University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Training Camp Transcript: Day 4
8/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 10, 2010
PITTSBURGH -
Opening Statement:
"There's nothing new to report from today's practice. Andrew Taglianetti came out and did a little bit of work today in individual, and Greg Romeus is a lot better - so that's all positive. Everybody got through today as well, so that's good.
Today was the first day that we worked a couple of different situations: we worked third downs today for the first time, we worked red zone today and two-minute drills. I thought the effort was good. It's a little bit of a learning process, or I should say a relearning from the standpoint that up to this point everything was from the middle of the field, 1st-and-10, run and pass. Now we get into a little bit more specific situations and it takes a little bit more focus, a little bit more thinking and we will continue to add something every day. We will continue to work all the different situations throughout camp."
On Greg Romeus being absent from practice:
"He's fine. He's just stiff. Hopefully tomorrow he'll start doing something."
On the quarterbacks:
"I think that it's going to take a little bit of time. I've never been around a team that's been very good where the offense has come out and just moved the ball up and down the field. When you have a new quarterback in there, you're working on timing; you're working on the perception aspects of it. It's going to take a little bit of time. I think that every day is kind of a learning experience for the quarterbacks as a group. As long as they keep the attitude that they have now and keep working hard, they'll be fine. They probably have more to think about today than what they'll have going into the first game, simply because we're adding so much every day."
On the center and right guard positions:
"I would just say that the center position and the right guard position, at this point, are open. I think that Chris Jacobson is doing a nice job; Jason Pinkston and Lucas Nix have come to camp in shape and with good attitudes. The center position and the right guard are still up for grabs. It might be a situation where we play a couple of guys every game: I don't know. Once we get the pads on and we start doing everything live, top-to-bottom, then what I think usually happens is that guys have a tendency to separate themselves at that point.
Jack Lippert is in the mix. He's doing a nice job and he's playing center now, with a possibility of going to right guard. Ryan Turnley is also having a good camp. They're all young, but we have some kids that are working extremely hard; the key is that they don't go backwards, as long as we keep making progress day-by-day that's all that we can ask of them."
On K'Waun Williams:
"The first day or two the freshmen had a lot more reps and we'll get that when we get to the scrimmages. I would say of all the freshmen, K'Waun Williams has really been somewhat of a surprise. It's funny because most skill guys come in about the same height, weight and speed from when we recruited them, and he's one guy that I think is two inches taller and 10 or 15 pounds heavier from when we signed him. When he walked in here the first day I was shocked, I almost didn't recognize him. He'll have a chance; he comes from a strong program and has some real natural ability."
On practicing in full pads tomorrow:
"We'll go full pads tomorrow; one practice, full pads at the same time."
On the defensive backs:
"We have Ricky Gary and Antwuan Reed, and for the next two we have Saheed Imoru and Buddy Jackson. Saheed is probably the most physical of all the corners. He just has to get his coverage skills, his checks and learn the coverages a little better. Buddy Jackson has a lot of talent; he just has to prove that he can show up every day and be consistent in what he does. Then we're into some of the young kids, so we'll be ok. I'm not overly concerned at this point with the way they're working. Pretty much like the offensive line, I think that when it comes time to tee it up, we'll have a couple of guys that are well prepared."
