Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery After Wednesday's Practice

Virginia Tech football interim head coach Philip Montgomery spoke to the media after Wednesday's practice; here's the entirety of what Montgomery had to say.

On how practice was:

"It was good. Good. We had a good practice. Obviously, had the drizzle and all of that. Ended up taking the rest, the majority of the practice inside, but temperatures dropping. This is fall weather. Guys had good energy. Tthe intensity of practice was good. That's what we needed. And we got good work."

On Beamer-Lawson not being a heated indoor facility and whether Montgomery makes it a point to go outside:

"Yeah, it's going to change and I think our guys get adjusted to it pretty easily. We did some things outside today. It's not like there's a dramatic change as you step into the indoor. You just kind of get out of the wind and the rain part of it. So, I don't really worry about that with our guys. They'll be used to it."

Q: When you're evaluating injuries with the [second] open week coming up, players who are maybe on the fence with coming back or thinking about sitting out, do you err on the side of caution and say 'Another week of rest couldn't hurt?'

"We're looking at it each and every day and and evaluating injuries as we go through it. We'll continue to to monitor that just like we have been. Obviously, guys are working hard to get back and as we get into the bye week, we'll do it very similar to what we did last time, with the mindset of trying to get them back as healthy as we possibly can. We may take some load off of them. Those guys that have been banged up, try to give them a chance to kind of rehab and get back and get a little fresher."

On whether Montgomery feels like he's found something with his current offensive line grouping:

"Yeah, I mean, you look at what those guys did last week. I think that's what two games basically in a row that we've had the same lineup. I think they're getting more comfortable. Obviously, you wish you had a whole season of those guys together with combinations, but I feel like they're getting more comfortable. The communication's getting better. We'll get tested this week for sure with everything that they do. But yeah, I feel like they are growing in confidence as they play more together. Elijah was saying that the old line was coming over in the second half. Let's run the ball more to have that confidence to do it. Uh run the ball more. I don't know if I could run it any more than I did. Apparently, you listen. Do you listen to guys when they come off the field and encouraging like that or you like, "Yeah, this got to bluster from players."

On Elijah Brooks saying that the O-line was asking to run the ball more and whether Montgomery was listening to them:

"Run the ball more? I don't know if I could run it any more than I did... No, I think that's part of being on the sideline, and that you have good interaction with players in that sense. You got to be careful at times obviously, but I promise you, the O-line will always say, 'Run the football.' The running back's always going to say 'Run the football'. And the receiver's always going to say 'Throw the football.' But you want the good interaction going back and forth. Guys, they're on the field with it. So, you get a different insight from them. 'Hey, I can really run this and this is going to be good for us.' And so, you're taking all of that information in and then trying to apply it as you kind of work your way through the game."

On Johnny Garrett at left tackle:

Especially, Johnny's getting healthier. We lost him there for a little bit. He's done an amazing job on the left side. Really as a first year starter, that's a tough spot to play, but he's stepped in, taken ownership of it. Takes a lot of pride in his craft. Continues to get better each and every day. The thing that you love about Johnny is [that] Johnny's all about the work and he's all about the process and he's always trying to get better. He's one of those [guys where] he's going to jump in the foxhole with you and you're going to grow together and so, he's been amazing over there. And I think he's got a really bright future."

On Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones taking the second-most time to throw in the ACC (per PFF) and what are factors in the offense that force him to hold onto the ball a little bit longer:

"Yeah, we're getting a lot of different looks and a lot of different pressure. Some of that's him buying time. Some of that's depending upon what we've got called and how we do it. If we're in a more of a max pro protection type deal, then he's got a little bit longer to hold 'em, we got a chance hopefully to push the ball down the field. Other times, it's him moving around in the pocket and doing stuff. That being said, we're continuing to grow in that area and we got to continue to grow there."

On whether the difficulty of November's schedule caused a deep breath:

"Not really, because I'll be honest, I live day-to-day and week-to-week. So, just looking at the opponent right here and right in front of us. And so, that's kind of how you have to do it. If you start looking too far ahead, then you're going to get caught up in all that. You look at the schedule and you say, 'Hey, you know, it's going to continue to get tougher as you go through it.' And we had tough opponents at the start. I think we've played tough opponents pretty much throughout. And each week, those guys have got to come prepared. So, you knew as you kind of got towards the end of the schedule what was going to be there and you were going to have opportunities to have great games."'

On Drones' end-zone pick on the run:

"Yeah, I mean that's one of those opportunities where he really hadn't done that since Week 1. Trying to make a play, knew where we were at and probably forced a ball that he probably wanted back, for sure. Especially as you go back and look at it and we're moving the pocket in that particular instance. And so, probably got a little bit greedy. But those are things we learned from, we line back up, go again."

On RB Marcellous Hawkins:

"Yeah, I mean Hawk's been great. To your point, catches the ball well out of the backfield, runs with great contact balance, runs with power, runs with speed, got really good vision. In the spring, he was banged up a little bit and hampered. As he came back from the break, man, really looked great. Had a great summer, great fall camp. The thing that you love about him is the joy that he has around him. Like he doesn't have bad days. He comes to work every day. He's got a smile on his face. He's bringing energy. He's bringing juice. And that's just who he is. And so, I think that's allowed him to have the type of season that he's had."

Q: He's not a small guy. Is he more elusive than he seems out there, though?

"I think he does a good job of of the vision part of it. And as the year has gone on, I think he's added things to his tool belt. The ability to make that one defender miss so that eight-yard play turns into a 20-yard play or being able to set this block up or work this area. And I think he is continuing to grow as a running back. He's not a small back. I mean, he's 220-something pounds. [Editor's note: Hawkins' HokieSports profile lists him at 219 pounds at the time of transcription.] So, he's not easy to bring down. And he does a really good job of in and out of cuts and seeing things."

Q: We talked to him after Friday's game. He says he studies each run that he has to learn what things he needs to do. Is that part of his toolbox of going back and seeing things and what he can do differently?

"Absolutely. I mean, that's how you learn, right? You go back, you look at your game. How can you add to it? You look at other people within the same situation. What did they do? How did that happen? How did it work out? Can I manipulate that and put it into mine? As well as then, he's taking it on the practice field and he is working those looks. Hey, this is the way this happened. I want to make sure that I'm setting myself up for success on the next opportunity."