I arrived just after 9:30, and they are in shorts. This report may be shorter than the others because it's a light practice and Media Day is coming up at 12:30. I will try to get an update on injuries from CJ at the end of practice. I'll never intentionally skip the morning Media Day practice again after doing it a few years ago and missing Reynaldo Thomas' collapse. I was sitting in the room right before the start of Media Day when someone asked me about it, and I had to go to Nola.com to find out what they heck they were talking about. Tammy had been out at practice, and I missed it.
Tulane has been doing some situation work like breaking up a Hail Mary in the end zone, teaching guys to knock the ball straight down. There were about five college games last year that ended with long touchdowns on the final play (UCF v. ECU, Ariz St v. USC and Arizona v. California come to mind), so it's worth taking the time to practice.
The field goal drill featured the backups again today. Not much worth reporting there, but little-known walk-on Jeremy Kaplan from Roslyn Heights, N.Y. drilled a 42-yarder straight down the middle on the final attempt.
They are taking their long water break at 10:05, meaning they are about 10 minutes behind their normal schedule.
In an 11-on-11 drill they've rotated some young linemen in to get reps with the first unit. Eric Bell and Braynon Edwards were in at tackle. Luke Jackson got some downs at end, and now Brian Webb is getting some downs at tackle, too. Shenall and Shy continue to be the No. 2 CBs, with Donnie Lewis Jr. and Roderic Teamer playing safety and Stephon Lofton playing nickel. Eric Bowie and William Townsend are the linebackers.
Devin Powell almost connected deep with Devon Breaux. The pass was nice, but Lofton broke it up just as it arrived. Would have been nice to see Breaux make the spectacular play there. The wide receivers need some confidence boosters. Rickey Preston just dropped another pass in the open.
Devon Johnson is lining up at right guard. He's another guy who needs to lose some weight. He's not in the Jason Stewart/Braynon Edwards category, but after showing promise in camp last season, he won't take the next step until he gets in better shape. At least that's my opinion.
Devin Glenn continues to impress. When he takes little shovel passes or short passes, he's hard to spot because of his height, and his acceleration is outstanding. I may have to amend my statement from yesterday that four of the five best receivers are running backs and tight ends. It could be five out of the top six.
Tanner Lee just threw behind Badie, who was open on a slant. Darion Monroe then broke up a long sideline pass for Andrew Hicks. The ball needed less loft, which is unusual for Lee, who likes to thrown those passes on a line normally.
Powell's biggest throwing problem, and it's a huge one, is inaccuracy on short throws. He just misfired badly on a 5-yard pass to the inside. He tends to throw low. He also just threw wide on a 15-yard sideline route that he can hit and right on cue, he misfired on a swing pass to a wide open Josh Rounds, leading him too far and throwing it too hard. This has been an ugly session all around for the offense. Powell just threw an accurate pass over the middle to Trey Scott, but he could not hold on in a collision with two defenders. Would have been a very tough catch. He wasn't open.
Finally some completions, but they belong to Glen Cuillette working against the third-team D with guys like Sam Davis and Trey Camissa playing. And that's a wrap.
To close here is a Q&A I conducted with special teams coordinator Doug Lichtenberger yesterday after by far the worst (and that's saying something) exhibition of field goal kicking I've seen this preseason.
How's the field goal competition going?
"It's extremely close right now. A guy hasn't distanced himself yet. Next week is really going to kind of put them in positions that one of them is going to step into the forefront."
Steven Logan was added to the mix with DiRocco, Simms and Block today. What has he done to earn that promotion?
"Whenever you throw him in there, he's making his field goals. We had the three guys going, and then he was doing a nicer job than the others, so we decided to give him a look and he's continued to do well, so he'll continue to get a look."
So it's a legitimate four-person competition right now?
"Right now, but it's going to get trimmed very soon."
Simms has the huge leg but is still working on his consistency. When he doesn't kick it right, what's going on?
"It's consistency. The biggest thing with kickers is your routine, the steps and doing the same thing every time. There's too much experimentation with him right now. He's just got to find his routine and stick to it."
DiRocco kicked a little better in the second half of last year. Where is he now?
"He did. I would say he's probably in about the same spot he was in the second half of last year. He's accurate from close in, but the further you get out, the tougher it is for him."
You have seven guys fielding punts in practice. Is that as wide open a competition as it looks?
"The biggest thing is just putting the best players out on the field in those positions. As we've evolved as a team, there's just a lot more able bodies than there's ever been since CJ's been here."
A lot of those guys like Darion Monroe are key starters. Do you worry about the injury possibility?
"Well, you do have to be smart. A key starter probably can't play on all four special teams, but Darion being a great example, there's going to be one or two things that he can do on special teams for us that he'll do that's not going to take away anything on defense."
Devin Glenn looks the part but has dropped a couple of punts in practice. Does that concern you?
"Obviously it does. We're going to see more live situations as we get on in camp, but he has flashed with his speed and he's got a little something to him. He definitely is going to need a look."
Picerelli had his worst year as a junior. What does he need to improve?
"He's really had a great summer. He's worked really hard, and he's hitting it much better. His hang time is a lot better. His steps and his footwork have gotten cleaned up. He's realized that he needs to be a strong performer for us, and he's done a lot of work in this offseason for that to happen."
How much fun is it for you to be back out coaching after a three-year absence?
"It's been great. It's good to get back out there. I was kind of in a spectator's role for the last couple of years. It feels the same as it did before, but you do value how hard it is to get in these positions, not only for us but for the players, and they should really appreciate where they are and make the most of where they are."
Tulane has been doing some situation work like breaking up a Hail Mary in the end zone, teaching guys to knock the ball straight down. There were about five college games last year that ended with long touchdowns on the final play (UCF v. ECU, Ariz St v. USC and Arizona v. California come to mind), so it's worth taking the time to practice.
The field goal drill featured the backups again today. Not much worth reporting there, but little-known walk-on Jeremy Kaplan from Roslyn Heights, N.Y. drilled a 42-yarder straight down the middle on the final attempt.
They are taking their long water break at 10:05, meaning they are about 10 minutes behind their normal schedule.
In an 11-on-11 drill they've rotated some young linemen in to get reps with the first unit. Eric Bell and Braynon Edwards were in at tackle. Luke Jackson got some downs at end, and now Brian Webb is getting some downs at tackle, too. Shenall and Shy continue to be the No. 2 CBs, with Donnie Lewis Jr. and Roderic Teamer playing safety and Stephon Lofton playing nickel. Eric Bowie and William Townsend are the linebackers.
Devin Powell almost connected deep with Devon Breaux. The pass was nice, but Lofton broke it up just as it arrived. Would have been nice to see Breaux make the spectacular play there. The wide receivers need some confidence boosters. Rickey Preston just dropped another pass in the open.
Devon Johnson is lining up at right guard. He's another guy who needs to lose some weight. He's not in the Jason Stewart/Braynon Edwards category, but after showing promise in camp last season, he won't take the next step until he gets in better shape. At least that's my opinion.
Devin Glenn continues to impress. When he takes little shovel passes or short passes, he's hard to spot because of his height, and his acceleration is outstanding. I may have to amend my statement from yesterday that four of the five best receivers are running backs and tight ends. It could be five out of the top six.
Tanner Lee just threw behind Badie, who was open on a slant. Darion Monroe then broke up a long sideline pass for Andrew Hicks. The ball needed less loft, which is unusual for Lee, who likes to thrown those passes on a line normally.
Powell's biggest throwing problem, and it's a huge one, is inaccuracy on short throws. He just misfired badly on a 5-yard pass to the inside. He tends to throw low. He also just threw wide on a 15-yard sideline route that he can hit and right on cue, he misfired on a swing pass to a wide open Josh Rounds, leading him too far and throwing it too hard. This has been an ugly session all around for the offense. Powell just threw an accurate pass over the middle to Trey Scott, but he could not hold on in a collision with two defenders. Would have been a very tough catch. He wasn't open.
Finally some completions, but they belong to Glen Cuillette working against the third-team D with guys like Sam Davis and Trey Camissa playing. And that's a wrap.
To close here is a Q&A I conducted with special teams coordinator Doug Lichtenberger yesterday after by far the worst (and that's saying something) exhibition of field goal kicking I've seen this preseason.
How's the field goal competition going?
"It's extremely close right now. A guy hasn't distanced himself yet. Next week is really going to kind of put them in positions that one of them is going to step into the forefront."
Steven Logan was added to the mix with DiRocco, Simms and Block today. What has he done to earn that promotion?
"Whenever you throw him in there, he's making his field goals. We had the three guys going, and then he was doing a nicer job than the others, so we decided to give him a look and he's continued to do well, so he'll continue to get a look."
So it's a legitimate four-person competition right now?
"Right now, but it's going to get trimmed very soon."
Simms has the huge leg but is still working on his consistency. When he doesn't kick it right, what's going on?
"It's consistency. The biggest thing with kickers is your routine, the steps and doing the same thing every time. There's too much experimentation with him right now. He's just got to find his routine and stick to it."
DiRocco kicked a little better in the second half of last year. Where is he now?
"He did. I would say he's probably in about the same spot he was in the second half of last year. He's accurate from close in, but the further you get out, the tougher it is for him."
You have seven guys fielding punts in practice. Is that as wide open a competition as it looks?
"The biggest thing is just putting the best players out on the field in those positions. As we've evolved as a team, there's just a lot more able bodies than there's ever been since CJ's been here."
A lot of those guys like Darion Monroe are key starters. Do you worry about the injury possibility?
"Well, you do have to be smart. A key starter probably can't play on all four special teams, but Darion being a great example, there's going to be one or two things that he can do on special teams for us that he'll do that's not going to take away anything on defense."
Devin Glenn looks the part but has dropped a couple of punts in practice. Does that concern you?
"Obviously it does. We're going to see more live situations as we get on in camp, but he has flashed with his speed and he's got a little something to him. He definitely is going to need a look."
Picerelli had his worst year as a junior. What does he need to improve?
"He's really had a great summer. He's worked really hard, and he's hitting it much better. His hang time is a lot better. His steps and his footwork have gotten cleaned up. He's realized that he needs to be a strong performer for us, and he's done a lot of work in this offseason for that to happen."
How much fun is it for you to be back out coaching after a three-year absence?
"It's been great. It's good to get back out there. I was kind of in a spectator's role for the last couple of years. It feels the same as it did before, but you do value how hard it is to get in these positions, not only for us but for the players, and they should really appreciate where they are and make the most of where they are."
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