Some extras on Tyrod Taylor, including pictures and a video
Darryl Slater
Aug 06, 2009
Here are some leftover comments from Virginia Tech quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain after today’s practice regarding Tyrod Taylor ...
On the importance of keeping Taylor from getting hurt—“Yeah, but at the same time you can’t worry about that. And he can’t either. He’s got to play the game. He and I have talked a little bit about that. You worry about going out there and getting hurt, and you keep [hearing] people saying, ‘Well, you’ve gotta keep Tyrod healthy.’ You’ve got to let Tyrod play. When you start trying to do things to keep him healthy or he tries to do things to stay healthy, now all of sudden that’s when you get hurt.”
On the improved receivers—“He’s gonna be a better player this year simply because of the people around him. Last year we were so young at wide receiver. There was not a lot of confidence out there. Having those guys a year older, even though they’re still not where they need to be, they’re a year older, and we’re better off than we were at this time last year.”
On Taylor’s presence in the pocket—“You saw that the latter part of the season. You saw it in the spring. He developed a better feel for the pocket. He didn’t leave the pocket quite as quickly. That’s a fine line with a guy like that. It’s hard to coach when you stay in. About the time you coach him to stay in, he should have gotten out. You coach him to get out, he should have stayed in. Now all of a sudden, you create confusion and frustration. He has to make that decision to go and you live with the decisions he makes.”
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And here are a few pictures I snapped of the quarterbacks today. (OK, so maybe my stuff won’t be in National Geographic any time soon, but I figured I’d get out there and mess around with my digital camera to give you an idea of what these guys looked like in action.)
Taylor throwing next to his backup, Joseph “Ju-Ju” Clayton ...

Tech’s top three quarterbacks: Taylor, Clayton and freshman Logan Thomas (No. 3) ...
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Taylor, Thomas and Clayton dropping back in the next three photos ...
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Finally, here is a video of Taylor during a passing drill. I never claimed to be Cronkite, so please excuse the poor video quality ...
A few comments from quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain and amateur photography and videography from me.