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Mother of missing Nebraska QB Beck says he's 'safe'
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Associated Press
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<!-- begin text11 div --><!-- begin leftcol --> <!-- template inline --> LINCOLN, Neb. -- The mother of Nebraska backup quarterback
Harrison Beck said her son, who skipped practice Saturday, is disgruntled with the amount of work he has received the first few days of preseason camp.
Evelyn Beck-Bothwell told the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday night that Beck sent her a text message that read: "I'm safe."
Coach Bill Callahan said after practice that he didn't know Beck's whereabouts and that he was concerned about him.
"We contacted his parents," Callahan said. "He didn't arrive for afternoon meetings, so we are concerned. We are trying to contact him at the moment."
Callahan said Beck was at meetings in the morning, but didn't return after lunch.
"I talked to the players about it, and it really came as a surprise to all of us," Callahan said.
The Associated Press couldn't reach Beck or Beck-Bothwell for comment. A phone message left for Beck's high school coach, John Davis of Countryside High in Clearwater, Fla., was not immediately returned.
Beck-Bothwell told the Journal Star that her son was upset because
Joe Ganz was receiving more practice repetitions behind starter
Zac Taylor.
"Maybe if he would have stayed in the SEC, he would've been playing," Beck-Bothwell said. "Maybe he made the wrong decision. He knows that playbook. It's just an issue of not getting respect from the older players."
Running back
Cody Glenn told reporters last week that older players on the team chided Beck last spring for not taking football seriously enough.
"Harrison, he's the kind of guy where he has all the physical tools. He can throw it a mile and throw it hard as anybody I've seen in my life," Glenn said. "He has to mature a little more. You saw that a lot this past summer, how he came in and tried to take control and be more of a leader as opposed to last year. He would kind of goof off and jack around and not really take this stuff seriously.
"This year it's like a totally different Harrison."
Beck appeared in two games as a freshman last season, completing one of 10 passes. His only completion, a 21-yarder to
Nate Swift, helped set up the winning field goal against Kansas State.
Beck-Bothwell told the Journal Star that her son would beat out Taylor for the starting quarterback's job if the coaches devoted more time to him. She said Taylor is "just OK."
"It'd be different if he was sitting behind
Matt Leinart or
Brady Quinn," Beck-Bothwell said.
