Coaches: Blue's recovery has been tough

[SwiftFan87]

Pelini said at media days last week that he thought Blue would miss the beginning of fall camp. But does the coach think the sophomore will be ready by the first game against Western Michigan on Aug. 30?

 

"Probably not, I'm thinking he won't be. Highly doubtful," Pelini said. "Guys come back differently. It was a tough injury. They had to go back in and clean some stuff out. I don't get caught up in all that. That's something you just got to let nature take its course. I think he's made significant strides as of late, but for a while it went real slow."

 

rest here, http://www.journalstar.com/huskerextra/foo...81083206514.txt

 

hopefully Blue can make it back. Interesting that Ricky Henry is going to start out on D...

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I hope he gets better so I can scream, "your my boy blue!!!!" Seriously, though I wish him the best.

[np_husker]

BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Jul 31, 2008 - 11:24:19 pm CDT

 

At Big 12 media days in Kansas City last week, Bo Pelini said he thought cornerback Anthony Blue would not be ready to go by Monday’s beginning of fall camp as a result of an ACL tear suffered in winter conditioning.

 

But does the head coach think the sophomore will be ready by the first game against Western Michigan on Aug. 30?

 

“Probably not, I’m thinking he won’t be. Highly doubtful,” Pelini said on Thursday. “Guys come back differently. It was a tough injury. They had to go back in and clean some stuff out. I don’t get caught up in all that. That’s something you just got to let nature take its course. I think he’s made significant strides as of late, but for a while it went real slow.”

 

Having started the final two games of NU’s 2007 season, Blue is arguably the top young corner on Nebraska’s roster, and especially significant to the Big Red’s secondary depth given all the wide-open offenses the Huskers will see in the Big 12.

 

“It’s a big loss anytime a kid with his ability goes down, it doesn’t matter what position,” Carl Pelini said.

 

Things are looking much better for junior nose tackle Ndamukong Suh, who sat out spring ball with a knee injury.

 

Bo Pelini said Suh looks great. “He’s on the other end of the spectrum. He came along fast. He’s been ready to roll for a while.“

 

Getting defensive

 

Carl Pelini said he believes coaches will put newcomer linemen Baker Steinkuhler and Ricky Henry on the defensive side of the ball for at least the first couple days of fall camp … “just kind of see how they perform and where they’re comfortable and then make a decision, but not let it drag into camp.”

 

Pelini said that the Lincoln Southwest grad Steinkuhler, Nebraska’s most heralded recruit of the 2008 class, is very open to playing either side of the ball. “So with a guy like that, you really want to put him in a position where the team is going to benefit most. Because I think he’ll be great either way he goes.”

 

Secondary thoughts

 

Even if there is some rust, the defensive coordinator is confident his secondary will be sharper on the first day of fall camp than it was the last day of spring practices.

 

The reason: Secondary members have had the summer and seven-on-seven drills to work on concepts they learned during the spring, talking through their mistakes and figuring out different techniques to accomplish things.

 

Though some would consider NU’s secondary one of the big question marks going into the 2008 season, Carl Pelini said he’s seen a different air about some of the players as they’ve gotten used to a new defensive system.

 

“It’s interesting, they’re being coached to be what I would say is more attacking and more aggressive toward turnovers,” he said. “They took to that. That’s kind of their attitude. That’s who they are. I think giving them that freedom to really play with more aggression and take some risks, I think they really took to that. When we started out in the spring, I felt like they were so tentative, like they were letting balls be caught in front of them. But as spring went on, that started to disappear and they started to get a little bit of a swagger and a little bit of attitude.”

 

Out of business

 

By rule, Husker receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Ted Gilmore can’t comment specifically about commitments in the 2009 class. But it seems the Huskers are no longer recruiting quarterbacks for this class after the commitment of quarterback Cody Green.

 

“We’re out of the quarterback business,” Gilmore said.

 

Nothing new here

 

Bo Pelini said nothing has changed in regards to freshman wide receiver Khiry Cooper’s situation. The multisport athlete and fifth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in the recent draft hasn’t signed with the baseball club. The Angels have until Aug. 15 to try to sign him.

 

Time flies when you’re coaching

 

This offseason may have seemed like a long one to some Husker fans, but it felt a normal speed to Bo Pelini.

 

“I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot,” he said. “You always wish you had a little more time, but it’s time to go. We’re ready to get started.”

 

The year has been such a blur to Carl Pelini that he said it feels like just yesterday when he was coming to Lincoln to get started.

 

“It’s funny, as a player you just couldn’t wait for that first game,” he said. “As a coach, you want that first game to stay as far off as it possibly can because you know you’re going to get better every day.”