FSU Football's Adam Fuller on Scrimmage Rebound, Previews Georgia Tech After Practice

After another strong defensive performance at practice, Fuller and the 'Noles set their sights on Georgia Tech.

Florida State started its last series of practices before game week at the end of August on Monday putting on a defensive clinic with multiple explosive plays causing havoc for the Seminole offense. They are a day removed from their second scrimmage and seemingly bounced back from what head coach Mike Norvell said was a good offensive showing.

Defensive coordinator Adam Fuller met with the media after Monday's practice to recap how the scrimmage went from his perspective, saying that he would've liked to have started faster and that the red zone defense wasn't up to standard.

"What I would say about the scrimmage, we didn't love the way we started. I mean, it was down there in seven, shot a three-point play. A little bit of lack of execution on three of the four plays. Then we had a red zone series—didn't tackle great or execute well," Fuller said."But after that, when we put the ball down from the 25, the guys really started to play good, a little bit cleaner. Overall, I think we tackled better. I thought the communication was pretty solid outside of the start of the scrimmage; would have liked to start faster. We hit the rep counts with the guys we wanted to hit the rep counts with, and saw some good things from the guys we needed to see them from."

READ MORE: Florida State Lands In Top-10 Of AP Top 25 Poll To Begin 2024 Season

Many new rules are being implemeted by the NCAA including one of which allows communication to players on the field via a headset and earpeice in the athlete's helmet. Fuller referred to the specific player who has the earpiece in as having the 'dot' which is a visible indicator of who he's communicating with on the field and during substitutions. The player speaking with Fuller has full control over audibles and changing sets to fit what the defensive staff is seeing from the sideline or the box.

"Whoever has the dot basically becomes the voice of the defense, and guys have to understand that it's not a suggestion. When they say, 'Hey, we're doing this to that set,' in the moment, like we had on Saturday, we had a pressure called, and the look wasn't right the way we were doing it. It was sound, it just wasn't what we wanted," Fuller continued. "So, I was able to communicate it to the dot, he got it fixed, everything got re-spun, and we were able to execute it the way we wanted to execute. So, you know, there are definitely some advantages to it."

Defensive back Kevin Knowles had a great practice on Monday, hauling down two interceptions to add to the pick he had on Saturday's scrimmage. Knowles has dealt with injuries throughout his career at FSU and has moved positions multiple times. Fuller said Knowles, alongside Earl Little Jr., has really taken ownership and executed at a very high level throughout camp.

"Long, smart, quick, with really good ball skills," Fuller said of Knowles. "He has played a lot of different positions on our defense, so he's got a good sense of the big picture. You know, with him, it is hard when you're moving guys to different positions. There's some positive to it—we've seen that with Jarrian Jones and other guys we've done it with. I think Kevin is someone who has executed at a high level lately in the defense over the last couple of days, and he's gotten his hands on a lot of footballs. So, I think he and Earl are really coming along."

Legacy defensive end Marvin Jones, Jr. transferred in from Georgia this past offseason with a lot of anticipation for what he brings to the defensive line. Another player who has battled minor injuries throughout fall camp, Fuller said he's back to full health and that he is seeing his abilities return to where he needs to be for their defensive line — one that is expected to be among the best in the country this season.

"He was a little bit banged up early, so now we're back to full speed. So, you know, just putting a high level of reps on him right now to make sure. But, you know, I saw when he was at full speed in the spring, and I'm starting to see that point again in the fall. He had a really good summer of training, and he's got the pieces that you look for in our defense."

Florida State is set to kick off on August 24 in Dublin, Ireland against Georgia Tech, a team some would say are overlooked going up against the 2023 ACC Champions. Fuller said that they are going to lean hard on defensive with the amount of playmakers the Yellowjackets have on the offensive side of the ball.

"They led the ACC in rushing, and their quarterback led the ACC in touchdowns—passing touchdowns. You know, people don't really talk about them in that way, but you watch that Georgia game, and any team that does a really good job running the football, they have explosive guys on the perimeter that are track athletes," Fuller said. "You know, they definitely pose their challenges, and you've got to lean your defense to really take away certain receivers, take away the run game, especially the quarterback run game."

Fuller's full interview can be seen below.

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