BLACKSBURG – Heading into its second practice of fall camp on Friday, the Virginia Tech football team's head coach Justin Fuente and selected players, including defensive back Keonta Jenkins, met with the media for a press conference. To see what Fuente and Jenkins had to say, view below:
HEAD COACH JUSTIN FUENTE
Opening statement:
"Thanks for everyone for joining us. It seems like we reported a week ago and we've only practiced one time. But we had a good workout yesterday and we look forward to the week that's upcoming. The way the schedule fell and all of that sort of stuff, this will be a tough week for it and our team. Kind of a larger amount of installation and that sort of stuff. We are just in the beginning part of it and hopefully looking forward a great workout today."
On how the staff set up the schedule for fall camp the next few weeks:
"It's basically six days on, a day off, five days on, a day off, four days on and a day off. That's basically fall camp and the end of it is when essentially school starts. I would prefer, I've said this before, but I don't understand why we can't give the kids more days off. It seems pretty crazy to me that we have to cram 25 days of practice into 29 days, when we could do 25 practices into 32 days. I think it's a lot safer for the kids. Nonetheless, this segment will essentially be us getting into base installation on offense and defense, with some third down. It's very little field position type stuff. We'll introduce two-minute drill at the end of this segment and rep it a little bit. But the next block will enter around the red zone and different offenses around the end of the game, like two-minute situations. Then the third block will get into those situations with the offense up. And then putting it all together through the last block.
On it feeling normal again and getting back with the guys for practice:
"It feels great. But there is a little apprehension on how long this feeling of normal is going to last, to be perfectly honest. I haven't really talked about it with too much of the team, because we've only practiced once so far. And I don't know where this all is going to go. It seems like we're learning more each day on what may or not happen this season. But yeah, so far it's been refreshing. We didn't have the same feeling on certainty at least in the short time we've been in fall camp."
DB KEONTA JENKINS
On players stepping up last season when guys were out due to various reasons and how that will help the team be more prepared this season:
"That experience of people stepping up and filling in every week and whatever position in big games against tough teams was very important. We earned the trust of the coaches and the team. You can count on that person and everybody is held accountable."
On what it's like being year now in the program and having an actual offseason:
"A full year is critical. A full spring and having 15 practices are great. Having those 15 days to together in the spring and being with the team and coaches was critical and helped the teamwork build. So, it was definitely a plus for me and our players."
On how much optimism is there with not having to worry too much about Covid-19 anymore and having a regular fall camp and season:
"It's a lot better knowing that you're practicing and working towards a full Lane Stadium where a ton of people will be cheering for you. Having regularly-scheduled meetings and practices and not being so distanced with each other. So, with that, I have more of an urge to go out there and practice even more with not having to wear face shields and stuff like that."
