the end of the day, you just gotta keep going.

Q:  You guys had much more explosive plays today, too, DJ too. Your role in the first half, just what did you see? What was working for you?

A: Just getting the ball to my playmakers. I finally got over top of people. I've been waiting on that all season, so it's good to have some success on some shots, things like that, but it really doesn’t matter. We didn't come out with the W. This has just been emotionally draining. This last whole year, to be honest, all the way back in January. So, it's just been all draining. So, we’ll continue to get better, continue to work, continue to strive for greatness.

Q: What does this mean to the people around you?

A: Yeah. Just trying to keep my family surrounded around me. Just be able to have the great teammates I have to be able to keep me grounded, you know, keep me uplifted. They’re the reason I do it.

Q: How important is the coaching staff, being able to rely on them? 

A: Yeah, it's been great. Having just an amazing coaching staff that's trusting in me, believing in me, especially through all this. So, I'm truly thankful for everybody on the staff. 

Q: Have you been able to take the perspective that all the adversity you’ve faced this year to help you move forward in the future.

A: Yea, it’s been hard. man. I’m not going to lie, with the early mornings in, the late nights, you know. But you’ve got to look at perspective sometimes. That's what kind of gets me, like, six, seven months ago, I wasn't even playing football, so I'm happy to be out there, just  being able to play, playing with my guys, being out there with them. But it's hard when you don't have success, though. That's what you play the game for. But I'm going to continue to strive.

Q: How do you get up for these next two games against rivals and try to bounce back?

A: Like I said, it’s just every single day, just continue to strive for greatness  continue to get better at your craft. And that's what I know my guys are going to continue to do. And I know that’s what I'm going to continue to do, keep turning it up. Each and every week, just hoping they get 1% better, you know, and that's my goal. 

Q: Your thoughts on how much they were able to run the ball against you guys and how difficult that made things for you to get off the field:

A: Yeah, it definitely wasn't good enough, man. Just missed tackles and miss assignments, bad eye discipline, things like that, led to a lot of rushing, and we really just beat ourselves in that. Like we shot ourselves in the foot in rushing and rushing in it, and it contributed to the score.

Q: About like playing spoiler or anything like that tonight:

A: It's just another game. We just wanted to come out here and play good football, come out with the win. Obviously, it didn't go out in our favor, but we just want to win for us, win for the Gators.

Q: Is there any consolation in the sense you guys were able to bounce back from last week’s performance, give a little more effort? 

A:  Yea, we bounced back but I feel like it wasn't good enough. Offense gave us enough points on the board, and we didn't capitalize. We let them get down. We let them take too much time off the clock, running the ball, and they had some explosiveness. And that led to what happened. So yea, we bounced back but it wasn't enough.

Q: How difficult was it to try to contain (Ole Miss running back ) (Kewan) Lacy throughout the game. (Lacy finished with a career-high 224 yards and 3 TDs on 31 carries).

A: Yeah, he's a great player, but like I said, we shot ourselves in the foot and we got to do better. We got to be more disciplined in our gaps. We got to make more tackles, and we got to be more physical up front.

Q: What is it about his game that makes him difficult to contain?

A: He's an elusive player. He's a good player. But we beat ourselves.

Q: A little bit of a moral victory for you guys, just to be able to block out the noise and come in here and play your game. What does it say about this team, the fight that you guys all have?

A: I feel like we fought hard, but we didn't fight hard enough. I feel like we bounced back but we didn't bounce back enough, and that's on us, on the defense. Our offense came out there and they lit it up, so got to capitalize and finish.

Q: This guy on your right (QB DJ Lagway). Just how much were you guys been able to rally around him, stick with him, and show support to him?

A: Yeah. Extremely, extremely proud of him. Great competitor. He’s gone through a lot of adversity and kept fighting no matter what. He kept his head up, kept his chin up. Just kept fighting no matter what. I'm extremely proud of him.

Q: How have you guys built mentally throughout the season? I mean, obviously it hasn’t unfolded as you expected. But, I mean, I'm sure you've learned and grown from it.

A: Yeah, there’s been a lot of losses, but it's a lot to learn from as well. A lot of adversity, a lot of things to get better at, so we gotta look ourselves in the mirror and do that.

Q: How important is it to watch this one, get back up, knowing you’ve got to face rivals in the next two weeks?

A: Yeah, man, we just got to have pride about The Swamp, defend our house. We got two rivals coming into The Swamp, and we got to step, play our game. We’ve got to put this behind us and move forward. 

Q: Does it change your perspective at all? I don't want to get too deep, if you don't want to get into that conversation. But just going into each week. I mean, you guys are fighting each week regardless of what's happened in the past. What can you say about that? 

A: Yeah, I mean, that's what we sign up for with the SEC. It's going to be a dog fight every week, and that's how we want it to be. So, it didn't end up in our favor, but we’ve got to finish and execute better on both sides.