Spring Practice Notebook

It happens every season on every level of every sport: the starting player goes down with an injury and a virtual unknown steps into the leading role.

This spring for the Rutgers football team, sophomore safety Pat Kivlehan is getting his chance with junior Joe Lefeged nursing a bum shoulder. 

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” he said. “I’m getting the chance so now I have to make the best of it.”

Now a third of the way through spring practices, Kivlehan is taking repetitions with the first team defense and head coach Greg Schiano sees his progression increase as the days go on.

“Pat’s trying to compete for the safety spot, so he went from being a role player on special teams and doing some depth things to now competing for a starting job, so we’ll see,” Schiano said. “He’s doing a nice job, I think.”

Kivlehan’s journey to Rutgers began at St. Joseph’s High School in Montvale, NJ, where he followed in the footsteps of former RU defensive backs Ron Girault and Jason McCourty and current cornerback Devin McCourty. 

Unheralded as a two-star recruit on Rivals.com, Kivlehan ended up in Piscataway after Rutgers gave him a scholarship offer on the eve of signing day. Kivlehan’s decision was made at that moment, selecting the Scarlet Knights over New Hampshire and Rhode Island among others. 

“[Schiano] called me and offered me, and I accepted it right then and there,” he said. “I wanted to play here all along. This was the place I wanted to be. I’m glad I’m here.”

Kivlehan may be able to credit RU’s late offer to his NY/NJ All-Star Football Classic performance, a game played at Rutgers Stadium, where he was named New Jersey’s Defensive Most Valuable Player. 

Always recognized as a player “in the right place at the right time,” a notion confirmed by fellow starting safety Zaire Kitchen, the former special teams’ standout finds himself in a whole new world in the secondary and said he is doing his best to take in as much new information as possible.

“Just learning the whole defense in general because safety’s a hard position,” Kivlehan said of his goals for the remainder of the spring. “You have to know the whole field, right, left. Just to get everything, because last year I was part of the defense but I didn’t really understand it not being here from the beginning.”

Senior quarterback Jabu Lovelace participated for the first time without the protective boot on his left leg.

“It felt good,” Lovelace said of how he held up during the practice.

Lovelace had surgery late last season to repair a broken leg and was held out of practice until Saturday. Though he did not take part in everything, Lovelace worked out in positional drills with the quarterbacks.

“He’s making progress,” Schiano said.

In another injury note, senior right tackle Kevin Haslam was held out of practice, though he was in full uniform on the sidelines.

“I don’t think it’s serious, just a little tweak in his leg so he will be ok,” Schiano said. “I think this spring he will be back, but I’m not sure though.”

Sophomore Desmond Stapleton took over the spot.

As his tentative transition from running back to wide receiver progresses, junior Mason Robinson was moved up in the two-deep and was the third receiver on the field during drills, along with senior Tim Brown and junior Julian Hayes.