Sports
Email
Print
Injured Yates says he will try to help from sideline
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: September 25, 2008
CHAPEL HILL
T.J. Yates will be sidelined for about six weeks at North Carolina but is planning on maintaining an active role until his return.
Yates expects to travel to Miami on Friday and will try to help Mike Paulus and Cam Sexton, the players who will replace him at quarterback, with advice while standing on the sideline.
"I'm going to try and be involved as much as possible," Yates said. "When I come off to the sideline, sometimes I don't see everything out there on the field. Sometimes I'll come off and Cam or Mike, they'll tell me what they saw.
"They'll tell me what blitz came or what coverage the defense was in or what stance the corner was in. I'm going to try and do that as much as possible to help out and let them know what I see out there. I'm going to help as much as possible."
Saturday's game will be the first in the last 16 that Yates, a sophomore, hasn't started. He suffered a broken left ankle last Saturday when sacked in the third quarter of a 20-17 loss to Virginia Tech.
Yates' absence is creating uncertainty for UNC in its first ACC road game of the season, but he is confident that Paulus and Sexton can deliver the play needed at quarterback after battling them in practice since August 2007.
Yates said he sees the necessary qualities to be an outstanding quarterback in Paulus, a redshirt freshman, and Sexton, a junior who started five times in the 2006 season.
"Cam's been here for a while; he knows what he's doing and he's a smart player," Yates said. "He knows where to go with the ball. He's been around. He's played against Virginia Tech and he's played against Miami. He's been there.
"Mike's got a world of potential. He's got a big arm. He's got a big, strong body. He just needs to get a little more experience. It's the one thing you can't teach, really, just being in there in the game.
"I think they both have amazing qualities that they can bring to this team. I'm completely comfortable with whoever plays."
Yates plans on working with both players in practice.
Nothing that Yates or Coach Butch Davis said could help Paulus immediately against Virginia Tech's blitzes, which severely limited the time an inexperienced replacement had to find a receiver and throw a pass.
"I was talking to Mike during the game and telling him to be comfortable but he had a horrible situation going into it," Yates said. "It was his first time ever getting real playing time. He was really thrown into the fire against Virginia Tech, one of the best defenses around."
As Yates discovered last season, practice cannot duplicate the pressure generated in a game by a blitzing defense. He had to learn on the field when to throw away a pass and move on to the next down. Paulus had one series of mop-up experience at Rutgers when he took the field against Virginia Tech.
"I've told him to study as much as he can," Yates said. "The more you study, the more it becomes second nature to you. You want to feel comfortable during the game. I'm going to be with him and Cam and all the quarterbacks as much as possible. I'll be there watching film as much as I was before. We always help each other out."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
