N.C. State freshman cornerback Rashard Smith's knee injury is similar to the one quarterback Russell Wilson suffered in the Papajohns.com Bowl last season, coach Tom O'Brien said today.
Smith, a starter who's out for the season, won't require surgery and has an estimated recovery period of 12 weeks that should have him ready for the start of spring practice, O'Brien said.
The injury leaves N.C. State scrambling again in the secondary during its open date.
"Certainly it's a setback for us," O'Brien said during Wednesday's ACC coaches' teleconference. "We finally, after starting six different secondary groups in seven games, thought we would be locked in here. That's part of the thing, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, that we have to work through now, is find out where we're going to go and what we're going to do in the secondary."
O'Brien said mental preparation this week will be important with the Wolfpack mired in a three-game losing streak.
"The mental part is big right now for this football team," O'Brien said. "We haven't had the same type of play for the last two weeks that we did the first five weeks. So that's something we have to get back as coaches and I have to get back, get them back flying around and doing things. We've had effort, but there doesn't seem to be a spark."
N.C. State's coaching staff is taking advantage of the open week with some extra work in recruiting. Assistant coaches spent a lot of time Monday and Tuesday recruiting and will work on recruiting Friday as well.
O'Brien said the staff is focused on current high school seniors.
"We're really excited about the direction of the recruiting and where it's going right now, but there's still some other guys, holes that we have to fill on this football team," he said. "A lot of times in this off week it becomes apparent, and you spend time on that aspect of it."
