Watch: Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks' Tuesday press conference

Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks met with reporters Tuesday, reviewing the 29-16 loss at Florida on Saturday night and previewing what’s next for the Vols.

The slow start at Florida and the adjustments Tennessee made during the game

“It’s always a combination of things. I think our guys slowed down, were able to talk about some of the things that we need to do better. Obviously we make some halftime adjustments and, to their credit, they were a mature group. They understood we didn’t play to the standard. I thought they worked very hard in second half, but as you guys know, and they know even better, playing a good team, you gotta start faster than obviously the way we started.”

His conversations with Tennessee’s defense during the game, trying to get the Vols going

“I’m in the booth, but I think for the most part, from what I can gather, it is typically guys encouraging each other, fighting for each other. Any adjustments that we’re trying to make from series to series, going through those things. Again we are obviously not proud of the outcome, but we’re proud of the way guys continue to fight and keep each other accountable. I’m pretty sure that’s what the messaging was. I know it was definitely coming from the coaches and I’m sure it was being articulated through player to player.”

If Rickey Gibson III is a player that will see more snaps on Tennessee’s defense moving forward

“We definitely like Rickey Gibson. We feel like he’s one of the freshmen that’s continuing to grow and continuing to get better week in, week out. So my stance hasn’t changed. We want to play as many guys as we possibly can and develop some depth. And be able to play at a high standard coming down the back stretch of the season. So every week is a new week, but as he continues to get better, we continue to try to get him more repetitions.”

If Tennessee’s defensive plan wasn’t as aggressive at Florida as it has been in the past

“I think at the end of the game the numbers came out just about what they were, for me, in a normal game based on this season and last season. But we’ve been getting to the quarterback before, most of the year, at least the first two games. And and as long as we can do that, we’ll pick our spots on when we want to pressure. But at the end of the day, we’re gonna do whatever we need to do to try to give us the best opportunity to win. And it just may have looked that way. But when we self scout, our numbers ended up actually being what they’ve been for the first two games.”

Florida’s offense taking advantage of shorter pass plays against Tennessee’s defense

“Yeah they did a good job getting him on the move a little bit with some of their boot games and perimeter game, perimeter kick outs. And obviously, ball in hand, we gotta do a better job of tackling guys and getting them on the ground. But we think we have a pretty good pass rush. We think a lot of teams will try to get the ball out as quickly as they can. But yeah, (Graham Mertz) was pretty effective that night, getting the ball away as quickly as you can. It’s a different quick three-step game and things of that nature.”

What Tennessee’s defense can work on at this point in the season to improve tackling

“That’s a great question. We continue to try to eliminate (missed tackles), obviously. What kind of tackles are you missing? Is it not wrapping up? Was it not bringing your feet? Because we’re gonna practice tackling whether we tackled at a 100 percent clip or obviously a night like we had Saturday night. We’re gonna always try to emphasize tackling, but what kind of tackles showed up? We obviously had some open-field miss tackles that we need to be get addressed, so we try to put them in those game-like situations best we can. Obviously, we’re not taking guys to the ground (in practice), but as far as our footwork goes, our pad level, where our eyes are, we try to make sure we’re emphasizing those particular tactics.”

How he addresses the tackling issues with his players

“I think everybody has their own style and how they address it. I can’t speak for all coaches, but like I told those guys, we’re all in this thing together. Those guys are an extension of me, so yeah, I ask questions, you know, what did you see here? Do you understand why you missed this tackle? I’m a big why guy. Why didn’t we make this play? Why didn’t we make this play? You know? And a lot of times they’ll be able to articulate exactly what happened, and if they can’t, and I tell them, that’s my job to explain it to you so it doesn’t occur again. So we have healthy discussions in there. You guys have all heard me talk about our culture and who we are. Love, trust, and urgency is extremely important to me and if you love somebody, you should be able to tell them the truth. So I think our guys understand that the level of love that we have for each other, and I don’t look at it as criticized. I look at it as correction and trying to help those guys get to where they want to get to. And that’s being the best version of themselves on and off the field. So it is very helpful, very healthy discussions.”

What he saw on film that allowed Florida’s run game to have so much success against his Tennessee defense

“Yeah, and again, I give all credit to Florida. You know, we knew they had a really good offensive line, got some good young backs there. They ran hard. They really did. They broke some tackles, as we’ve already alluded to that we need to do a better job tackling. Schematically, they did a good job trying to have some misdirections, to try to hold the linebacker’s eyes, the safety’s eye. But I’ll be honest, they didn’t do anything that we hadn’t necessarily practiced for and they hadn’t done anything that for the most part we’re gonna continue to see week in and out in this league. So for us to go where we want to go, we’re going to have to all collectively, from the front to the backers to the secondary, we all have to tackle better.”

What he saw from linebacker Elijah Herring and Arion Carter

“Obviously those guys are young, so they don’t have a lot of battle reps under them. But, as I stated earlier, I thought those guys settled down and I think you can see that in the second half with their play.”

If they open up more positions to competition if the struggles continue for Tennessee’s defense

“I think we’re always competing. As cliche as that may sound, we’re always competing. Goes back to what we talked about, rotating as many guys as we can. So obviously the better you play, the better your performance is, the more lion’s share of reps you get. But those are the same guys who just helped us win two games, you know? And obviously we didn’t come out on top this last game. We didn’t get the outcome that we desire. So we’re gonna work to correct some things and obviously we’ll try to continue with our rotation, but if things don’t get better, then obviously you start thinking about what can you do to increase somebody else’s playing time, decrease somebody else’s playing time, but that not the message. The message is let’s get better. Let’s get better as players. Let’s get better as coaches and let’s move forward. And obviously if somebody in that second group steps up when they get their opportunity, then obviously they’ll continue to play more. So that’s just where we are at this point.”

Who has stepped up and become a leader on this Tennessee defense

“Jaylen McCollough has done a great job. He’s obviously a guy who has played a lot of football for us here and I think he does a good job of trying to calm the water, so to speak, to make sure guys are able to snap and clear. I think Big O, Omari Thomas, has done a good job trying to slide into that leadership role. But it’s still a young season, I think guys are still somewhat finding their voice, particularly in volatile situations. But, again, just goes back to that love and being able to trust each other that. Number one, guys are gonna do their job and if something needs to be said that they’re gonna receive it in the right manner so they can digest it. Obviously go out and execute better on the next play.”

If there are any positives Tennessee’s defense could take away from the performance at Florida

“I think what you’re saying in the first part is, yeah, again, we want to win them all. Our goal is we want to know win every single week. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way. So then you start to comb through the tape because you’re right, it’s human nature, to dwell on what didn’t go right. Didn’t get the outcome you wanted, didn’t play as well as you need to play in the first half. But there were definitely some positives in the second half, holding them to three points. I don’t know what their yards were, but obviously wasn’t what they were in that first half. So I felt we tackled them in the second half. The fact that those guys didn’t give up. They continued to fight and claw from each other, from the first snap to the last snap. Those are all things that you can build on. But at the end of the day, you’re never gonna be happy when you don’t come out 1-0. But there are definitely some pillars that we can build upon to try to make sure that we’re 1-0 the next week.”