Hokies Camp 2009, Volume 13 (Mystery edition) ...

A wise man – or maybe just a clever advertising slogan – once said: You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers.

Well, you’ve got questions. And ... I’ve got ... some people’s answers to those questions, which may or may not amount to anything this season. But, still, I tried.

Tonight, I’ll attempt (in a small way) to address three players about whom you have burning questions (other than all three running backs):

1) Is true freshman QB Logan Thomas really ready to assume the No. 2 job? Even if he doesn’t, will we see him somewhere on the field this fall?

2) Can sophomore LB Jake Johnson step up in his first season as a starter and uphold the Hokies’ tradition at his position? Can he play as tough as he looks?

3) How does junior DE Jason Worilds’ surgically repaired shoulder feel? And what kind of season might he have?

Before we get started, one clarification: I’ve seen a little chatter that Thomas must’ve been promoted to co-No. 2 at QB today because he out-performed Ju-Ju Clayton in the mini-scrimmage after Tuesday’s practice.

Well, Thomas may have been promoted because of his 5-for-15, 153-yard, one-touchdown, no-interception afternoon ... but he didn’t outperform Clayton. Because Clayton DID NOT PLAY in the scrimmage. It was a scrimmage for freshmen and third-teamers.

Thomas took all the snaps at QB. So I’d say his promotion to co-No. 2 was maybe a reward for hitting passes of 35, 41 and 49 yards. But you can’t assume Ju-Ju stunk it up. He didn’t get a chance that day.

A better head-to-head evaluation will be available for all to see at Saturday’s full scrimmage. I’d imagine the back-up QBs will get a good deal of work.

Now, on to getting some answers to your questions ...

QB LOGAN THOMAS

ON WHETHER HE EXPECTS, WHETHER IT’S THIS YEAR OR LATER, TO BE A ‘WILD TURKEY’ AT SOME POINT IN HIS CAREER: “I’m not sure yet. I don’t know what Stiney has planned. I can do it. Whatever they want me to do, I’m here for the team. I’ll do anything.”

ON WHETHER THAT FORMATION WAS USED, THOUGH, TO RECRUIT HIM: “They showed it to me. They told me I could do what Greg Boone does. He played quarterback in high school well. He understands that position and can run, like me.”

ON HIS OPINIONS ABOUT REDSHIRTING: “I really don’t want to. That’s how I’ve always been: I want to play, be on the field, make an impact. But if it boils down to it, and I have to, I’ll do it, because that’s what will be best for me and the future of this team.”

ON WHETHER THE STAFF HAS TALKED TO HIM ABOUT SPECIAL TEAMS: “Beamer has said he might put me in a couple of packages. If it helps, I’ll enjoy every chance I get to be on this field. I’m sure I’ll end up doing some stuff.”

ON WHETHER QB COACH MIKE O’CAIN HAS SAID THE BACK-UP JOB IS OPEN: “He has never said anything like that. I’m not even worried about it. I’m just trying to push Tyrod and Ju-Ju to be the best players they can possibly be, make this team better at the quarterback position.”

ON HIS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: “Right now, I just need to learn the plays. Then during game play, I need to learn to read the different coverages and know my check-downs.”

ON LEARNING THE SNAP FROM UNDER CENTER: “Well, we ran an I-formation in high school, too. It’s just that I was more comfortable in the shotgun. I could see the field and use my mobility. I had no problem taking the snaps (in VT practice). It was just all the stuff I had to do after the snap. I had trouble with it the first day, but I felt a lot better after that. Once you do it once, you don’t forget it. I’m a lot more comfortable since that first day.”

ON FEELING THE BUZZ COMING INTO THE PROGRAM: “Every one of the older guys is pushing us. They want us to push them. They want to get better and win a national championship, and we have the same idea. All us freshmen just had a meeting and we all agreed that we want to win a national championship no matter what we have to do to get it.”

ON WHETHER THERE’S A FEELING WITHIN THE PROGRAM THAT IT WILL HAPPEN AT SOME POINT IN HIS CAREER: “All of us freshmen think so. All of us are working hard for it. We’re pushing it to the limit.”

LB JAKE JOHNSON

ON EVERYONE KNOWING HE CAN LIFT THE WEIGHT ROOM, BUT WHETHER HE FEELS CONFIDENT HE CAN PROVE HIMSELF ON THE FIELD THIS FALL: “Yeah, I’m confident, but I know there’s still a lot of work for me in this camp to be ready for this first game.”

ON WHAT D-COORDINATOR BUD FOSTER HAS SAID TO HIM THIS SUMMER: “He wants us to get better each practice. He expects a lot from us, to learn from our mistakes and to fix them each time. He’s a great coach and he makes us great every day.”

ON WHAT WOULD BE HIS STRENGTH AND HIS WEAKNESS IF HE HAD TO PLAY A GAME TODAY: “Strength is probably stopping the run. Weakness is probably in coverage. I’m getting better at it, but it’s just reading the quarterback because I’m still really in my first year doing coverage.”

ON HOW A GUY GOES ABOUT LEARNING TO PLAY THE PASS: “Studying film. That’s all I did during the spring and I got better at it. I’m pretty good now, but there’s so much more I can learn. I’ve been watching what Xavier Adibi and Brett Warren and Vince Hall did, and it really helped me out.”

ON WANTING TO BE THE NEXT GREAT LB TANDEN AT VT, ALONG WITH BARQUELL RIVERS: “That’s our goal: For us to be the next great duo here. But that’s down the road. Right now, we’re just focused in on this first game and this one season.”

ON THE INCOMING FRESHMAN CLASS, WHICH MAY BE EVEN MORE PHYSICALLY IMPRESSIVE THAN HIS OWN ROOKIE CLASS A YEAR AGO: “They’re good-looking athletes. Big, fast, strong, impressive guys. We’ll have a good corps here of linebackers. I think we just keep getting better each year with every class that comes in. And the older heads keep getting better. We have a real good team, a real good class, a real good everything.”

ON CHASING A NATIONAL TITLE: “That’s always on our minds, yeah. That and ACC championships. Right now, all our focus is game by game, but that is always in the back of our heads.”

ON OPENING AGAINST A TEAM LIKE ALABAMA: “To me, it’s just another game. If you think about stuff too much, your mind starts moving in too many different places. You just have to focus on what needs to get done and suit up and play.”

DE JASON WORILDS

ON D-COORDINATOR BUD FOSTER COMPARING HIM TO A COMBO OF DARRYL TAPP AND COREY MOORE: “Um ... that’s ... um ... high praise. I’m ... um ... proud. I put a lot of hard work into this, but I know I have a lot of hard work to do. I have a long way to go and I have to work every day to live up to that.”

ON HOW MUCH BETTER HE FEELS WITH TWO GOOD SHOULDERS NOW: “It’s a load off my shoulders – so to speak. It feels good just to go out there and be confident in everything I do, every move I make and every decision I make. It’s nice to be confident that my shoulder’s not going to pop out, that I’m not going to feel pain. It’s a good feeling.”

ON WHETHER, TO BE HONEST, THAT WORRY AFFECTED HIM SOME LAST SEASON: “When you have a chronic problem like I had, that any moment your shoulder could pop out, that’s a whole heap of pain you’re going to have to deal with. Not only in the game, but it’s going to hurt the whole weekend. After the plane ride, I’m sitting under ice for hours. It’s definitely a different feeling mentally that I go out there with now. It’s invaluable.”

ON FEELING LIKE HE HAS A NEW ARM: “It does. It feels great. I’m excited.”

ON HIS PERSONAL GOALS IN 2009: “I hope to be a key contributor. I want to give it my all for my teammate. On defense, we’re a family. I never want to be the weakest link on the chain. I want to give it all for my brothers.”

ON WHETHER HE LICKS HIS CHOPS TO START THE SEASON AGAINST A LINE WITH THREE NEW STARTERS AND A ROOKIE QB: “It’s exciting, but this is Division I football. Alabama is a big-time program and all their players are on scholarship, too. They’re talented. To say that we want to inflict pain, take advantage of that, it’s far-fetched. This is big-time football.”

ON TRYING TO RATTLE THE NEW QB, THOUGH: “That would be nice. But the goal is to win the football game. However we do that is what matters.”

ON FS KAM CHANCELLOR SAYING HE MEDITATES DAILY ON THE D-LINE GETTING TO THE QB AND FORCING BAD THROWS THAT LEAD TO INTERCEPTIONS: “I hope that comes true. That sounds real good. It’s too early for me to get into that type of mode. I’m still working on the little things it takes to be a good player.”

ON WHETHER HE HAS ANY LIST OF GOALS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR: “Not really. I firmly believe in striving to be the best every day, and then the personal goals will take care of themselves. As a team, if we do our jobs as each unit, the big goals will take care of themselves.”

ON WHETHER THIS TEAM HAS NATIONAL TITLE TALENT: “Yes, without a doubt.”

ON THAT BEING SOMETHING THE PLAYERS TALK ABOUT: “We don’t shy away from that. We also don’t allow ourselves to think that it’s ours already. There’s still a lot of work to do. It’s nice to say it, to get it out there in the air and let people know the possibility is real. But we know it’s an uphill battle and we need to continue to climb.”

ON WHETHER THE STAFF, WHICH HAS BEEN TO THE TITLE GAME, HAS TALKED TO THEM ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES: “No, not so much. They always tell us that what we do is the formula for success. And what we do is work hard.”

ON HOW AWARE HE IS OF THE EMPTY GLASS CASE THAT OVERLOOKS THE VT PRACTICE FIELD: “I am very aware. I am very aware, and I feel disrespected every day when I look at it and I might see dust on it. I take that personal.”

ON HOW HE THINKS IT’LL BE KEPT IF TECH EVER FILLS THE CASE: “Real, real shiny.”

ON WHETHER HE WAS SHOWN THAT CASE ON HIS RECRUITING VIST: “I think anybody that comes to Virginia Tech wants to do great things. We’re always a green program, always growing and getting better. No matter how good we get, we’re always getting better. I think high school kids see that. I saw that, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

ON THE LEVEL OF TALENT HE SEES COMING IN EACH YEAR, AND WHETHER IT SEEMS TO BE RISING: “Definitely. It’s a testament to what the coaches and players here are doing on the field. More and more people want to come. And we love to have them.”

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