After disallowing the media from watching practice until Syracuse’s season opener against Penn State on Aug. 31, head coach Scott Shafer moved the Orange inside the Carrier Dome for additional privacy at practice on Wednesday.

The Orange banned media earlier Wednesday afternoon as assistant athletics director for communications for football Sue Edson said the team doesn’t want reported injuries to influence betting lines.

She added that Syracuse had to self-report an NCAA violation regarding recruiting contact and the media earlier in training camp, and the team didn’t want that to happen again.

“For the most part it’s more than just one or two things,” Shafer said at a press conference. “Just one of those calls you have to make.”

Prior to the announcement, practice was supposed to be available to the media Saturday, Aug. 24, Tuesday, Aug. 27 and Wednesday, Aug. 28.

Shafer said practice went smoothly in the Dome. The team ran a mock game, playing with personnel changes and making up injuries to simulate live-game situations.

With Syracuse’s opening game against Penn State at MetLife Stadium 10 days away, it was time to start preparing for the Nittany Lions.

“The more we practice in there,” linebacker Cameron Lynch said, “the more of an advantage we’ll have against our opponent.”

Published on August 21, 2013 at 8:46 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass