Post by rainman on Oct 9, 2007 5:54:29 GMT -5
Comes with the territory
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— West Virginia University coach Rich Rodriguez doesn’t think a quarterback in football’s spread offense is any more at risk of injury than one in any other style of offense.
“I’ve been coaching this offense 15 years and our quarterbacks have very rarely gotten injured,” he said Monday on the Big East’s weekly media teleconference.
“But (injuries are) part of the game. I see quarterbacks in a traditional offense getting hurt more than ours do.”
The subject came up when Rodriguez was asked for an update on WVU quarterback Patrick White’s injury, which now is called a shoulder sprain instead of a strain in a chest muscle.
“He’ll be limited this week in practice,” Rodriguez reported. “Hopefully, by the end of this week he’ll be able to do more.”
The eighth-ranked Mountaineers’ open date gives White an extra week to heal and be ready for the Oct. 30 homecoming game against Mississippi State.
“I think Pat missed one game last year (because of injury) and none the year before that,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a risk for quarterbacks in every offense.
“Whether you run a spread offense or another type, your guys get hit by guys downfield. So I don’t think there’s an inherent risk.
“Now if you run the quarterback more, as we do, obviously there’s always a chance of that.”
Rodriguez readily admits that football is a violent, very physical game, and that there are going to be injuries to players — not just quarterbacks.
“You always ought to have, hopefully, two or three quarterbacks ready (as WVU does, and all have started games),” he said.
Rodriguez said his coaches do talk to all of WVU’s skill players about trying to finish the end of a run properly and avoid being injured.
“A lot of times you get hurt when you fly (dive-like),” he noted. “There are certain ways at the end of a run in which you can minimize a collision or still be positive on your run and not take a big hit.
“So we talk about that all the time. Sometimes a guy with great speed (like White or Steve Slaton) can split a tackle and try to make everybody miss.”
Meantime, WVU, 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big East, is spending the first three days this week brushing up on fundamentals. Then they will have a short practice on Thursday.
WVU coaches will be scattered Friday on recruiting rounds.
“We still have a lot of work to do, fundamentally, in all three phases,” Rodriguez said.””We’ve played OK, but we can play better.
“This is the halfway point of the season for us. We’ve played six games and have six very, very challenging opponents coming up.”
Five of those are Big East teams. But WVU isn’t going to look past Mississippi State (4-2).
Rodriguez rates the Bulldogs as “a very talented team that continues to improve.” He said, “They obviously have some big wins, including Auburn on the road.
“So we’ve got to concern ourselves with getting better.”
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— West Virginia University coach Rich Rodriguez doesn’t think a quarterback in football’s spread offense is any more at risk of injury than one in any other style of offense.
“I’ve been coaching this offense 15 years and our quarterbacks have very rarely gotten injured,” he said Monday on the Big East’s weekly media teleconference.
“But (injuries are) part of the game. I see quarterbacks in a traditional offense getting hurt more than ours do.”
The subject came up when Rodriguez was asked for an update on WVU quarterback Patrick White’s injury, which now is called a shoulder sprain instead of a strain in a chest muscle.
“He’ll be limited this week in practice,” Rodriguez reported. “Hopefully, by the end of this week he’ll be able to do more.”
The eighth-ranked Mountaineers’ open date gives White an extra week to heal and be ready for the Oct. 30 homecoming game against Mississippi State.
“I think Pat missed one game last year (because of injury) and none the year before that,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a risk for quarterbacks in every offense.
“Whether you run a spread offense or another type, your guys get hit by guys downfield. So I don’t think there’s an inherent risk.
“Now if you run the quarterback more, as we do, obviously there’s always a chance of that.”
Rodriguez readily admits that football is a violent, very physical game, and that there are going to be injuries to players — not just quarterbacks.
“You always ought to have, hopefully, two or three quarterbacks ready (as WVU does, and all have started games),” he said.
Rodriguez said his coaches do talk to all of WVU’s skill players about trying to finish the end of a run properly and avoid being injured.
“A lot of times you get hurt when you fly (dive-like),” he noted. “There are certain ways at the end of a run in which you can minimize a collision or still be positive on your run and not take a big hit.
“So we talk about that all the time. Sometimes a guy with great speed (like White or Steve Slaton) can split a tackle and try to make everybody miss.”
Meantime, WVU, 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big East, is spending the first three days this week brushing up on fundamentals. Then they will have a short practice on Thursday.
WVU coaches will be scattered Friday on recruiting rounds.
“We still have a lot of work to do, fundamentally, in all three phases,” Rodriguez said.””We’ve played OK, but we can play better.
“This is the halfway point of the season for us. We’ve played six games and have six very, very challenging opponents coming up.”
Five of those are Big East teams. But WVU isn’t going to look past Mississippi State (4-2).
Rodriguez rates the Bulldogs as “a very talented team that continues to improve.” He said, “They obviously have some big wins, including Auburn on the road.
“So we’ve got to concern ourselves with getting better.”
