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Justin Fuente and Shai McKenzie Disagree On Whether McKenzie Is Injured Or Not

Shai McKenzie has rarely touched the field for the Hokies this season with just about all of those snaps coming in the first month of the season late in games that were already out of hand. McKenzie has seen his playing time shrink significantly this season while also not looking like the same tailback he was as a true freshman for the Hokies. Earlier this week, Justin Fuente mentioned one reason for McKenzie's lack of playing time. https://twitter.com/AndyBitterVT/status/810950753284161536 The thing is, Shai McKenzie didn't agree with Justin Fuente and went on Twitter to share his thoughts. https://twitter.com/Mckenzie_era/status/811010051607502849 To say this tweet caught people by surprise would be an understatement as you just don't see a player often come out on Twitter and dispute what the coach said in this way, and then still not delete the tweet. This tweet exposes the fact that there is a clear divide between Fuente and McKenzie that may be part of the reason for his benching, and makes you seriously question if McKenzie has any future in Blacksburg or if he's just finishing out the season on the roster before making a decision to transfer. Now for anyone who thinks this shows a split in the locker room, that would be absolutely ridiculous. Simply put, there was not a single player who retweeted or liked McKenzie's tweet. On top of that, Virginia Tech players has been consistent in not only buying into the message from Justin Fuente and his staff, but not going against that message in any sort of public way whatsoever with no echoes whatsoever of any locker room issues. What's clear is that this team is unified behind Fuente, but also know that there also no signs that McKenzie is being frozen out by teammates or anything along those lines. If McKenzie wants to stay with the Hokies, he'll still be on the team with no issues that I know of. Fuente has his house in order with McKenzie being the one guy who seems to be unsettled in Blacksburg. At this point, it would be very surprising to me if McKenzie was a Hokie next season given the clear differences of opinion that make a split the best move for both parties, but you never know sometimes especially after McKenzie caught people by surprise with that tweet. Stay up with The Tech Lunch Pail for the latest on the Hokies via Facebook and Twitter plus subscribe to our email updates.
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