HANOVER — It’s not easy to drop your baby off at college, especially when he’s about to embark on a college football career that will at times expose him to stress and potentially serious injury.

Adriana and Francisco Caballero maintained stiff upper lips Saturday in the Memorial Field bleachers, however, as Dartmouth College began preseason practice down below. The Miami residents watched their son, freshman offensive lineman Cisco Caballero, and more than 100 others be put through their paces in advance of the Sept. 16 opener at the University of New Hampshire.

“We had to say goodbye to him yesterday, and I cried like a baby,” Adriana said. She smiled at her husband, who’s a producer for televised sports events. “He said I did it perfectly on cue.”

Asked the main reason their son, who was recruited by six other Ivy League schools, chose Dartmouth, and the parents responded almost in unison: head coach Buddy Teevens.

Teevens, however, hasn’t been able to work since a March collision with a speeding pickup truck and his bicycle in Florida. The 66-year old suffered grave injuries that included spinal-cord damage and the amputation of a leg.

Dartmouth, at the behest of Teevens’ wife, Kirsten, has provided minimal updates. No photos, video or audio recordings involving the coach have become public. He is currently in a Boston-area rehabilitation facility.

The Caballero parents, who said they and their son felt like they had “won the lottery” when Cisco was accepted to Dartmouth, said they have faith in interim head coach Sammy McCorkle and his assistants, most of whom have been with the Big Green for more than a decade. However, they said they’ve been told next to nothing about Teevens’ status.

“They’ve kept us in the dark, but I don’t think anything’s missing here,” Francisco Caballero said.

McCorkle said he plans to visit Teevens whenever he’s told it’s appropriate to do so.

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Jace Henry is listed at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, but the tight end might weigh even more. The senior looked massive Saturday and is poised to build upon last year’s honorable mention All-Ivy honors. The Alaskan started the final seven games of the season, scoring three times, and his yards-per-catch average (17.5) led the Big Green.

Henry played quarterback in high school and remains listed as a dual-position player at Dartmouth, although he didn’t participate in drills with his team’s six other signal callers.

“We’ve got him at a position where he’s getting more and more confident, and we’ve got enough guys at (quarterback) that we can keep him there,” said McCorkle of a player who’s practiced under center but never thrown a pass in a game. “I think it will be good for him to focus on that one position. He’s probably 15 to 20 pounds bigger than last season, but he’s still moving as quick as before.”

Fifth-year quarterback Nick Howard is a second-year captain and a powerful runner, but he slowed under the weight of injuries as last season progressed. How will the 2021 All-Ivy player be used this fall?

“We want to put him in positions where he can be successful and where he can cause problems for a defense,” McCorkle said of a player who was sometimes lined up as a receiver Saturday. Such a scheme gets position mates Dylan Cadwallader and Jackson Proctor more repetitions and gives offensive coordinator Kevin Daft more attacking options.

Howard, whose versatility might give him a better shot at reaching an NFL training camp next summer, was fourth in the league with nine rushing touchdowns last season and sixth in rushing yards per game at 63.3. He led the Big Green with 506 rushing yards and completed 59% of his passes for 730 yards and two touchdowns.

Dartmouth was decimated by injury last season, and McCorkle said he and the team’s certified athletic trainers closely examined who got hurt and when and why after the campaign.

Some of the injuries seemed unpreventable, the coach said, such as a spate of torn knee ligaments. However, what McCorkle termed “soft tissue injuries” such as sprains and pulls are more closely linked to how the team practices and trains.

“We made a concerted effort during the spring to come up with a planned progression about how many reps and how much time we spend on things and how we want to structure practice,” he said. “We spent a good week prior to the preseason discussing that.”

Only one player, reserve offensive lineman James Morrison, wore a red top Saturday, indicative of having to sit out of drills entirely.

Notes: Athletic director Mike Harrity, beginning his second year on the job, made a brief sideline appearance during the practice’s opening minutes. … Asked if his program will remain in contact with onetime defensive back Amir Braxton, accused of involvement in a $150,000 robbery during a February ATM cash transfer in his native Colorado, McCorkle said a statement on the matter should soon be forthcoming. … Defensive line coach Duane Brooks was absent, attending a late friend’s celebration of life, McCorkle said. … Some of Dartmouth’s players are finishing up summer school classes. … The Big Green will be practicing early in the morning during much of the preseason, which McCorkle said allows three different times during the day’s remainder for injured players to receive treatment.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.