Quick Hits: Ideal Tempo, QB Mistakes, Playing Through Bumps and Bruises + More

Rich Rodriguez recaps the twelfth practice of WVU fall camp.

West Virginia University quarterback Jaylen Henderson | Christopher Hall – West Virginia on SI

Another day of practice is in the books for West Virginia. Head coach Rich Rodriguez met with the media to discuss how things went today and the progress of certain positions on the roster.

Opening statement

“Pretty good day of work in pads. Thankfully, we got a little warmer weather. This is not hot, hot, but we needed something to be a little warmer. We went about 25 minutes or so live, mostly situational stuff — end of the game, end of the half. Thought we got better.”

What needs to improve in the next 18 days

“We still had some self-inflicted penalties today. We had two procedure penalties, we had two holding penalties, so those kinds of things we’ve got to get fixed in a hurry. I think we threw two interceptions, maybe not in live, but two interceptions during the team period, which weren’t bad throws, just bad decisions. The thing I wrestle with is if you’re going to get better running your plays, you’ve got to run your plays, but we also have a lot of fundamental work to get done too.”

How fast the ball will be snapped

“You can talk to the quarterback up until 15 seconds left on the clock, but we should never get to that unless it’s the fourth quarter. We like to go fast, but if you go fast all the time, okay, they can kind of prepare for that. It’s when they don’t know when you’re going fast and when they’re not. One of the main advantages the offense has is they know when they’re going.”

Common theme of the quarterbacks

“I still think our quarterbacks are looking at our guys too much instead of looking at their guys when they’re throwing. If it’s man coverage, that’s fine. Look at our guys. But if it’s a zone coverage, you better have your eyes on what they’re doing and trust that our guys will be where they’re supposed to be. I think that’s pretty typical when you’re in a new system. You want to make sure all your guys are in the right spot and all that.”

If he’s seen more players play through some bumps and bruises than early on in camp

“I don’t think it was guys not intentionally practicing. Our training staff, our medical staff, they do a great job. We never get in the middle of that. The trainers tell us who can go, who can’t go, and they go from there. But our guys have done a good job of not just being there for treatment, but really getting extra work during the day to get healthy. I don’t think we have guys wanting to sit out. They’re all eager to prove themselves.”

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