Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil leads the charge waving the state flag before the Terps’ 27-26 victory over Virginia on Oct. 12 2013.
Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil smiles sometimes, sure, but the Terrapins football outside linebacker rarely does so unless he’s accomplished all of his tasks for the day.
“I live with him, so I know,” inside linebacker L.A. Goree said. “I mean, he’s a cool guy, but nothing’s a joke to Cudjoe. He takes everything seriously. He’s very goal-oriented.”
So Cudjoe-Virgil, a fifth-year senior, didn’t pout when he missed the season’s first three games with a foot injury. The setback was just the latest trial in a tumultuous career, and the work Cudjoe-Virgil put in to return to the field for Saturday’s 34-20 win at Syracuse was the most recent example of the Trinidad native leaning on his intense mindset to overcome an obstacle.
And if you look at Cudjoe-Virgil’s career trajectory, you’d be able to guess how aggressively he approached his rehab.
Cudjoe-Virgil was lightly recruited out of Towson High School and went to Division II Seton Hill to attract the attention of FBS scouts. After two dominant years in a lower tier of college football, he transferred to this university and worked as a campus security guard to support himself during a redshirt season before earning a prominent role on last year’s team.
When his promising junior campaign came to an abrupt end in the sixth game of the season after he tore his pectoral muscle making a tackle against Virginia, Cudjoe-Virgil vowed to pour all of his effort into rehabbing. He did, and he entered fall camp healthy and eager to begin his senior season.
Then came the left foot injury, which occurred in the final week of preseason camp. Cudjoe-Virgil sported a boot on his foot during the first few weeks of the regular season.
“It definitely hurt,” Cudjoe-Virgil said. “You feel like you work so hard. You work 365 days of the year just to play 12 games, and you find out you can’t play the first three after missing the last seven [the year before], it’s tough.”
But Cudjoe-Virgil was quick to begin strengthening his foot in order to return to the lineup, and he watched hours of film while he was out of action, all the while remaining upbeat.
“I’ve been through worse,” Cudjoe-Virgil would tell himself. “If I’m here now, I can overcome this.”
Cudjoe-Virgil turned to his roommates for support and took his rehab slowly, ensuring he didn’t push too hard too fast and miss more time. And now that the senior, a member of the team’s leadership council, is healthy, he’s accomplished another personal goal and boosted an ailing defense as Big Ten play begins.
With Cudjoe-Virgil’s return, the Terps add a veteran, and a projected starter, who recorded three sacks in six games last year. The bulky pass-rusher was also on the Butkus Award watch list entering the season and is a valuable asset on the Terps’ already highly-touted special teams unit.
His presence is sure to help the Terps, who have dealt with injuries to all four starting linebackers this season.
“He just brings so much effort, intensity and strength to the position,” coach Randy Edsall said. “Just having a guy out there like that feeds the other guys.”
Sophomore Yannick Ngakoue has impressed in a starting role as Cudjoe-Virgil worked his way back into the lineup. The senior figures to reclaim his spot once he’s fully acclimated to game competition — Cudjoe Virgil said he was still adjusting to the speed of the game Saturday and Edsall mentioned that he was “rusty” — but the two outside linebackers can also be used on the field together.
When Syracuse’s offense faced passing situations last week, the Terps left only one down lineman on the field and put Cudjoe-Virgil, Ngakoue and freshman pass rusher Jesse Aniebonam on the field at the same time.
“If I could pick three guys to rush the quarterback,” Goree said, “that’s who I would pick.”
Most of Cudjoe-Virgil’s playing time in his first game since injuring his pectoral last October came in that pass-rushing package. And while he never got to quarterback Terrel Hunt in the victory over the Orange, Cudjoe-Virgil left the Carrier Dome proud that he’d completed his return to the field.
Improving upon his production in Syracuse and returning to full form are up next on Cudjoe-Virgil’s to-do list, and it’d be tough to bet against him. One thing’s for sure, though: Cudjoe-Virgil won’t relax until he feels he’s playing up to his full potential.
Maybe then he’d be OK with smiling a bit more often.
“People like [Cudjoe-Virgil], it seems like they don’t lose in life,” Goree said. “They have the right attitude, the right mental state.”
