Rutgers Football’s senior quarterback Noah Vedral spoke with the media today following practice for the first time this year, as he suffered an injury in preseason causing him to miss the first four games of the season.
So what happened and tell us what the past few weeks have been like?
NV: “It was an injury in camp and I’ve just been working my way back, progressing week to week and the same goes for this week. I’m doing everything I can as I continue to get better, be ready and be out there with my guys.”
How close to full health do you feel that you are?
NV: “It’s just the progression, with any of those kind of upper body injuries and the job that I did, there’s a progression that it takes and I’m just working on that from week to week.”
For a guy who wants to coach in the future, what was it like coaching the younger quarterbacks up these past few weeks?
NV: “It was a new perspective for sure, you know like being hurt and taking more of a role as a mentor and getting them ready to play. It was a cool little insight to what my next few years could be like as a young coach. Both of those guys have grown up tremendously throughout the season and I think you can see that week to week with their play, I definitely can in practice. So it’s been fun to be there, kind of help mentor them and give them the insights I’ve learned over my career.”
What precedent do you feel like you set for guys like Simon and Wimsatt?
NV: “I hope I set a precedent of knowing what you are doing and the urgency it takes to play the position of quarterback. There are just certain things that are non-negotiable, you don’t get to have all the fun that everyone else does. During the season you are responsible for 200 people within this program, how you play and how you prepare week to week. You are responsible for more than just yourself. I hope that they see that with the way that I’ve prepared over the past few years and how I’ve even prepared through and injury. I hope that shines through that we take that preparation well throughout this season and that they can take it with them through the rest of their careers.”
Last week we saw you run, you didn’t pass at all. Can we see throw more this coming week?
NV: “Again it’s just a progression, we will see where I’m at come game time.”
Noah you were spotted with a glove on your throwing hand last week, something we haven’t seen much of in the past. Does it make a difference at all playing quarterback, since most don’t use gloves?
NV: “I’ve played with a glove before, there’s a difference for sure. You know there’s quarterbacks that prefer it, there’s advantages and disadvantages too playing with bare skin or a glove. The great thing is that I’ve played with it before and I’m comfortable in it. It will just be getting used to it again and getting into a groove with it.”
This will be your first game ever versus your old team in Nebraska, what’s that like and have you messaged any of your former teammates this week?
NV: “Yeah since I didn’t play in 2020 when they came here the first time. But, no I’m trying to stay away from that, I definitely have some buddies on the team and staff still so it will be good to see them. It will be fun to play them finally.”
How much could we see you this week versus Nebraska?
NV: “Again it’s a progression and it’s going to be week to week. It’s going to be a game time decision to see where I’m at and how this week of practice goes.”
How do you evaluate the state of the offense right now?
NV: “We are just working right now, every week is a new week. We have to continue to wipe the slate and focus on a new week each week. We are grinding, take all the errors and every mistake that we’ve made and focus on them early in the week. Get those down pat, focus on those and then move on to our next opponent. We got a good system going, the guys are working incredibly hard and the guys are getting better every week.”
When you walked off the field last week after your fourth snap, you tapped you helmet, was that an injury or something else?
NV: “I’m okay. I’m alright that was just something else.”
What have you thought about Gavin and Evan since we’ve never seen them play before this season?
NV: “They’ve done really well, both of them have grown up in front of our eyes. With the QB competition, there is a spike in reps for everybody involved, especially when you don’t just have one starter. They’ve done a really good job taking on the workload and the practices are harder. The reality is as a backup quarterback you don’t do as much in practice. I’ve done a really good job of keep their energy up, keeping the positivity up. Also, they are trying to make the most of every single rep and that’s what you are starting to see week to week, where they are going and how much better they get every week.”
Last year of college football for you, how frustrating has this injury been for you personally?
NV: “I believe everything happens for a reason, I may not know what that reason is right now, but that’s the mindset I’m taking. I can look back at that later, maybe the end of the season, but right now the only focus that I have is getting healthy, getting better and being there for my guys when they need me.”
What kind of impact has Greg Schiano made on you as a future football coach?
NV: “He’s been a tremendous influence. The attention to detail that coach works with week in and week out is unprecedented. The amount of time, energy and love that he pours into this program is something that I will carry with me well into my coaching career and hopefully my personal life as well. The amount of detail that he pairs into the guys, the craft and the scheme, that man put it all on the line. For me as a young guy, it shows me that this is what it takes and that’s what this job is going to entail. To have a mentor and a man that can give you that wisdom, that insight and how well he handles it - that’s priceless.”
The goal is to get to a bowl game this season, how important is this game in that journey to get there?
NV: “To us every game is a one game season, I know that’s kind of like, obviously. But to us it really is a one game season, we pour everything we have into this. Whatever happens, happens and whatever is in the future, we have no control over right now. We had practice today, we’ve got practice tomorrow and we will do whatever we can do to win this game. We try to treat every game as our bowl game, this is your last game of the season and if you treat like that and prepare like that, you give yourself a chance to go 1-0. Every game for us is incredibly important as we are growing, developing program. So every win we can grab and cling too is hugely important to us. Just going 1-0 at the end of the week is important for us.”
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