Meet the team, but not the Cavs’ quarterbacks

It was not the impending thunder or lightning that shortened the session, but rather Virginia’s elder statesman at quarterback, Scott Deke, that delivered a booming announcement moments after the program’s players arrived Sunday at Scott Stadium for the annual Meet the Team Day festivities.
The contingent of quarterbacks - stretching from Deke down to newcomer Riko Smalls - would not be available for interviews with reporters, as they elected to enjoy their time in the fading sun with the autograph-seeking fans.
Deke served as the group’s spokesperson in relaying the message.
“We respect that [members of the media] are trying to do your job and we really appreciate everything that you do for us and the University of Virginia football team, but also, we’ve just decided that it’s in our best interest to just, you know, keep to ourselves and do whatever is best for this team,“ Deke told reporters. “And until any of us have done anything in a game worthwhile to be talking about, I think it is in our best interest to stick to ourselves and keep working to be, to do what’s best for our team.“
Requests to interview any of the quarterbacks Saturday after the team’s first open practice were denied as university officials cited Sunday as the prime opportunity to talk with the parties engaged in the battle for the starting nod against Southern California later this month.
If a player has an edge in the battle, that includes Pete Lalich, Marc Verica and Deke, outsiders remain in the dark, perhaps explaining the silent treatment.
Virginia coach Al Groh did say that the unit had made “good progress” as a whole during the opening week of training camp, but failed to dive into details.
“That’s about it,” Groh said. “They’re all working hard, they’re all progressing. As I’ve said on a couple of occasions, we’re not keeping a daily scorecard on them.
“We’re looking at the body of work and we’re giving everybody plenty of opportunities to show us how the club will best operate.”
Deke and Lalich rotated turns with the starting unit in Saturday’s morning practice and one player hinted that the evening session highlighted Lalich’s strengths running the starting unit in the two-minute drill.
Expect more of the same as Groh is not expected to announce a starter or even a two-quarterback rotation until a date much closer to the season opener.
“Unless something dramatic happens right away where some guy all of a
sudden for five or six days is ‘Holy smoke, this is really different,’ it’s probably the best thing for the team to gather as much input as we can as not to make an inappropriately quick decision.”
Virginia’s offensive weapons also played their cards — and words — close to the vest.
“There are things to like about all three,” said tight end John Phillips, cracking a wide grin. “I like them all.”
As far as the camp itself, Groh said it mirrored many that he has encountered during a career that started decades ago as an assistant coach at Albemarle High.
“[Training camp has been] very similar to the previous 40 — there’s certainly an air of anticipation of what opportunities there are to accomplish something,” Groh said. “It’s more about challenges and opportunity for achievement than it is that kind of excitement.
“It’s a different kind of excitement for coaches, and most likely for players, than what excitement is for a spectator. But right now, it’s not too exciting. It’s just go to work every day and try to access where the team is each particular day and what we need to do each day to get better.”
Extra points
Groh said defensive end Sean Gottschalk was under the weather, which explained his absence from team drills on Saturday. Gottschalk, a sophomore, is working on the right side of the defensive line with redshirt freshman Matt Conrath. Alex Field, Zane Parr and Jason Fuller are working on the left side. …. Corey Mosley, a safety, has been working extensively with the red zone packages, Groh said. That would allow the redshirt freshman to focus on learning one particular package and spell another safety.