[Tuck4Bama]

STARKVILLE — Minutes after Thursday's 45-0 loss to LSU went final, coach Sylvester Croom addressed his Mississippi State football team in the locker room.

That much is common.

But once Croom finished, senior defensive end Titus Brown stood up. That isn't so customary.

"I've known things around here in the past and I didn't want us to revert back to that," Brown said. "So just to be on the safe side, that's why I said some stuff."

The 'stuff', which he remembered Monday as he walked to MSU's practice fields, went something like this:

"I was, like, basically saying if we're going to be a team, there will not be any finger-pointing," he said. "Quarterback and cornerback are the only positions that the whole world can see your flaws, your mess-ups. Defensive line, you miss a slant here, miss a slant there, miss a tackle here, nobody's going to say anything. But a quarterback throws an interception, everybody can see that. I basically said whoever was perfect could judge someone. Which we know we're not perfect, so therefore, nobody says anything."

Mississippi State reconvened on the practice fields Monday afternoon after taking off the weekend that followed Thursday night's thumping. The 90-minute workout in shorts and no shoulder pads was customary for a typical game week Monday.

Picking Up Pieces