Lincoln Log: Other notes from Riley's presser
Haselwood update: Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said Tuesday during his weekly news conference that wide receiver Jadon Haselwood is not expected to miss the rest of the season despite what has been reported as a torn ACL during the summer.
“Jadon has done really well and progressing very quickly,” Riley said. “We absolutely expect that he’ll be available to play for us at some point this year.”
The 6-foot-2, 206-pound former 5-star recruit from Ellenwood, GA, sustained the injury while working out while quarantined back in April. He was fifth on the team last year as a true freshman with 19 catches for 272 yards and a touchdown.
Mims in "the fast world": Numerous outlets have suggested freshman receiver Marvin Mims either has blazing speed or is painfully slow. Mims put to rest the latter claims last week when he tore through the Missouri State defense for a team-leading 148 all-purpose yards, including an easy 58-yard touchdown catch from Spencer Rattler and an additional 68 yards on there punt returns.
“It’s not 4.75, I can 100 percent confirm that,” Riley said Tuesday. “He can run. He’s really fast. He’s easily one of the fastest players on our team. Where that is exactly on a clock with the abnormal offseason, it’s tough for me to say. He’s in the fast world. He’s in the 4.4 and under world.”
No clarity on suspensions: Riley was asked again about the status of his appeals to the NCAA to determine the status of three players sitting out due to suspension (defensive end Ronnie Perkins, running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and receiver Trejan Bridges) and another sitting out after transferring (offensive lineman Chris Murray). Riley took a long pause before tackling the question.
“We’re approaching it with those guys like we won’t have them,” he said. “If we get some good news, then we’ll adjust from there. Those guys are doing the same. We’re not sitting there dwelling on it day-to-day. It has been a challenging year for the NCAA. There’s been a lot on their plate.”
In regards to what many feel is a draconian suspension for positive test for recreational drugs (marijuana), Riley “It’s a big issue, it is. It’s a much bigger issue than these three players. And I think maybe that’s why the process has been a little bit slower than all of us would like. You are talking an archaic rule within the NCAA. You are talking about a world that’s really changed on that subject. It’s a big deal. It really is.
“The unfortunate matter is you can go have a first positive test at just about any NCAA school in the country and you are going to get counseling and you are going to get all the support you need at so many of these great schools. Right now studies are showing that’s how you win. That’s how you beat this. That’s how you actually help a player, help a person who has made a mistake. I think a lot of these schools have figured that out. I think it’s been some really positive trends. Development is there.
“The fact that if you have the same test from the NCAA that you miss six games, and the disparity between that is not right, I am confident that it is going to get fixed and head to a more appropriate spot. And again, my experience from that comes from the players you see over the years and how could we have helped them, how could we have done better. Right now, it’s about that.
“I don’t know if something will change in time to affect these guys. Obviously for their sake, I hope it does. It is really severe, especially when only a couple of teams in the country are getting tested. They made a mistake. They are living with the consequences right now. Hopefully something gets changed before then. If not, hopefully it will get changed for all the rest of the players for the good of the game.”
Big 12 thresholds: The idea that teams need a minimum of seven offensive linemen, four interior defensive linemen and at least one quarterback to play a game in this COVID era — that’s the numbers the Big 12 Conference established as its 2020 thresholds, along with 53 total players — is something the league coaches established, Riley said.
So why no such thresholds other positions, such as running back, receiver, linebacker or defensive back?
“I think the biggest thought process is it’s not very easy to interchange big guys,” Riley said. “You only have a certain number of big guys on your team. Every team in America is going to have more skill guys than they have big guys. That was the first part of it, just kind of player safety. Nobody wants to see somebody have to throw a 230-pound tight end in there to play offensive tackle.
“As far as the skills, I think the skill guys are still certainly considered into that. But I think you’d have to lose a mass of skill guys not to be able to do it. They’re represented, they’re just represented by that overall 53 number. If you got hit so bad across the board and didn’t even have skill guys to put in at that position, you’d probably be under that 53-man as well. We felt like that was a good enough threshold. We felt like at those other positions, you couldn’t safely make the decision go on playing.”
Offensive line getting back to form: Riley and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh talked at length throughout the preseason about the Sooners’ depth across the front five. Multiple players have extensive experience and have played multiple positions. That showed up in OU’s season-opener against Missouri State on Sept. 12. A total of seven players saw time in the first 2 1/2 quarters before three subs got in to help close the game.
“We’re hoping to get back to full strength at some point,” Riley said. “The advantage we’ve had is having that core group of guys that have played so much ball, and a lot of them have played multiple positions. That’s been very helpful. I like the group we put out there the other night.
“Hope to have a few more options and guys available, and even the potential to play multiple guys throughout the game, which is something that, when at full strength, we’d like to be able to do. Obviously that’s going to depend on week-to-week and how these guys perform and certainly how these COVID tests go.”
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