“And then I think it’s less buy in, honestly. I mean, when I watch some of these guys tackle — or, I should say, not tackle — it’s like the (Dallas) Cowboys, that dude (safety) Xavier Woods, who said, ‘What, do you expect us to be 100 percent all the time?’ And it’s like, ‘What are you talking about? We’re in the NFL.’ And if you watch the Cowboys, it’s not scheme all the time. It’s just they’re not buying in. They just don’t look like it’s 11 guys that want to run to the ball and hold up their end of the bargain. And when I watched some of these SEC defenses, I just look at guys like (LSU sophomore cornerback Derek) Stingley right now — who’s a great talent — he has zero interest in tackling, zero interest for being accountable in that regard. And if your best players are doing that, that’s going to filter down.

“So I think it’s a combination of COVID, quarantine, style of practicing, not really buying in, not really caring as much as a group — because when you watch Clemson, you see buy in, you see what it’s supposed to be. I don’t even care who’s on the field. I don’t even care about the results. You just see guys flying to the football, taking pride in being there for each other, having each other’s back, hitting people, being sound with the gaps and then playing man to man and guys helping each other up. And I don’t know, man — the way I grew up, that’s how the defenses played football. And when I watch what’s going on, yeah, it’s great offense. Tough to defend. But these defenses, I can’t even imagine what it’s like watching film for them, because it’s embarrassing.”

Stingley played half the Mizzou game injured, so there may be more going on there than just attitude, but, damn.