Neuheisel on the scrimmage
Opening Statement:
"The good news is no one was hurt. We survived it. We went about 70 plays, maybe 75, got a lot of kicking done and it was a very worthwhile effort by everyone involved. I think it was very productive."
On Kevin Prince:
"Kevin Prince did not participate:
On players returning from injury:
"Ricky Marvray was back in action doing very well, at least three catches. Jordon James got 10-12 carries and looked good. Malcolm Jones was back in action and looked good. Joseph Fauria was in there, a little rust on him , but he played. Had one chance for a catch and dropped it."
On deciding not to make it a live scrimmage, and more of a walk-through:
"I'm trying to make sure we get everybody to the dance. Every time people go to the ground, people are susceptible. That's how we lost Kai Maiava. Now we're going to have to work really hard this week with tackling."
On Richard Brehaut:
"I thought he was really good again. I think he had a TD pass, completed 65-70 percent of his passes, looked very sharp."
On Kevin Prince's date-of-no-return:
"I'm going to let a few more days go by before we make that determination. Coaches always say you want them there by Wednesday, and that's what I'd say. Obviously you'd like to see him earlier.
On Prince's mindset:
"He was in a great mindframe today. He was right there helping with the signalling, and very engaged in the action."
On typical oblique strain returns:
"I had such little muscle in my life, I had little idea how much this takes. I think it's a pain tolerance. Everybody's on the same page with respect to it is what it is. When he feels comforabtle, he'll come back."
More on Prince:
"'We're resting him through the weekend, then start him in drill work on Monday. You make it a little different becuase of his experience. He's played. You're more willing to be a little bit tolerant. You're factoring his X-factor, which is experience."
On Chris Ward having a chance to play this year:
"There is, and Chris did a nice job today. There were a couple of great efforts by our front, and Chris was in and amongst them.The speed of the game is just different. But he's strong enough and big enough, and I think maybe more importantly smart enough, to get that done."
Neuheisel calling it a "pain tolerance" issue makes it sound like he thinks Prince can just tough his way through it. That's not how an oblique injury works at all. In baseball, when pitchers pull an oblique they are out for a month at least, often more. You simply can't follow through on a throw depending upon the location of the injury. Your body seizes up involuntarily when you reach that muscle in your throwing movement. It also is quite susceptible to re-injury.