PowerMizzou.com - Q&A: Tony Carter on the summer workouts

June 14, 2006

With his shoulder just about healed up from off-season surgery, sophomore cornerback Tony Carter has been hard at work this summer preparing for the upcoming season. The Jacksonville native spoke to the media following Wednesday's workout about the status of his shoulder injury, his struggles to put on weight, what he learned while sitting out spring practice and more.

Q: How has the last week and a half gone out here during the workouts?

Carter: Things are going pretty good. We have a lot of guys out here, more than we had last summer around this time. We are picking up the pace and you can see we are not waiting for the second half of the summer to get started. We are waiting on the new guys to come in so we can break them off.

Q: Will it be weird for you to be an elder statesman once those freshmen come out to the workouts?

Carter: Yeah, it kind of feels odd actually. This will be my second group of freshmen that I have seen come in. I want to help the new guys out a lot more and be more of a teacher than being a rookie.

Q: How is your shoulder right now?

Carter: It is about 80-percent right now. I am lifting and gaining weight and stuff. It feels pretty good.

Q: Anybody stuck out to you during the workouts?

Carter: I can't name one particular guy. As a team everybody is keeping up and not many guys are behind. The last couple of years you see guys way in the back and this year it is kind of like everybody is on the same page and everybody is finishing their workouts in the weight room and making their times in the running. As a team we are looking good as a whole, individually I can't think of anybody.

Q: Putting on weight has had to be a bit of a struggle for you since you couldn't lift for a while after your surgery?

Carter: Yeah, it is tough getting back to normal. It seems like every time I get to 173 that I get down to 150 because I have a surgery. It is really back and forth. I am back up to about 170 right now. I am trying to gain a little bit more since I know I will lose some during two-a-days.

Q: What are you able to do with your shoulder currently?

Carter: I can do pretty much everything. Play at my own risk. We are not tackling or anything like that so I can do everything.

Q: How did the players respond last week during the workouts when you and other corners held the extra practice for the defensive backs and some linebackers?

Carter: We kind of are setting the standards for the summer and the season. We have to come out and work hard. We have a lot of talent but it isn't really proven yet. In order to prove it we have to keep working hard everyday. We have to keep aggressive.

Q: Did you have some fun playing 'coach' in those drills?

Carter: Something like that, I don't really consider myself as a coach or anything like that. It is just that I played a lot last year so I know what it takes, a little bit since I am still learning myself. Somebody had to lead us and I felt like I could step into that role.

Q: Did you learn anything during the spring?

Carter: Yeah, mental more than physical. I had a chance to watch from the sidelines and learn exactly what the coaches want so when I get out there this fall I won't make the same mistake I made last season.

Q: Do you think that the experience of the cornerbacks will prove to be a source of strength for the team this coming season as compared to last season?

Carter: Yeah, people are going to say what they want to say because if an all-American goes down you are supposed to say that. I feel like we are going to be a strength, the whole defense as a total. It wasn't just the secondary was weak because we were inexperienced, a key guy went down who everybody was so high on so it is just natural for people to say that. This season we should be a lot more experienced and know what we are doing back there.

Transcribed by Chris Nee