Norwood's injury viewed as minor

[rebelduckaholic]

August 11, 2005
Norwood's injury viewed as minor

By Ian R. Rapoport
irapopor@clarionledger.com

STARKVILLE — As hitting and double sessions intensify, players are bound to get nicked up. A team simply hopes to avoid anything major, and it appears that was the case for Mississippi State on Wednesday morning.

Running back Jerious Norwood left practice early with a sprained knee, though he was walking without assistance after practice and said, "I'm all right. I'm straight."

MSU coach Sylvester Croom downplayed the severity of the injury. He did say that — as a precaution — Norwood won't participate in Saturday's scrimmage. Trainer Paul Mock called Norwood day-to-day and said he will be checked out by a doctor today.

"It's not anything serious," said Croom, before joking, "he probably wanted to get out of practice."

In a full-contact drill, Norwood, the first-team All-SEC selection, got caught up in a pile and twisted his knee. He iced it the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, his knee was in a brace that prevented it from bending.

"We'll give him a couple of days off," Croom said. "He's earned it. He's worked hard enough to give him a little break. It's football. You hate to see it, but things happen when you're going full-speed."

Freshmen update

Croom said he is committed to playing a freshman if he earns a starting or key role. But with that comes handling the growing pains. As the preseason grinds on, Croom has watched the freshmen try to adapt.

"When you make up your mind to play freshmen, you got to be patient, but you got to push them," Croom said. "Nobody's going to be feel sorry for them on game day."

Tackle Calvin Wilson is limited due to off-season knee surgery, receiver Tay Bowser has fought off leg ailments, while cornerbacks Derek Pegues and Keith Fitzhugh have been steady.

But as situations dictate, they will get thrown into the fire. Like when Bowser worked with the first team but dropped several consecutive passes. Croom and receivers coach Guy Holliday sought out Bowser after each play to encourage or instruct him.

"(Bowser is) doing all right," Croom said. "But if he had to play today, it would be ugly."

Red cross crew

Tackle Avery House (sick) wore a restricted yellow jersey, and Keon Humphries (leg) wore a red cross.

Quick kicks

Tight end Eric Butler — whom Croom calls "50 cent" to describe his effort level — was handed a starting maroon jersey for the first time. "(Butler's) worked awful hard," Croom said. "He's to about 60 percent. I'll think I'll start calling him '60.'" ... Freshman fullback Brandon Hart impressed Croom on the goal line, so much so that the coach is considering moving him to halfback for short-yardage situations. "Brandon Hart made a statement today," Croom said.