Takeaways: Kingsbury talks week of prep, Mahomes' possible draft outlook

Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury met with the media on Tuesday after practice to discuss his team heading into the season finale against Baylor in Arlington...

-Kliff on how he thinks his team has practiced so far this week:

"Like I said on Monday, I thought they refocused, re-energized, and are excited about showing an opportunity about how good we are and try and send these seniors off with a victory in their last game."

-Kingsbury noted that Ondre Pipkins did not practice on Tuesday but was going through some rehab exercises. He said they're hoping Pipkins can paly but aren't sure yet if he'll be able to.

-Gary Moore, Devin Lauderdale, and D'Vonta Hinton will not play again this week. That means that Lauderdale's career as a Red Raider is over.

-Again, trying to start fast offensively remains an emphasis. Kingsbury feels like he needs to do a better job of calling plays too, though:

"When we tend to start fast early, it kind of tends to kick start our entire team, and we know that. Just better execution, better focus. I've got to do a better job of calling plays that can get us rolling early."

-Kliff and O-line coach Lee Hays decide to reverse the lineup for the unit against Iowa State, swapping Baylen Brown from right tackle to left tackle with Terence Steele going from left to right. The head coach on how he thought the swap went:

"We weren't great. We've been searching, as you know, with that group, some of those plug in guys that just need to step up and play better, and hopefully this week of practice with that offensive line, they can gel a little bit more, and we'll have some better results."

-Kingsbury noted they'll likely start again with Baylen Brown at left tackle, Terence Steele at right tackle, and then rotate between Bailey Smith and Madison Akamnonu at left guard to see which one is playing better and stick with them.

-The head coach said they don't know if they'll have either Justin Stockton or DeMarcus Felton at running back for this game yet. If either one can go in any way shape or form, they'll play with it being the last game of the year.

-Kliff on Pat Mahomes and how he's feeling and practicing:

"He's kind of taped together with duct tape at this point in the season. But, he knows it's his last game, it's at Cowboys Stadium, and I know he's a huge Cowboys fans, and he usually plays well at this stadium, and I know he's looking forward to the opportunity."

-Kliff was asked to clarify on if his was Mahomes' last game this season or last game as a Red Raider ever:

"We'll see. We're going to obviously discuss all that after the game and see what the grade is and do all the proper steps to make sure you can make the best decision possible."

-Sophomore receiver Jonathan Giles didn't see much playing time against Iowa State, and Kingsbury said earlier in the week it was because they wanted to see the young slot player do some things better on the field. On how Giles handled that and has handled it this week:

"He's been good in practice. I think it was laid out to him what he needed to work on, and he understood that. He's a competitor, and he doesn't like it, but he knows that there's certain things he has to get better at, and I think it's a learning experience. It's a growing experience, and moving forward I think it'll help him."

-Kingsbury was asked if he and athletic director Kirby Hocutt had spoken since Saturday after the game:

"We talk fairly regularly, always have, and just had some private conversations, and we've always had a good relationship, and I'll just kind of leave it at that."