Thursday practice report
- By Guerry Smith
- Joe Kennedy's Wave Crest
- 0 Replies
This one will be short because I got a call from my 4-year-old's school this morning that he was sick and had to be picked up. Couldn't find any relatives to take him on short notice, so he got a tour of Yulman Stadium during practice and was in my arms during the CJ interview. Special thanks to Carlos Wilson, who before leaving practice a few minutes early to go to class handed a football to my son and played "catch" with him for a minute, then let him keep the football for the rest of the practice. Wilson is a class guy.
It is amazing to me how many played have to to leave practice early for classes. CJ insists it is not an issue, and the players have said the same thing. Today, Ed Williams left about 20 minutes early for a test. So did Nick Montana, Tristan Cooper and Wilson, but at least that trio is not slated to play.
Look for a joint feature with the Rutgers site tomorrow with us answering about six questions apiece previewing the game with a prediction.
Here's the transcript of the interview Tammy and I had with CJ:
How was practice today and overall this week?
"I thought it was really good. We had another good week of practice. I really liked yesterday. On Tuesday I didn't think we hustled as much on the offensive line and different positions. Yesterday and today I thought we really hustled, we really played and practiced well, we caught the ball well. These freshmen are catching it well. (Terren) Encalade and Leondre (James) are doing a great job. Ed Williams had another good week of practice."
How much more comfortable do you feel now than you did when coached your first game here against Rutgers?
"I feel a lot more comfortable with what we are doing. That was the first game ever. I didn't know half the players' names back the, so this is a little bit different."
Last year you had a rough fourth game against Syracuse where a lot of self-inflicted errors distorted the score just like on Saturday against Duke. You then won four in a row. Are there some parallels there?
"Here's the difference with last year's team and this year's team. Last year's team was a little bit older and more mature. You had (Chris) Davenport and (Julius) Warmsley and guys that had been in the program. Even Jordan Sullen had been in the program for a long time. You had a bunch of guys that were in the program, so you had some strong leadership. One of our best leaders now, (Darion) Monroe, is a young kid, (Nico) Marley is a young kid. You have to say Tanner is a leader, he's the quarterback, very, very young kid, not only on the field but young kid as a player, so we have a bunch of young kids that are trying to do something major."
Charles Jones has not had a catch the past two games. What is happening with him?
"The last game wasn't his game. I thought he did outstanding blocking. He's one guy that you want to do play-action and do stuff like that, but when you fall behind and have one-tight personnel or no tight ends, it was just one of those games where it wasn't his call."
Does Rene Fleury have a minor injury?
"He had a little hamstring. He ran down on special teams and pulled a hamstring on the first kickoff, so he's probably out this one."
Can you experiment with tempo a little bit on offense and go faster?
"No, I thought it was good. I thought the tempo was great today. I don't want to give my game plan out, but I thought the tempo was really, really good. We had to run a couple of plays over because the defense wasn't set where we wanted, but the tempo has been good all week."
Your receivers have done a good job in packages getting on and off the field. Can you talk about that?
"They are playing well, especially these young kids are starting to understand their role. Encalade and Leondre James are really catching the ball well for us. They are doing a great job getting in and out and they are blocking very well, too, so I like what these young kids are doing."
Who are some Rutgers players to watch?
"Look, the two defensive ends for sure. Both of those guys, they are sack leaders. This No. 3 (linebacker Steve Longa) is an outstanding player. This little back is a pretty good player. The receivers are good. The quarterback is going to manage the game and he's very accurate. Defensively, if you look at the two defensive ends and the linebacker, they are a great team."
How did Tanner look?
"He looked good. He looked real good."
Special teams?
"Looked pretty good. We didn't miss a kick today. The operation was really good. Matt (Marfisi) snapped well. (Mike) Lizanich didn't snap with the team, but hopefully we can see if he can do something tomorrow. If not, then it will be Matt."
It is amazing to me how many played have to to leave practice early for classes. CJ insists it is not an issue, and the players have said the same thing. Today, Ed Williams left about 20 minutes early for a test. So did Nick Montana, Tristan Cooper and Wilson, but at least that trio is not slated to play.
Look for a joint feature with the Rutgers site tomorrow with us answering about six questions apiece previewing the game with a prediction.
Here's the transcript of the interview Tammy and I had with CJ:
How was practice today and overall this week?
"I thought it was really good. We had another good week of practice. I really liked yesterday. On Tuesday I didn't think we hustled as much on the offensive line and different positions. Yesterday and today I thought we really hustled, we really played and practiced well, we caught the ball well. These freshmen are catching it well. (Terren) Encalade and Leondre (James) are doing a great job. Ed Williams had another good week of practice."
How much more comfortable do you feel now than you did when coached your first game here against Rutgers?
"I feel a lot more comfortable with what we are doing. That was the first game ever. I didn't know half the players' names back the, so this is a little bit different."
Last year you had a rough fourth game against Syracuse where a lot of self-inflicted errors distorted the score just like on Saturday against Duke. You then won four in a row. Are there some parallels there?
"Here's the difference with last year's team and this year's team. Last year's team was a little bit older and more mature. You had (Chris) Davenport and (Julius) Warmsley and guys that had been in the program. Even Jordan Sullen had been in the program for a long time. You had a bunch of guys that were in the program, so you had some strong leadership. One of our best leaders now, (Darion) Monroe, is a young kid, (Nico) Marley is a young kid. You have to say Tanner is a leader, he's the quarterback, very, very young kid, not only on the field but young kid as a player, so we have a bunch of young kids that are trying to do something major."
Charles Jones has not had a catch the past two games. What is happening with him?
"The last game wasn't his game. I thought he did outstanding blocking. He's one guy that you want to do play-action and do stuff like that, but when you fall behind and have one-tight personnel or no tight ends, it was just one of those games where it wasn't his call."
Does Rene Fleury have a minor injury?
"He had a little hamstring. He ran down on special teams and pulled a hamstring on the first kickoff, so he's probably out this one."
Can you experiment with tempo a little bit on offense and go faster?
"No, I thought it was good. I thought the tempo was great today. I don't want to give my game plan out, but I thought the tempo was really, really good. We had to run a couple of plays over because the defense wasn't set where we wanted, but the tempo has been good all week."
Your receivers have done a good job in packages getting on and off the field. Can you talk about that?
"They are playing well, especially these young kids are starting to understand their role. Encalade and Leondre James are really catching the ball well for us. They are doing a great job getting in and out and they are blocking very well, too, so I like what these young kids are doing."
Who are some Rutgers players to watch?
"Look, the two defensive ends for sure. Both of those guys, they are sack leaders. This No. 3 (linebacker Steve Longa) is an outstanding player. This little back is a pretty good player. The receivers are good. The quarterback is going to manage the game and he's very accurate. Defensively, if you look at the two defensive ends and the linebacker, they are a great team."
How did Tanner look?
"He looked good. He looked real good."
Special teams?
"Looked pretty good. We didn't miss a kick today. The operation was really good. Matt (Marfisi) snapped well. (Mike) Lizanich didn't snap with the team, but hopefully we can see if he can do something tomorrow. If not, then it will be Matt."
