Sophomore quarterback Connor Cook, whose late-game performance in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl spawned a three-man race for the starting position this fall with incumbent senior Andrew Maxwell and redshirt freshman Tyler O’Connor, said he’s not worried about a little extra physicality after practice No. 6 on Tuesday, despite being leveled by senior linebacker Max Bullough after releasing the ball in a scramble drill.

“I don’t mind getting hit,” Cook said. “It just makes everything more realistic, more game-like. So if you’re out here every single day and practicing like a game, then it can only make you better.”

Dantonio said the plan is for the threesome to share nearly equal repetitions in practices with the starting offense this spring. Each quarterback rotates among the first team in different periods of practice, Cook said.

“That’s our plan, to try and make sure they’re all exposed, to have an opportunity to play some with the ones (and) twos predominantly,”Dantonio said. “But Maxwell takes the majority, then Connor, then Tyler. But they get more reps than a normal two or a three would get with the ones.”

“Create” has been a buzzword around the program this offseason. Dantonio has placed a premium on the ability of players to create things out of nothing with their mobility.

In addition to keeping the quarterbacks live, there has been an increased focus in drills on the quarterbacks making plays with their feet and improvising through broken plays. Co-offensive coordinator and playcaller Dave Warner also is getting used to gameday simulations by calling plays without a script and with the play clock ticking in practices.

“They’ve been live and they’ve gotten tackled, so they’ve got to get the ball off or create,” Dantonio said. “And I know that’s a little bit of a risk issue, but we try and stay healthy and not take any cheap shots on them. But when the pocket collapses around them — and it’s gonna — they’ve got to make something happen.”

As far as an early pecking order, quarterbacks coach Brad Salem said Maxwell has a slight separation from the pack because of his starting experience.

The fact that Maxwell is battle-tested from an up-and-down 2012 campaign should be an edge for him going forward, while Cookneeds to build upon what he showed in limited action in the bowl game.

O’Connor and Cook’s fleet of foot could be their advantage over Maxwell, but the former still is mastering the offensive scheme after playing on the scout team in his redshirt season. O’Connor, a Lima, Ohio product, says he’s “getting right there” with the other two in terms of processing the offense, and that increased reps through spring and into fall will get him more comfortable running the show.

“I can add a different dimension that I feel like the other guys can’t,” O’Connor said. “Really it’s just I feel like I can make more plays and extend plays when things are breaking down, and that’s something Coach D has stressed. I’m just trying to stick out, because it’s everyone’s goal here to start, but in the end everyone just wants the team to be better and win games.”