Iowa football update on A-Rob, recruiting, Norm Parker and team's mood

Here's a quick update from Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz on Iowa football injuries, Norm Parker, recruiting and the team's mood after dropping three straight games to finish the season:

Does RB Adam Robinson expect to return?

"He had a concussion. I don't think it was anything more serious than that. So we're expecting him to be back. (Linebacker Jeff) Tarpinian is still questionable, and outside of that I'm trying to think - I haven't thought about that in a while. But I think we should be fairly healthy."

What about cornerbacks Shaun Prater and Micah Hyde, both of whom left last week's game with injuries?

"I don't think we had anything serious last week outside of Tarp not being ready to go. You know, and then the guys that have had - I'm trying to think of who else. The guys we lost for the season we've lost for the season, but Jeff is a guy we're hoping to get back for the bowl game. That would be a real plus if we could get him back."

Will defensive coordinator Norm Parker have much of a role in preparing for the game?

"Well, I think last week was a good week for him, and that's encouraging news. Maybe I'd link him with Jeff Tarpinian, although Norm did more than Tarp last week, so I guess that's a good thing. But we think Tarp is on schedule maybe to have a chance to play in the Bowl, and certainly Norm I think is gaining ground.

"But it's going to be a process. You know, we maybe underestimated that back two months ago. It's been a long road back, and we're just going to take it a day at a time. But he's had a good week. He was in the office, as painful as it was, going back through the Minnesota game and spending time on that, and he was also on the field a couple days. We worked our younger players twice, and he was out there for both practices.

"Hopefully that's an indication where we're heading. I understand he was at the basketball game (Saturday), too, which was great. Those are all positives."

On how playing against Missouri might affect future recruiting:

"I hadn't really thought about it that way. I think the good thing is we're playing a team that's really had a great season, is nationally ranked, and has proven that they're a very good football team. So I think that's exciting.

"It'll be a great challenge for us, so that part, and if it helps us in recruiting, I guess it could hurt us, too, if we don't play well. But I really hadn't thought about it. But I think it's just a good match-up. I think the fans will be interested in it because of who we're playing and where we're playing it, so I think those are two positives. I haven't thought much further about it."

On the reception he and his coaches have received on the recruiting trail:

"I think real positive. We're not hardly done with our recruiting yet right now. I guess we're about two thirds of the way or somewhere in that ballpark. But I think the reception has been great. I think things are positive, and next couple weeks will be real important for us to see how things start to fall into place for us. "

Are there any positions that maybe you're identifying with this class?

"Pretty much everything. I don't know where we're - where we wouldn't want to try to improve right now or add to our roster. We're looking at everything obviously. I think we're - hopefully we're well on the right track. We'll just have to see how the next couple weeks play out."

If he plans to address the team's focus during bowl preparation after losing three straight games to end the season:

"What would you think? You know, to me it really doesn't matter what your record is. If you have a game scheduled, which we had this one schedule for a long time, when you have a game scheduled, it's all of our jobs to come and bring our best to the field every week, and that's - we didn't get that done. It's over. It's history. There's nothing we can do about it, but we just have to try to our best moving forward, and that's what we're going to do."