Sept. 2, 2008
On the status of QB Jordan Steffy:
"Because yesterday was a holiday, he got X-rayed this morning. He was unable to practice last night, so I would say he's probably questionable for [Saturday's] game."
On Steffy's injury:
"Obviously, he's having trouble taking snaps, and he's having trouble handing off, so to me, that's a concern. We'll see how he is today, but right now we don't think he'll be able to practice today. So we'll just see where he is tomorrow, and we just have to make plans if he's not there."
On PK Obi Egekeze's confidence level:
"He kicked the ball very well last night. I think hes more determined than ever and all three [missed field goals against Delaware] were over 40-yard kicks. I think one was 47 yards and the other was 48. Two of them hit the crossbar, so I'm hanging with him.
"Last night he came in and kicked one from the 30-yard line right through in the two-minute [drill], and I thought he was exceptionally good in the kick drills we had after. So we'll just have to see. I was with a guy a couple of years ago named Nick Novak who missed his first seven, and now he is the leading point-scorer at the University of Maryland. By the way, he just made the Kansas City Chiefs, so let's not jump ship too soon."
On Steffy's confidence level:
"There are a lot of things that are bothering me with this whole thing. I've got a kid who has done everything that I could possibly ask him to do. Would I like him to make some better decisions or throw some better passes? Sure.
"But this kid, to me, is the epitome of what we want in this football program. With what he's dealing with and the scrutiny of every pass that's being judged, some of those people who are booing him would love to have their children be like Jordan Steffy. The perseverance, the courage, the toughness, the smile he keeps on his face and positive attitude with all that he's going through - he has nothing but my admiration. I personally don't think it's justified.
"I know this is a tough sport and we are here to win football games, but we are also here to develop young men for the future. And some of the things this kid is dealing with now are going to make him a better person later on. I can't tell you how proud I am that he's in our program, and how proud I would be if he were my son or anyone else's son. He's the type of kid that wants to please and wants to do as well as he can, and instead of having a positive effect, it probably makes his job even tougher. And yet, he hasn't hung his head. He was trying to go yesterday and (James) Franklin told him not to. I want that guy in the fox hole with me because that's the kind of kid he is."
On the quarterback situation during Monday's practice:
"Josh (Portis) and Chris (Turner) took the snaps. We probably have to start getting Jamaar Robinson some reps too so he can be ready. That puts us in a bind because we need to get looks on the defensive side, too. I'll probably get Tony Logan over there to work on that. If Jordan (Steffy) can't go, then we're kind of back to where we were last year, and we have to have a package ready. The good news is I think Jamaar is doing a heck of a job with our service teams. I see him getting better. Whether he can work with the whole package - I don't know if that's possible, but he's another guy that has been showing me a lot and I think he can get better."
On QB Josh Portis' performance Saturday against Delaware:
"I thought he practiced better [Monday] also. I talked to him afterwards and Saturday was his first game - he made a few mistakes. It's a learning process. It wasn't like that was unexpected, but now hopefully he can learn from that and become better and better."
On the offensive game plan against Delaware:
"I think we had a good game plan. It was an unusual week in that we had a lot of time to prepare. There was no class so we had our game plan done earlier and spent a lot of time with the players. This week won't be quite the same. But every week we're going to take things in and take things out, and try to fit the game plan. We're not showing everything [offensively], but we are going to do what we have to do to win."
On Middle Tennessee State's offense:
"It has given a lot of people problems. Any time you can read one guy an option, that's two guys you eliminate on defense. If you have speed like they have in the backfield, and two athletic quarterbacks, you can really run two plays and have a pretty good offense. They mix in a few bootlegs, and they throw the ball pretty well. The other thing that concerns me is we haven't seen a lot of it in spring practice or in fall camps. We're going to do more so that we can try to play against it better than we did last year."
On Middle Tennessee State's defense:
"Their kid (defensive lineman Erik) Jenkins is pretty good. We're going to have to be very good to block him. If you watched him [last season] against Louisville, he was very disruptive. Even against us two years ago, he was a very, very good player. They didn't blitz a whole lot against Troy, but in the past they have been a very high-pressure team."
On Da'Rel Scott's performance against Delaware:
"Da'Rel (Scott) had an infection after the game and didn't practice [Monday], but he's going to practice today. I think he has really matured. He went all of camp - he and Davin Meggett took most of the reps in camp. He practiced pass protection and how to block guys like (Alex) Wujciak and (Rick) Costa and (Trey) Covington. I've been very pleased with his durability and the way he's practiced. He played a very good game last week in the running game. There are areas in the other parts of the game that he has to get better at. He has to understand that he's a contributor even when he doesn't have the ball in his hands, and I think that's a young player's mistake. I think he'll learn from and grow from that."
On Maryland's quarterback situation:
"Like I said, if I had a guy who was injured, I'm going to put the next guy in who wasn't injured. There's not that much difference. I feel confident with Chris (Turner), and I'm proud of Chris also. It has nothing to do with one kid over the other. The way Chris has handled this has been very commendable also. I could tell you this - regardless of who plays this week or next week, Jordan will come in and win a game for us before the season is over. I promise you that."
On finding more ways to get the ball to WR Darrius Heyward-Bey:
"I think Coach (James) Franklin has a whole packet of ways to get the ball to him. We ran two reverses with him Saturday. We'd like to give him the ball with some screens. We got one screen early in the game. On that play we actually called a running play, and if Jordan (Steffy) sees the blitz, he's to throw that screen. Delaware did an excellent job of disguising that, and yet he picked it up and made the right play there. That's the type of thing that doesn't always go evaluated with the guy under center making the right decisions, and putting us in the play that has the best chance. He did a very good job with that Saturday."
On heading to Murfreesboro, Tenn.:
"With all the upsets last week, you can never be too sure of anything. So you've got to go out there and play hard every down."
On being a senior:
"It is odd to be the old guy, but I'm embracing being more of a leader and enjoying my last year here at Maryland."
On the defense's performance against Delaware:
"We played pretty good as a defense, but we will get tested more and more every week. So we'll take it for what it is worth now but still need to improve every game here on out."
On season-opening jitters:
"The first game of the season is always the most worrisome and troubling because you don't know how a team is going to attack you. The team might have new coaching or new blocking so you are not sure what to expect."
On the improvements the Maryland defense needs to make following the season-opener:
"We need to be more solid up the middle and eliminate some of the mental errors we had. Other than that, I think we did pretty well. We basically just need to tackle better."
On his memories of Middle Tennessee State from when the Terps played the Blue Raiders during his sophomore season in 2006:
"I know they're a very talented team. I remember them giving us a heck of a game a couple seasons ago. They were really fast. They tried to spread us out and move the ball on us."
On the defensive unit's performance against Delaware:
"I liked our energy. I thought everyone ran to the ball really well. I think we swarmed as a defense. We didn't give up many points. At the end we had some letdowns and they scored, but overall I think we did well defensively."
On the need for the defense to pressure the opposing quarterback:
"Last game we mostly just stayed in base [defense]. We blitzed a few times but not really. I like to blitz, so hopefully we'll incorporate that more [in future games], but that's up to the coaches."
On how he is approaching the game against Middle Tennessee State:
"As an offensive lineman, personally, I'm focused on helping the running game, as I always am. Offensive linemen love to run-block, and that's the same with our O-line. When we played against [the Blue Raiders] two years ago, they brought a lot of blitzes, and I wouldn't expect anything different. They're a very talented team, and you have to approach each game the same way. Hopefully we'll keep working hard this week and have a good game this Saturday."
On snapping the ball to several different quarterbacks:
"I think it doesn't really matter who's behind the ball. We all know we can win with whichever quarterback is back there. I think our approach is to protect our quarterbacks very well and get them in situations they need experience for in the time of a game. It's never been an issue with who's behind me. It doesn't really matter - we just want to go out there and execute."
On jelling as an offense when various personnel see playing time:
"The coaches do a good job of rotating [the quarterbacks] and rotating people on the offensive line [during practice]. We always have to think about that and about avoiding inconsistencies. Last year, as you know, we had a lot of people dropping, so we had to work around that. If someone does go down, we should be able to keep the ball rolling."
On the improvements that must be made offensively:
"We need to capitalize on our big plays, and when the defense forces a turnover, we need to capitalize on that as well. That's what good teams do. It's always been about finishing. We just need to finish games and not beat ourselves. As long as we do that, I think positive things will happen."
