MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) - WVU football is in an open week this week. It gives the team a break before the rest of the season while also giving coaches more time to evaluate the team’s shortcomings.

For head coach Neal Brown, a lot of discussion during his press conference Tuesday revolved around the dropped passes that plagued the team during the loss to Texas.

The team had several, giving the team a bump to smooth out heading into the rest of Big 12 play. Coach Brown says he tells his players you should try to catch 90 plus percent of the good balls that come your way. The number of drops the team has had, as he put it, is not 90 plus percent. When asked what may be the cause of so many dropped passes, coach Brown pointed to the fundamentals, hand placement and small movements.

“The big thing, when you’re catching the ball, is you want to catch the ball in front of your face,” said coach Brown as he held his hands in front of his eyes as if he were a receiver.

“Any time that you are catching the ball here, it’s an easy track. When you start trying to catch the ball here,” he said as he moved his hands behind him. “You have to track that ball all the way behind. That’s a really hard track.”

“A lot of our drops aren’t necessarily hand-eye coordination,” said coach Brown. They’re hand placement, and really, fundamental issues.”

CJ Donaldson to be out for Baylor Game

CJ Donaldson will be out for the matchup against Baylor as he is currently in concussion protocol following his injury against Texas.

Coach Brown confirmed his status, saying that the team as a whole was banged up in a physical game against Texas. Charles Woods, another injury that has hurt the Mountaineers, is still without a timetable.

Each team creates its concussion protocol and submits it to the NCAA for approval. For the Mountaineers, concussions are handled by putting athletes through five phases. In order, the phases generally include:

1) Light aerobic exercise

2) Increased intensity

3) Sport specific activity

4)Full competitive practice

5) Return to game.

Between each phase, the player must have 24 hours of no concussion symptoms in order to move on to the next. If symptoms reoccur, the player is sent back down to the previous level. This is the case for Donaldson, who is presumably working his way through those phases now. Coach Brown says he will provide further insight onto injuries next week ahead of the matchup with Baylor.

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