What Neal Brown Said Following the 2022 Spring Game

Overall thoughts on spring game

"The pleasing thing for me was clean football -relatively clean football. I thought all three quarterbacks operated. I'm not saying we made all of the right decisions or all of the right throws, but I thought we operated pretty well. I was pleased defensively, we came back in the second half and played more like we're capable of playing on that side of the ball. We were purposefully vanilla on each phase but i was pleased. I think we came out of it healthy. We didn't have any injuries and I thought some people that we needed to play well today performed well. Aubrey Burks with his interception on defense. I thought Lee Kpogba showed up and was productive. Charles Woods had a good spring, he had a good spring game. I think our d-line, we didn't do as much as what they're good at, as far as moving them, but I think they were solid. I thought some of the younger d-lineman, Taurus Simmons, I thought he did a nice job today. At the bandit position, Jared [Bartlett] and Lanell [Carr], each of them, if we were playing a real game each probably would have had a couple more sacks. Offensively, the receivers, we were productive. I feel good about those guys. I think a couple of those second group of o-lineman, like Jordan White was good today and that was a positive step for him."

Preston Fox's productivity

"He's been productive all spring. We put him on scholarship in the locker room. Those are some of the best moments. His parents came in the locker room and he earned a scholarship, he's been super productive. The next steps for him is he's got to do it versus the top guys but really pleased with him. He's a guy that had an opportunity and he made the most of that over these fifteen practices and he earned the scholarship"

Nick Malone winning Tommy Nickolich Award

"He's an athletic guy that was thin [when he came in]. And what he's done is really worked on his body over the last three years to really put himself in position where right now, we feel like he can be a quality backup. He played tight end on field goal all year last year. He played tight end in the last two games of the year last season. He's done extremely well in the classroom, he's worked, he's been absolutely no issue and he's grown into a player. That was an award that over the course of the last three years that he's really earned."

Explosive offensive plays

"That's something we've got to improve on. When we won last year, we had those. When we didn't and we played some of the better defenses, we struggled with that. We feel like we've got length. Not only Bryce [Ford-Wheaton], but Kaden Prather. That's something that we've put a lot of time and effort in to in the spring and they're going to have to continue that work on their own in the summer.

"Bryce has really been on an upward trajectory for most of his career. He redshirted the year before we came. First year he played a little bit, played more as they year went. Second year in '20, there were some really high points. I thought last year he was more consistent and now, I think you'll see his production continue to increase."

Quarterbacks

"I thought Goose Crowder, I thought that was the best day he's had all spring, which is encouraging. He made some nice throws down the field. He got off to a good start which was also good to see. I thought Garrett [Greene] had the bad interception where he didn't do a good job with the safety there. But he made some plays with his feet and I thought he showed some accuracy on some intermediate throws, something that he needed to improve on. I thought Nicco [Marchiol] had some flash plays. I've said this and I'm not sticking up for him or anything, but he's got really good ability. But he's a high school senior. You know what I mean? Like, he's going to be a lot better in fall camp. We've got to continue to work and continue to teach him the offense and teach him defense. Like, the summer player practices are going to be critical for him because he will get reps against fast people. The more reps he gets, the better he's going to be. But I thought he showed some real signs running the football."

Offensive line

"I think Ja'Quay Hubbard and Jordan White made strides which is something that we needed. I think Nick Malone is someone that continues to show. I think it speaks very highly of that group that two of those guys won the Iron Mountaineer."

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