As Penn State's season goes along, each game becomes more and more important as the Nittany Lions quietly march towards a Big Ten Title game birth. It has been a season that has caught everyone off guard including even the most optimistic Penn State fans. With a crucial home matchup against Illinois only days away Joe Paterno addressed the media covering several issues including off the field issues and McGloin's status as starting quarterback.
Regarding Derek Moye's injury.
"One more week. Derek is close, but he hasn't done anything yet. The doctors think he ought to just take one more week and then we have the off week. He can rest up, test it a little bit and hopefully he'll be available the week after that. But we're not even sure of that."
Saw Moye myself in the HUB without a boot on his foot which is a good sign. Penn State has played well without him and I think they just want to be extra safe. Not a bad idea.
On Stephfon Green. How has he handled his second chance opportunity lately, and was it hard for you, a hard decision for you to give him this latest chance?
"I think you'll probably have to ask him that. I think he deserves it, and I told him if he did the things he's supposed to do, he would be fine. But I think he's gone at it in a very determined way. He's wanting to help the team, and he has at different spots, particularly when (Brandon) Beachum was hurt. But, I think whether he's comfortable that he's been treated fairly or not, I think that's something you'd have to ask him. We think we've treated him fairly. You never know."
I'm still pretty sure that Green was this team's test from Joe. Bond together and get a liked player back on the roster. It was a win-win for the team and for Joe.
Coming back from injuries you suffered in the preseason, how challenging has it been, especially getting Penn State to the point where it is now, 7-1?
"I'm not where I want to be, the blazing speed I used to have (laughter). It's been tough it's a pain in the neck, let me put it that way.
I feel sorry for Tommy Venturino; he's got that cart, got to drive me around practice once in a while. I try to do as much walking as I can in practice, but there comes after a while it gets very, very sore and I have a tough time walking the last half hour of practice or so.
And I'm a little nervous (about being on the field). I'd be less than honest. I'm trying to find where everyone is. I don't want to get run into again. It's a pain in the neck.
That's why one of the reasons I've been reluctant to be on the sideline, particularly when we're away. I was going to be on the sideline against Northwestern the whole ballgame until I got a look, when I went out early and looked at the sideline. It was a little different kind of arrangement than you would be used to at home as far as how I would handle certain things that would happen on the field. But it's been a pain in the neck.
But what are you going to do, you know? I don't think it's affected the chance for the football team to get better because of the staff.
I've turned over things to the staff at times where I used to get in there and mix it up with the kids a little bit, which I hope I'll get back to. But I'll yell at one of the coaches "tell that guy to do this," when the old days I might grab the kid myself and get right in the middle, in the middle of the field and grab him and say: "How many times do I tell you to do it this way?" It's a little it's a little different environment than I like. But I don't think it's been I think that staff has adjusted well. I think the kids have, too."
On the Illinois loss last season.
"We got a good lickin', is what I remember. I thought they kicked our ears in. Hopefully you learn from every game, even when you lose. I think we got - we got to the realization, particularly since we were so young last year, we were young coming into this year, but we were really young last year, that all of a sudden some of our guys understood exactly what, how tough this league is. And when Illinois did what they did to us and Illinois wasn't the only team that kicked our ears in last year.
We learned that. Hopefully we learned from it. I hope we did. We haven't had a chance to do much in practice. Mondays we go without pads. We only work an hour. Most of it is on kicking.
So I can't tell you exactly what our mental attitude is yet."
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