NC State Safety Rakeim Ashford: "I'm Getting Back In My Groove"

NC State safety Rakeim Ashford met with the media as the Wolfpack prepares for tonight's matchup versus Louisville.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

How is practice going?
Practice is going good. I’m getting back in my groove, coming back from a concussion. I’m doing better out there.

How long ago did you start feeling normal again?
It took about a week and a half. It wasn’t long. I stayed in treatement a lot during practice. When they were in practice I was doing rehab with my neck and in concussion protocol.

Was it where it looked scary or did you feel very scared?
It was both. When it happened it was a shock and my body just froze, so I didn’t know what to expect.  In my head I was thinking bad stuff, but with the outcome everything was positive.

What is the mood like going into Louisville?
We’re feeling good. We’re back at the Carter this week, so you know when we come back to the Carter, come back home, we’re fixing to ball out, out there.

Is it possible Louisville could be the most explosive offense you’ve seen to date?
Them boys are fast [Laughing].    They have deep threats, all of their receivers go long and fast. The running backs like to bounce it sometimes, and they are fast, too. We have a gameplan for them.

I know you can’t give away the gameplan.
Nah, I can’t give that up.

On being aggressive and controlling the pace...
You know how our defense runs. We go out there and play hard every game. It’s a system thing, so they know when we go out there what to expect when we come out.

The challenges last week with the injuries at safety...
I don’t really know what to say with that one. We have a lot of depth at safety. We have young guys, we have old guys. Even though we have one of them out, it will be alright.  The next person will step up.