|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 31, 2012Randy EdsallMIKE FINN: We now welcome Maryland head coach Randy Edsall. We'll ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions. Coach. COACH EDSALL: Well, we have a tough one against Georgia Tech on Saturday. Again, they're a team that were leading every game they've been in in the fourth quarter. We know it's going to be a tough one. We know we're going to see an offense that really likes to run the ball. Our defense is going to be tested severely. Offensively we're going to be looking forward to getting Shawn Petty under the center, see how he's going to go out and help us try to get a win. MIKE FINN: Questions for Coach Edsall. Q. (Questions regarding the storm and the two quarterbacks practicing this week.) COACH EDSALL: Fortunately for us, Monday is always a day off for us when we had the brunt of Hurricane Sandy. So we didn't practice that day. We were able to get our normal work in on Sunday, which is limited for us on Sunday, but we got that in. Yesterday we ended up having to go to play inside. We were able to get done what we needed to do on a Tuesday. Now we'll look forward to getting back out there today. We'll continue to watch how Shawn and Brian progress. Q. What exactly does Shawn look like out there? How is he throwing the ball? Does he look like a linebacker at practice? COACH EDSALL: He played quarterback in high school. That was his primary position in high school. Again, he's doing the things that we're asking him to do. We're putting together a plan that we think can take his strong suits and mesh them in with the abilities of the other guys we have on offense that we would like to get the ball. We'll go from there. Again, each day you see progress being made. I'm sure we'll see more progress being made today, more progress tomorrow. He'll be ready to go come Saturday. Q. Was he kind of wide‑eyed when he first realized what was happening, what his new role was going to be? COACH EDSALL: I tell you the truth, he was very excited about the opportunity. When I went to him last week and told him we were going to put him at quarterback, his eyes kind of lit up. I think it's something about that position. Once you've been a quarterback, you always want to be a quarterback. I think what Shawn has in mind is he wants to do very, very well so he can stay at quarterback. No, he's been good. He's been learning all the things that we've been teaching him. I think he's really looking forward to the opportunity that he's going to have under center on Saturday. Q. Randy, with Shawn, I gather he started picking up the offense last week. How much does that limit things in terms of a guy who is still learning the scheme, what to do in the huddle? COACH EDSALL: Well, again, he's been a guy who has been in a quarterback situation. He knows how to handle the huddle, everything else. Big things for him are in terms of the terminology, all those things. Again, maybe the checks that we have in. Again, it's one of those things that we have to do as coaches. We started last week, we started to build a package for him a week ago. You add to it and you see how much he can handle. We'll have a game plan and packages ready to incorporate him on Saturday, what he does best, what the other guys do well. Q. Offense simplified because of that situation? COACH EDSALL: Again, a lot will depend as we go through the week in terms of the load that we feel like we can put on him, how much he can handle, how much he can master in a short period of time. Q. Watching your game the other day, looked like Rowe was in the game till the end. Talk about the mind‑boggling nature of losing all these quarterbacks, whether you feel jinxed at all. COACH EDSALL: No, I don't feel jinxed. I think it's one of those situations this year that we're a little bit unlucky at the quarterback position. I think if you take a look historically at teams throughout the years, you're probably going to lose maybe two to five players a year with knee injuries. For us it just happens that we lost our quarterbacks. He was. He was in the game all the way till the end. It was the second‑to‑last play in the game on a third down when he came out of the pocket, ran the ball, came over to our sideline. As he went down, he felt his leg buckle. When he got up, I saw him, he didn't get up right away, kind of got on one knee. I saw he had a problem. He was limping a little bit. In my mind I'm thinking, We got to get Shawn ready to go. The trainers came to me and said he was okay. He went in the last play. But overnight it stiffened up on him, swelled on him. We got the MRI on Sunday and found out he tore his ACL. It's unfortunate for Caleb. I think he's got a bright future. I thought he did a lot of good things in the game. He would even learn from the mistakes he did make. But we just have to move on as a team. I can tell you, all the guys on our team have a lot of confidence in Shawn in terms of him going out and playing. Everybody knows they've got to step up a little bit more. But we're excited for him. I'm excited for our team. We've had upbeat practices Sunday and yesterday. We expect the same. We'll go out, compete, do everything we can to support Shawn. Everybody will step up and do their job to support him, as well. Q. How does Georgia Tech's defense look different since they made their coaching change? COACH EDSALL: Well, I don't think you see as much pressure as what you saw before. Again, I think there's subtleties there. I think they're running around very, very hard, playing hard, giving great effort. Again, it looks like they might not be as complex as what they had been previously. Q. When you say 'pressure', you mean blitz pressure? COACH EDSALL: Yes, in terms of some of the pressures they're bringing, trying to bring on you. Q. You have a very young team. Has focus or maturity been issues with this team? COACH EDSALL: I think our team has handled all the situations pretty well. One thing I wish we could have done a little bit better is finish the last two ball games we had where we could have made one more first down on offense or had one more stop on defense. But we're getting great effort from our guys. Again, I just think sometimes when you have young guys out there playing who don't have a ton of experience, what happens is they get put into some situations where they may not have seen it. It might be the first time. They might not react the way you want. Again, we've been in a lot of close ballgames all year. We're 4‑4, so we do know how to win close games. But then we also still have to be able to make a couple plays at the end to secure some other victories, as well. Q. The game last year against Tech that Andy got hurt, do you know how he's doing? COACH EDSALL: Andy is doing really well. He made a remarkable recovery from that injury. Like I said, he's a great young man who really worked hard. We can't thank the people from Georgia Tech enough for the assistance they gave him on that day with that horrific injury that he had. Q. Do you know what he's doing? COACH EDSALL: He's working back up in New York, still trying to get some other things going, but doing really well. Q. (Question regarding the kicking game.) COACH EDSALL: That's the plan right now. Again, as we continue to practice the rest of the week, we'll have both of them kicking. We'll see how it turns out. But that is the plan. Again, that is the one thing as coaches that we have to figure out and help Brad. We went out on Sunday, and he nailed seven kicks right down the middle, did a good job. We just got to get him to be more consistent, for him to relax and use good technique. When he does, he can be outstanding. He has a good leg. That's something we as coaches have to continue to work with him on, to get him to understand. He really has the ability to be a really good field goal kicker. MIKE FINN: Coach, thanks for being with us. Good luck this weekend and we'll look forward to talking to you next Wednesday. COACH EDSALL: Appreciate it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|