Ole Miss’ lackluster defensive effort against Missouri on Saturday has generated plenty of concern among fans, coaches and players. First-year defensive coordinator John Thompson spoke with reporters yesterday, a conversation that was the basis for the story about the Rebels’ woes that ran in today’s paper. Here’s some additional thoughts from Thompson…

On his overall assessment: “Well, you look back, and you see the first half, Missouri was 8-of-10 on third downs. Second half, they were 1-of-6. So that was huge. No turnovers. And we had a chance at some things. But we’ve got to cause turnovers. We get some key turnovers, things could be different that way. We just got to get back to work, keep working, keep working, keep building, move forward.”

On Vanderbilt: “They do a real good job when you break them down. They game play by opponent, by game. You’re going to see different routes. … They do a good job of scouting. So we’re going to see something new, we know that, but I’m sure they’re going to throw the ball at No. 10.”

On No. 10, WR Earl Bennett: “I competed against him two years ago when he was a freshman, when he was coming off a 19-catch game against Florida, and he caught 10 against us when I was at South Carolina. He just gets open. He runs routes. I don’t think he’s the fastest guy in the league, but he runs by people. He gets behind everybody, and he gets open. And they run routes to get him open. He’s just a really, really good player.”

On Ole Miss’ pass coverage against Missouri: “What was my take on the pass coverage? I would have liked to have seen some. … You know, it was very poor. Very poor. You give up big plays like we did, you don’t give your team a chance. And there’s absolutely no excuse for it. And it’s going to be fixed. And it’s going to be fixed. But it doesn’t give our team a chance when you give up big plays.

On whether his team was making mental or physical mistakes: “I think both. Obviously, when they get behind you, that’s physical. But there’s a reason that happens. I don’t think it’s because, ‘OK, I’m going to let this guy go and try to do something else.’ But you’ve got to have composure, and you’ve got to move from one place to the next, and I don’t think we did that very well. I think we got a little bit concerned about what was going on instead of living in the present. And you’ve got to be in the present, especially in the defensive backfield. You’ve got to live in the present, not in the future, and not in the past, for sure.”

On missed tackles: “There was a bunch. There was a whole lot. … The yards after missed tackles were really critical, because they spread you out. You miss a tackle, it goes for 6, 8, 10, 12 yards more instead of missing a tackle in a confined offense, where you’ve got someone else there. Missed assignments, missed execution — all of that. You don’t get the answer right. And I think we knew the answer, we just didn’t get the answer right on that play. So you look at some defenses — our productivity, having all 11 guys doing the same thing, that was a low percentage. And that’s another thing to go to work on there.”

On missed opportunities: “We had an opportunity. We had an opportunity until late, late, late in the game. You get a fumble at a key time, and there were some opportunities — and by that, I’m saying there were some ball exposures that we didn’t knock out. We get a couple of those, obviously the game’s going to change. … We’ve got to do a better job of selling what we’re doing, a better job of seeing things during the week that, OK, that’s a potential problem. There were some things we had to work on during the game, which was surprising to me: ‘OK, I didn’t anticipate this from this guy and how we’re reacting.’ And that’s my job. I have to anticipate and do a better job.”