North Carolina State University Athletics
Injury Bug Bites Wolfpack Defense
9/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. - A Thursday night date with Cincinnati means even less recovery time for NC State’s significantly depleted defense. On Monday, Wolfpack head coach Tom O’Brien addressed the media, delivering updates on several injuries and outlining the ways the Pack hopes to strengthen that unit in the coming weeks.
“It’s been a tough season to play defense around here,” said O’Brien. “Our defensive coaches have been playing the little Dutch boy, putting fingers in the dike right now.”
The loss of junior linebacker Terrell Manning presents the latest area of concern for the Wolfpack staff. Manning fell victim to a knee injury in the first half against South Alabama and underwent surgery Monday afternoon.
“He'll be operated on in the next two hours and we'll see where it goes from there,” said O’Brien. “When they let me know what the ballpark is on getting him back, I'll let you know.”
Senior captain J.R. Sweezy’s first day out of a walking boot came Monday, as he recovers from a broken foot suffered during the preseason. His backup, Thomas Teal, went down with the same injury in the Pack’s first game. Teal’s injury sent the staff scrambling for replacements ready to learn on the job.
“Part of the problem we've had is not being able to execute the defense,” said O’Brien. “When [players] start the year on the scout team, they aren’t getting coached in the same way. Then we have to coach them up on the sideline. That causes some headaches.”
Art Norman left the South Alabama game with an injury, an alarming development considering Norman had replaced the injured Jeff Rieskamp at end. O’Brien resisted putting a definite date on either’s return.
“Norman only played about ten plays against South Alabama, and we had spent all of last week getting him ready because he was pressed into action when Rieskamp got hurt,” said O’Brien. “Certainly getting anyone back would be a big boost to this defense. I know that it's killing Jeff, that he's not able to practice yet, but that's the situation. We're trying to get him ready for Cincinnati, but if that doesn't work, we'll change our focus to getting him back for Georgia Tech.”
The emergence of Dwayne Maddox represents a bright spot among the bad news the Pack has dealt with lately. O’Brien pointed to him as an example of backups embracing the opportunities created by this rash of injury, something the staff hopes to see in abundance over the next few weeks.
