BLACKSBURG – Heading into this weekend's away game at West Virginia, Virginia Tech football head coach Justin Fuente met with the media for a press conference on Monday. Read what he had to say below.
HEAD COACH JUSTIN FUENTE
Opening statement:
"Before we turn the page to West Virginia, an update on James Mitchell. After more evaluation after the game, our medical staff ordered an MRI on yesterday morning and turns out he's going to have season-ending knee surgery. Disappointed for him. What a great leader, a great young man. Not just a great player but team captain, leadership council member. Just incredibly disappointed for him, I know how much this football team means to him. That's immediately where his thoughts went. He's had great conversations with his mom and dad. Our medical staff will do a great job taking care of him. James is in a good place obviously he's disappointed, as we all are, but these things sometimes happen in football and we've got to do a great job rallying around James. He needs us and we still need him to be a part of this football team. We've got good depth in that room. James has served as a great leader in that room for many years now. [Nick] Gallo and Drake [DeIuliis], [Cole] Blaker and [Ty] Eller will need to step up and collectively fill that role for us. I know they'll do a great job. They've been working hard for some time and James has done a great job serving this great example for those guys. Onward we move to West Virginia, a rivalry game, trophy game on the road. Incredible challenge for our football team, not just our first road game but to play in the environment we're about to go play in against a quality team. Coach [Neal] Brown has done a great job down. They're a couple turnovers away from being undefeated. I know that the environment will be electric and emotions will run high. They are really good on the defensive front, really good in the skill positions. It's pretty obvious from watching the film, they're explosive on special teams. We'll have to do a great job, we'll have to have a great week of preparation in all areas to get ready for this. We're excited for it, we're excited for the opportunity, the challenge to take this team on the road in a hostile environment, and see how we can perform. This is part of why you want to play the game, to have a chance to go play these types of games. We're excited to be a part of it."
On tight end James Mitchell and his NFL future:
"He still has decisions that he can make and we don't need to worry about that right now. Right now, it's about James getting healthy. I think the world of James Mitchell and his family. Right now, his thoughts are centered on this football team, having surgery and getting healthy. Then when we get down the road, we'll talk about all of those things. Certainly, there are a lot of reasons to be disappointed for James, a lot. I think just listening to him talk and listening to his dad talk, the number one reason is football. We'll get him fixed, get him healthy, keep him around this team, keep him involved and have several discussions down the road about what all this means."
On if James Mitchell will still travel with team as a captain:
"We'll evaluate it. The biggest thing is James' safety. The sidelines are not exactly a place for somebody that can't get out of away. James is a special case, obviously. When he's through surgery and a little more mobile – I talked to him this morning for about 30 minutes and that was one of the things that we discussed. When he's able to move around a little bit better, then we want him back down there."
On Keonta Jenkins' injury and Tae Daley playing in his absence:
"I anticipate – again certainly not a medical person, you asked me after the game about James, all indications were that everything was fine and obviously I was wrong – but indications I'm getting on Keonta is he'll be back full go this week and ready to go. Tae did a good job when he was in there. I like that, between Keonta and Tae, and Jalen Stroman continues to develop in there, there's three guys that I think have a chance to really help this team."
On the first true road game since the pandemic:
"We'll need to do some work, simulating some of that this week. It has been a while, and, you know, I think the key is we should relish the opportunity to play in a game like this. The tradition that these two teams have, not just a trophy, but the things that are at stake in this game. This is an awesome opportunity. This is why you do all that work in the offseason, so we should relish the opportunity, but we also have to understand that you can't get carried away with it. When you play on the road in a hostile environment, it just enhances all your feelings and emotions. You can be up by 14 and the other team can kick a field goal and it sounds like and feels like you're down by 21. You just got to continue to stay in the moment and play the next play. An encouraging aspect is that we are older and we should be able to handle. We should be able to understand that part of it and be ready."
