Quotes from the Hawaii papers

About how Pilares has been developing at RB for them, JJ said:
"He is proving to be what I thought he'd be. He's becoming more of what we want him to be." (HA)


About his strained PCL that will keep him out 2-4 weeks, Mouton said:
"I'm just taking it easy right now." (HA)

HA Note: "While maintaining his status was "day to day," Mouton, in fact, was told he will miss at least Saturday's game against Utah State and, most likely, next week's nationally televised road game against San Jose State."


Mouton said that he suffered the injury during a blitz when:
"I planted on it wrong, I guess." (HA)


Feeling bad for Mouton having to miss the Utah State and SJSU games, JJ said:
"I'm disappointed for him. He's been playing so well." (HA)


About losing Mouton, GM said:
"Mouton is a tough guy. Hopefully, he'll be ready for San Jose. If not, we have a bye (the following week), so that will help. We're not going to hurt him. You know how we deal with our guys." (HA)


Mouton doesn't qualify for a medical hardship year (He's already played 5 games), but JJ pointed out:
"He'll be ready to play the last five or six games." (HA)


About Mouton having to miss at least 2 games, secondary coach Rich Miano said:
"He's a big-time talent on special teams and as a defensive back. You can get pretty thin back there." (HSB)


About Mouton, GM said:
"Fortunately he's not going to have surgery." (HSB)


About how he's learning how to practice and play, sophomore JoPierre Davis (now 2nd team because of Mouton's injury) said:
"I came in as a big talker. I talked because I felt confident in my ability to make plays. I always felt like that. In high school, you can talk because you can perform every week without having to train hard and watch films. Here, you're not going to get that opportunity unless you prepare. I'm learning how to practice. I'm learning how to play in a game. I'm learning what you need to do in practice to succeed in a game." (HA)


About how he's inspired by having his locker close to Michael Lafaele's locker, Davis said:
"You get the feeling you don't want to let them down." (HA)

Davis said that two top special teams players (Paepule and Galdeira):
"took me under their arms. They treated me as part of the family." (HA)


About how he's learned to appreciate special teams play, especially the kick-coverage team, Davis said:
"I ran down some kickoffs last year, but I wasn't about it. Now I'm about it. I'm better at it because I know it's a vital part of the team." (HA)


About how Davis realized that the players around him were good too and that he had to work, JJ said:
"All of a sudden, you're not going to go out there and be better than everybody else. Everybody else is just like you. It's a matter of how hard you work at it." (HA)


About how he's living his life better now, Davis said:
"I'm starting to live my life in a better way. I used to rush here and rush there. I was never settled. Now that I have my feet settled, I feel a lot better." (HA)


About Davis' play in the Idaho game (he was in for 14 plays), Miano said:
"He was aggressive; he just didn't wrap on a couple of his tackles. But he knew what he was doing, he did a good job. He's still got a lot to learn ... his attitude is much better (and) he's got a lot of talent, and he's going to help us. Not immediately, (but) definitely down the road." (HSB)


About not being able to play vs. Idaho, Rivers said:
"It was tough. When my team goes to battle, I want to be there." (HA)


About how he was held out of the Idaho game because he didn't practice that week, Rivers said:
"More importantly, I needed to have my back 100 percent for down the road. We still have a lot of season left." (HA)


Looking forward to playing with Colt again (Colt missed the CSU game and Rivers missed the Idaho game), Rivers said:
"It will be good to get that chemistry going again, how fluid we are on offense." (HA)


About being back at practice, Rivers said:
"Sure does feel good. I mean, two weeks without practice makes a big difference. Feels good to be running out here again, get my wind back ... going back with Colt and all the receivers again, get our chemistry going again." (HSB)


Happy with how well Rivers did in practice yesterday, WR coach Ron Lee said:
"He's already had a great day today and he's got three more days. It's the timing (aspect to regain) -- it's not him -- it's with the quarterbacks and him." (HSB).


About how he has a knee injury due to a chop block by Idaho, Michael Lafaele said:
"I tweaked (the knee) a little bit. Every game, people try to chop me." (HA)


About changing his hairstyle after the Idaho game, Colt said:
"I don't think I'll be jinxing anything by changing it now." (HSB)


Unhappy with how he played vs. Idaho and has been practicing, Blaze said:
"I didn't do much. I played real crappy. I practiced bad today, too. I'm very disappointed. I feel off, sloppy, not myself." (HSB)


About how Blaze is just rusty now, GM said:
"He'll be fine. We'll continue to roll him in. He just needs to get the reps and he'll be faster. We were just in (shells). He's not going to be happy until he makes some plays, and he'll get that chance (today) in full pads." (HSB)