Quick Hits: Brown Discusses Conference Realignment, Injuries, RB2 Battle + More

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown met with the media as fall camp commences.

RE: Injury update

"[Tight end] Mike O'Laughlin is dealing with a minor injury, he's out for right now - precautionary as much as anything. [Linebacker] Ja'Corey Hammett has an ACL injury that he's still recovering from. He's a ways away from being ready. He did that in his high school season last year. And [safety] Naim Muhammad had offseason surgery and he's out right now. He'll probably be out for a few more weeks. 

RE: When freshman RB Jaylen Anderson will arrive

"Jaylen is not here, everybody else is here. I'm not sure when Jaylen will arrive but we are still hopeful that he will. Some clearinghouse things going on but he's the only one that's not here right now. 

RE: Redshirting COVID freshmen who are freshmen again

"From now until the 24th of August, we are in camp mode. We will start Maryland prep until the 25th. We'll stay away from making redshirting decisions or anything like that. The way we are attacking most of the guys that played limited roles last year are we are really perceiving them as redshirt freshmen already but we could redshirt them for sure."

RE: Where Virginia Tech OL transfer Doug Nester fits

"Yeah, we're working him at guard. That's where he got his reps today and we will play it by ear. We're not going to say 'hey, he has to stick at guard' but that's where he's getting his reps right now. 

RE: Who has looked better physically since the offseason began

"Two bodies that are a lot different are Jarret Doege, he has changed his body. He's close to the same weight but the makeup is totally different. He's down under 10% body fat which has been a huge improvement for him. And Akheem Mesidor has really changed his body. Those are two guys physically when you see them in helmets running around you can see there's a significant difference than when we got done with the spring game.

RE: Thoughts on conference realignment

"I have no crystal ball. I have no idea how it's going to play out. What I do know though is West Virginia, for a really long time, has been in a bunch of different conferences but played at a high level. The success of our men's basketball program and our football program will dictate that we will be in a good landing spot. We're in the Big 12. We're getting ready to play the Big 12. We're happy members there and it's not going to affect anything we are doing this year. That's how I've talked to our guys about it is we've been in several conferences but the one common is we play football at a high level here and we've handled those changes and we will do that moving forward as well."

RE: Exree Loe's role in 2021

"I think this is his time. He battled a foot injury all year last year. He's been one of the best special teams players now going on three years. We know he's going to be a contributor on special teams. He's going to be a great, not a good special teams player but I think it's time for him. I think it's a good opportunity for him in this preseason camp to earn quality playing time on defense."

RE: Backup running back battle

"If we played tomorrow, Tony Mathis would be the No. 2 back. He came out of spring as the No. 2 back and he's had a great offseason according to [strength coach] Mike Joseph. I think Justin Johnson will be a factor in that. We really like him and on day one he made a couple of plays. We really liked his high school film, we thought he was one of the guys we were most excited about in that recruiting class."

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