What Kevin Sumlin said at his pre-Cal press conference

The Arizona Wildcats (2-3, 1-1 Pac-12) are coming off a 24-20 loss to the USC Trojans in Week 5 and now gear up to face Cal (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) at home in Week 6.

Check out what Wildcats head coach Kevin Sumlin had to say at his weekly pregame press conference on Monday:

On Khalil Tate’s play against USC...

“It was some good, some bad. You could tell by his body language that he was disappointed, frustrated...as a team, we were inconsistent. But he made some throws at the end to get us back in the game.

On Khalil Tate’s health and limited ability in practice...

“During the week, we’re in consultation with our trainers and medical staff. We’re never going to put anybody in harm’s way. If he’s healthy enough to play...we’ll make the decisions that give us the best chance to win the game.”

“There’s not just one thing that goes into that decision...we have those discussions starting on Sunday and going all the way up to gametime.”

What clicked in the fourth quarter against USC...

“The first thing was defensive stops. We got off the field on third down and limited their field position. Then we created turnovers. Those two things, we’ve been talking about since the beginning of the year. Our defense in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, was the best it had been all year.”

On Kylan Wilborn’s improvement...

“You heard me during the fall camp talk about how much he improved during the spring. He’s continued to work at it. We moved some things around schematically defensively. He’s getting some more one-on-ones.”

“He’s continued to work. He showed really good potential during camp...I think some structural changes defensively have really helped him.”

On J.J. Taylor’s play against USC...

“There’s more to it than just the running back. You’ve got to have places to run, also. He’s a hard-working guy...you’re never going to fault his effort. Just like anything on offense, defense or special teams, it’s a team effort. We’ve got to block some folks and create some creases for him.”

On defensive depth...

“These guys are stepping into these roles, and that’s to be expected. We’ve had guys that have missed games or come off the bench — whether it be freshmen or upperclassmen that have really answered those challenges. The consistency upfront, that was a factor (against USC).”

Is Khalil Tate’s injury affecting him mentally?

“That’s hard to answer.”

On whether or not he’d sit Tate so he could get back to 100 percent...

“Those decisions are not made on Sunday or Monday. We’re in consultation with our medical people and him. There’s a lot of things involved in that decision, but ultimately I have to make that decision.”

On the new four-game redshirt rule and how it relates to evaluation...

“The ability for guys to play in four games across the board — whether it’s quarterbacks or young players — how you practice, what your roster management looks like, what your travel management looks like is very important. These guys have a chance to stay with the ones and twos on offense and defense and special teams, because you can play them. So what those reps look like, what practice looks like has been very different this year than it has been in the past.”

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