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Less than a week before Rutgers Football is set to host its annual Scarlet-White Game on April 22 at 7:00 p.m., head coach Greg Schiano revealed an injury to a key player on the defense.
Defensive end/linebacker Mohamed Toure, who had 4.5 sacks in 2021 and 2020, got hurt in practice on Thursday and the team isn't sure how long he'll be out.
"The room is definitely thin. Mo Toure got hurt on Thursday. We're not exactly sure if he's going to be or what the extent of it's going to be yet. There's some differing opinions medically, so we're gonna continue to work it out," Schiano said. "But it could be really lean here in a short bit."
Schiano mentioned that the team could bring in a transfer to help with the depth.
"That's part of football. It's the best game in the world, but it's a violent game and things happen and you have to be ready to just move on," Schiano said. "Sometimes you have to move positions and sometimes with the transfer portal now being available, we may have to do that."
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Two main things this spring has been the play of the quarterbacks and play of the offensive line.
Rutgers is still doing some mixing and matching along o-line as several transfers and freshmen joined the fold.
"I think we're getting better day by day," Schiano said. "I mean, we have a long way to go. So I don't want to overdo it there. But we certainly have made improvements, and we just have to keep it up."
Fans have been wanting to know about how freshman quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is doing. Wimsatt will throw in front of Rutgers fans for the first time in Piscataway in the spring game as his other appearances were on the road.
“For him I would just tell him to do your job, I think that’s the simplest and easiest thing for a quarterback to do is their job," senior Noah Vedral said. "You have a job, if you study it, are prepared and work hard then everything will be fine. If you get caught up looking around, then it’s hard to do your job when your eyes aren’t in the right place. The age old saying is just do your job and you’ll be fine. That’s really what CHOP is, just doing your job play after play, don’t look up until it is done and enjoy it after the fact.
"He’s done well. He’s come along a lot and he’s grown up a lot. It’s been really good to see him mature, grow and learn, he’s a talented kid.”
Vedral said the offense as a whole is taking steps towards improvement.
“Absolutely I would definitely say that we are making steps," Vedral said. "We got new guys obviously, but the confidence from the old guys is starting to overflow down to the young guys. We gotta get it right, we have to take care of our business, but when we do that it works. We might mix up a formation, mess up a route here or there, but the biggest thing is that when we are getting it right, it’s working and it’s doing really big things for us. I think that is a product of old guys teaching young guys, as the young guys are really buying in and saying that I’ll do it this way and trust coach (Sean) Gleeson. We have a lot of young guys willing to learn and old guys willing to teach.”
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At cornerback, Kessawn Abraham played in all 13 games last season with 12 starts. He was named MVP of the Defense by the team at the Scarlet Knights' banquet.
"It don't get any better than this right here. I'm making others around me better, I'm sharpening up the little things, and getting my football IQ better," Abraham said. "Competition is at an all-time high, but that just brings the best out of each guy. Everybody's getting better."
Abraham gets to go up against former high school teammate wide receiver at practice, Sean Ryan, and the two help iron sharpen iron.
"It's been great," Abraham said. "I have an old teammate here now from Erasmus Hall in Sean Ryan. We compete every day and we get the best out of each other. We make sure of that."
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Spring game's can vary from year to year and it could be a legit scrimmage, thud/two-hand touch, or just a normal practice.
Schiano isn't quite sure what the 2022 version of the Scarlet-White Game will look like.
"I really haven't yet," Schiano said. "You don't waste a lot of time on that because you don't know who's going to be healthy for the game. So I'll look at this weekend and then as long as things go well Tuesday, we'll kind of have it pre-done. I'm sure we'll have to adjust it. We always do."
Throughout the spring, the Scarlet Knights have been practicing hard and hitting the weight room as well. They've gotten into a flow as the weeks have gone on.
"It really is always about incremental improvement," Schiano said. "Springtime is a little different because you go a day and then you're off a day and then you go a day, so it's a little harder. They're still training, they're lifting, and they're training through the event, which is the practices themselves because we have to keep our eye on the prize which is the season. Jay Butler gets him on the off days and they meet a little bit on the off day. Spring's a crowded time for them, but I think this crew has done a really good job of embracing the grind."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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