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Friday, April 18, 2003

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

It was no secret that Penn State quarterback Zack Mills went through much of last season with pain his left (throwing) elbow. He has been dealing with discomfort and tendinitis in the elbow since he was in high school.

Faced with another season of ongoing pain, treatment and uncertainty, Mills has opted for another method of easing the pain. He has decided to change the grip he has been using since he was a kid.

Mills has small hands and used an unorthodox grip to get his hand around a football. He had placed his middle finger on the laces on the fattest part of the ball. He is now gripping the ball higher on the laces where the ball is not as wide, and he reports less pain as the Nittany Lions' spring practice session nears an end.

Graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary, a former Penn State quarterback, along with other Penn State quarterbacks, spotted the defective grip in the winter.

"None of them had ever seen anyone grip the ball the way I did," Mills said. "It's working. It's not as sore as it has been in the past. I'm able to get more behind the ball. It's just the physics of it. I'm feeling more comfortable with it, and it has decreased the pain, so hopefully it'll work out."

Mills endured elbow and shoulder pain for much of last season. The shoulder pain eventually went away. The recurring elbow pain did not.

Mills' production tailed off in the second half of last season, and he was benched in the fourth quarter of the Capital One Bowl, a 13-9 loss to Auburn. When he got back to University Park in mid-January, he had an MRI on the elbow. Nothing out of the ordinary was found, other than the suspected tendinitis.

Mills reportedly is throwing as well as he did before the grip change, but anytime one changes a lifelong habit, there are mental and physical hurdles to overcome.

"I'm glad I have four more months over the summer to throw with it," said Mills, who has thrown for 4,086 yards entering his junior season. "I'll be throwing every day. Summer is the best time to improve. You want to switch back sometimes. But I was just messing around the other day with the old way, and it didn't feel right, so that's a good sign. This is something that's going to help me in the long run."

Penn State Coach Joe Paterno designated Mills as his starter before spring practice commenced, subduing any potential quarterback controversy between Mills and Michael Robinson, who replaced him in the bowl game.

Mills had a meeting with Paterno a few weeks after the bowl game, and the two cleared the air. The day after the game, Paterno suggested that Robinson could compete with Mills for the starter's job.

"I wanted to make sure from my standpoint what was going on," Mills said. "He made it clear that I was the guy. He made it clear that it was my job to lose."

That means, if Mills stays healthy, Robinson, at 6-foot-3 and 223 pounds, will reassume his "slash" role and play quarterback/running back/receiver again next season. He had 50 rushes for 263 yards and six touchdowns, nine receptions for 44 yards and was 10 for 17 for 119 yards passing.

"Whatever helps the team win, I'm down with it," said Robinson, who will be a redshirt sophomore this fall. "If that's what the team calls upon me to do, I'll do it."

If things go as expected, Robinson will be the starter only for his senior season. Mills has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Robinson seems at peace with that. He has gotten some advice from another Penn State player who went through a similar situation. Larry Johnson did not become a full-time starter until final season, when he rushed for more than 2,000 yards and was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

"I look at LJ and a guy like Brad Banks," said Robinson, referencing Iowa's quarterback last season, who also became a Heisman finalist with one season as a starter. "Joe always says he'd rather put me in two days too late than six days too early. As long as I get to play, I'll be satisfied."