Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Q&A with Saluki quarterback Sam Straub
03/14/2018 | 3:55:00 | Football
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Saluki Football team is on spring break this week, but starting quarterback Sam Straub took a few minutes to provide an update on his recovery from wrist surgery and the team's goals for the rest of Spring Ball.
Explain the process you went through during the off-season to rehabilitate from your wrist injury.
I broke it on Oct. 28 at South Dakota and had surgery the next Friday. I have a pin in my wrist right now. I was in a cast for a month and a half, a splint for another month, and then as soon as I got out of the splint and got back from winter break, I started rehabbing right away, doing physical therapy. I started throwing gradually, increasing the reps, and once practice got here I was good to go.
Is the pin in there permanently?
Yep, it's in there forever.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how does it feel, is there any pain?
I can't say I really have pain. It's not 100 Â percent back to normal. My throwing is. I honestly think it's better than it has been in the past. Strength-wise it's still not there. I still have a lot of things that make me feel uncomfortable weight-bearing wise, but everything else is fine.
Did you feel any pressure during your recovery to get back in time, because it would have been hard to have spring ball without you?
Everyone has been great about making sure I feel comfortable and taking my time to return. It's not one of those things you can rush, because it is my future. I know it affects a lot of things that go on around here, but I didn't feel any pressure at all. I put pressure on myself because I wanted to get back. When you get hurt and sit out all that time, you have to get your body back into shape.
What are some of the differences you've seen so far with Coach Hill as the offensive coordinator?
Not a whole lot. Coach Hill has been with me since Day One here. When I came here it was his first year, too. We spent two years together as quarterback and OC. I know how he is in the room, and he knows how I am, so it's kind of just picking up where we left off when he was the offensive coordinator/QB coach before.Â
What's your primary goal for the spring?
Just continue to get better every day. There's so much from last season I need to improve on and we need to improve on as an offense, building chemistry and not taking any steps back.
Give me two or three specific areas you're focusing on.
Improving my completion percentage and accuracy a little bit. My completion percentage was not where I wanted it to be last year and we really want to focus on that. We want to be at 75 percent for the spring. Also, being good with where I'm going with the ball, not turning the ball over.
Losing you was a blow for the team last year. Has there been any talk about ways to protect you differently this year?
I'd say no, because the way I got hurt was a fluke play. It could happen right now, it could happen game-night next year. I was just running out of bounds and I got hit. It had nothing to do with me running the ball more or the protection, it was just a fluke accident on a scramble play.
What is one thing the offense is trying to emphasize or improve upon during spring ball?
With our group, we had 26 turnovers last year and it seems to be the Achilles heel of our offense since I've been here. We've not done a great job of it these first 3-4 practices. Eliminating those, leaning on each other and building the energy that we have is our plan for the rest of spring ball.
Explain the process you went through during the off-season to rehabilitate from your wrist injury.
I broke it on Oct. 28 at South Dakota and had surgery the next Friday. I have a pin in my wrist right now. I was in a cast for a month and a half, a splint for another month, and then as soon as I got out of the splint and got back from winter break, I started rehabbing right away, doing physical therapy. I started throwing gradually, increasing the reps, and once practice got here I was good to go.
Is the pin in there permanently?
Yep, it's in there forever.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how does it feel, is there any pain?
I can't say I really have pain. It's not 100 Â percent back to normal. My throwing is. I honestly think it's better than it has been in the past. Strength-wise it's still not there. I still have a lot of things that make me feel uncomfortable weight-bearing wise, but everything else is fine.
Did you feel any pressure during your recovery to get back in time, because it would have been hard to have spring ball without you?
Everyone has been great about making sure I feel comfortable and taking my time to return. It's not one of those things you can rush, because it is my future. I know it affects a lot of things that go on around here, but I didn't feel any pressure at all. I put pressure on myself because I wanted to get back. When you get hurt and sit out all that time, you have to get your body back into shape.
What are some of the differences you've seen so far with Coach Hill as the offensive coordinator?
Not a whole lot. Coach Hill has been with me since Day One here. When I came here it was his first year, too. We spent two years together as quarterback and OC. I know how he is in the room, and he knows how I am, so it's kind of just picking up where we left off when he was the offensive coordinator/QB coach before.Â
What's your primary goal for the spring?
Just continue to get better every day. There's so much from last season I need to improve on and we need to improve on as an offense, building chemistry and not taking any steps back.
Give me two or three specific areas you're focusing on.
Improving my completion percentage and accuracy a little bit. My completion percentage was not where I wanted it to be last year and we really want to focus on that. We want to be at 75 percent for the spring. Also, being good with where I'm going with the ball, not turning the ball over.
Losing you was a blow for the team last year. Has there been any talk about ways to protect you differently this year?
I'd say no, because the way I got hurt was a fluke play. It could happen right now, it could happen game-night next year. I was just running out of bounds and I got hit. It had nothing to do with me running the ball more or the protection, it was just a fluke accident on a scramble play.
What is one thing the offense is trying to emphasize or improve upon during spring ball?
With our group, we had 26 turnovers last year and it seems to be the Achilles heel of our offense since I've been here. We've not done a great job of it these first 3-4 practices. Eliminating those, leaning on each other and building the energy that we have is our plan for the rest of spring ball.
Players Mentioned
QB
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