I arrived at 9 but had some transcribing of quotes to do from Media Day, so I haven't kept a close watch until after the water break at 9:45. They are in full pads after doing their heat-related slow buildup with no helmets or jerseys for the first hour.
The first fight of the preseason happened, at least that I've witnessed. In one on one pass rushing drills, center Junior Diaz continued blocking Brian Webb after Webb fell to the ground. Webb shoved him after getting up, Diaz shoved him back, they exchanged words, then Diaz threw a punch and ripped Webb's helmet off. They ended up on the ground before being separated by teammates. It's been so hot, I'm surprised it took that long for tempers to flat. Diaz looked pretty good as a fighter, by the way.
Ade Aruna is playing with tremendous energy in camp. He is a beast to handle on the pass rush, and yesterday he told me was much more comfortable with his assignments. He beat John Leglue, who is lining up at left tackle, and Leeward Brown, who is lining up at left guard, on consecutive plays.
"It feels really better than last year," Aruna said. "Last year I was kind of I don’t really know much about what I’m doing on defense. But when the spring time came, my knowledge got better of knowing my assignment. The coaching staff did a great job of coaching me every day and showing me what to do."
You know who might become a factor? Luke Jackson. More than a year after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and receiving treatment, he looks much better than he did in the spring. He ran around Todd Jacquet today in a 1 on 1 and no longer looks overmatched. He lost so much weight during chemo treatments, he was moved to linebacker last year before returning to end this spring. He bears watching and has been getting plenty of reps with the second-team defense.
"He's going to play," CJ said. "I think he's going to play. He's having a phenomenal camp. He and Peter Woullard are doing a great job. They are splitting reps. One day it's Luke, one day it's Peter, but I see both of those kids playing."
This is quite the story, and I will talk to Jackson later this week. People hear cancer with a guy that young and think about his life rather than football, assuming his career is over. But he told me in the past he never thought about quitting and he knew he would recover because the cancer was caught early. His hard work is paying off now, with him emerging as one of the top six defensive ends. The starters are Royce LaFrance and either Daren Williams or Ade Aruna, with Jackson, Woullard and Robert Kennedy getting reps with the second unit.
"He (Jackson) never complained and he's just a great kid," CJ said. "It's a great kid and a great family."
For a change, the offense scored touchdowns in the two-minute drill at the end of practice on each of its first two possessions, with Tanner Lee and then Devin Powell leading crisp 65-yard drives. The catch is CJ pulled almost all of his starters after the first two plays in Lee's series and none of them were on the field for Powell's possession. Lee faced a defensive backfield of three true freshmen (Taris Shenall, Dedrick Shy and Roderic Teamer along with redshirt freshman Donnie Lewis) and a front four of Luke Johnson, John Washington, Tanzel Smart (the lone first teamer) and I think Robert Kennedy (maybe Woullard).
Still, the offense looked good. Lee threw a 7-yard completion to Dontrell Hilliard before Hilliard broke off a 14-yard gain, running through Shenall. Rob Kelley gained 7 yards but looked tentative with a nice hole on a misdirection play, but there was nothing tentative about his next run, a 15-yard power gain up the middle to the 8. Two plays later, Hillard scored easily from the 6.
Powell entered for the new series, going against pretty much the same crew, and he and the second-team offensive line (John Leglue, Leeward Brown, Diaz, Brandon Godfrey and lone starter Kenneth Santa Marina) had their way. Teddy Veal caught a quick out on the first play and broke two tackles for an 18-yard gain. Back-to-back offside penalties on Braynon Edwards and William Townsend gave the offense 10 yards before Powell threw a bullet to tight end Kendall Ardoin down the hash for 22 yards. Powell has struggled all preseason with simple throws, but this was a laser into a small window. Two plays later Powell rolled to his left on a designed play, then lofted the ball to Sydie London in the back of the end zone. He should have put more zip on that one because a DB tipped it, but it still reached London.
Leeward Brown is in the mix at guard, well ahead of his fellow freshmen and Jason Stewart. He won't start ahead of Chris Taylor or Colton Hanson but he is a second teamer.
Tulane practiced kickoffs, with Breaux, Veal, Preston and Badie taking turns catching them. Breaux muffed one that was short and near the sideline, but in general, good hands are not as important on kickoff returns as they are on punt returns. I like Preston in that role much more than a possible role as punt returner, although they have not gone live on kickoff returns yet.
Practice ended about 10:40, the earliest of the fall but still longer than most of the practices in CJ's first three years. That's by design because of the intense heat. A heat advisory was in effect again today until p.m. with the temperature around 90 degrees by the end of the workout and the heat index above 100 degrees.
"We actually are going a little bit long because we're really taking our time," CJ said. "We're not doing much running until the end of practice, so we're getting a lot of work done. We're just being smart."
Tulane will practice again this afternoon at the Saints indoor facility, but that workout will be closed to reporters and the public.
The first fight of the preseason happened, at least that I've witnessed. In one on one pass rushing drills, center Junior Diaz continued blocking Brian Webb after Webb fell to the ground. Webb shoved him after getting up, Diaz shoved him back, they exchanged words, then Diaz threw a punch and ripped Webb's helmet off. They ended up on the ground before being separated by teammates. It's been so hot, I'm surprised it took that long for tempers to flat. Diaz looked pretty good as a fighter, by the way.
Ade Aruna is playing with tremendous energy in camp. He is a beast to handle on the pass rush, and yesterday he told me was much more comfortable with his assignments. He beat John Leglue, who is lining up at left tackle, and Leeward Brown, who is lining up at left guard, on consecutive plays.
"It feels really better than last year," Aruna said. "Last year I was kind of I don’t really know much about what I’m doing on defense. But when the spring time came, my knowledge got better of knowing my assignment. The coaching staff did a great job of coaching me every day and showing me what to do."
You know who might become a factor? Luke Jackson. More than a year after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and receiving treatment, he looks much better than he did in the spring. He ran around Todd Jacquet today in a 1 on 1 and no longer looks overmatched. He lost so much weight during chemo treatments, he was moved to linebacker last year before returning to end this spring. He bears watching and has been getting plenty of reps with the second-team defense.
"He's going to play," CJ said. "I think he's going to play. He's having a phenomenal camp. He and Peter Woullard are doing a great job. They are splitting reps. One day it's Luke, one day it's Peter, but I see both of those kids playing."
This is quite the story, and I will talk to Jackson later this week. People hear cancer with a guy that young and think about his life rather than football, assuming his career is over. But he told me in the past he never thought about quitting and he knew he would recover because the cancer was caught early. His hard work is paying off now, with him emerging as one of the top six defensive ends. The starters are Royce LaFrance and either Daren Williams or Ade Aruna, with Jackson, Woullard and Robert Kennedy getting reps with the second unit.
"He (Jackson) never complained and he's just a great kid," CJ said. "It's a great kid and a great family."
For a change, the offense scored touchdowns in the two-minute drill at the end of practice on each of its first two possessions, with Tanner Lee and then Devin Powell leading crisp 65-yard drives. The catch is CJ pulled almost all of his starters after the first two plays in Lee's series and none of them were on the field for Powell's possession. Lee faced a defensive backfield of three true freshmen (Taris Shenall, Dedrick Shy and Roderic Teamer along with redshirt freshman Donnie Lewis) and a front four of Luke Johnson, John Washington, Tanzel Smart (the lone first teamer) and I think Robert Kennedy (maybe Woullard).
Still, the offense looked good. Lee threw a 7-yard completion to Dontrell Hilliard before Hilliard broke off a 14-yard gain, running through Shenall. Rob Kelley gained 7 yards but looked tentative with a nice hole on a misdirection play, but there was nothing tentative about his next run, a 15-yard power gain up the middle to the 8. Two plays later, Hillard scored easily from the 6.
Powell entered for the new series, going against pretty much the same crew, and he and the second-team offensive line (John Leglue, Leeward Brown, Diaz, Brandon Godfrey and lone starter Kenneth Santa Marina) had their way. Teddy Veal caught a quick out on the first play and broke two tackles for an 18-yard gain. Back-to-back offside penalties on Braynon Edwards and William Townsend gave the offense 10 yards before Powell threw a bullet to tight end Kendall Ardoin down the hash for 22 yards. Powell has struggled all preseason with simple throws, but this was a laser into a small window. Two plays later Powell rolled to his left on a designed play, then lofted the ball to Sydie London in the back of the end zone. He should have put more zip on that one because a DB tipped it, but it still reached London.
Leeward Brown is in the mix at guard, well ahead of his fellow freshmen and Jason Stewart. He won't start ahead of Chris Taylor or Colton Hanson but he is a second teamer.
Tulane practiced kickoffs, with Breaux, Veal, Preston and Badie taking turns catching them. Breaux muffed one that was short and near the sideline, but in general, good hands are not as important on kickoff returns as they are on punt returns. I like Preston in that role much more than a possible role as punt returner, although they have not gone live on kickoff returns yet.
Practice ended about 10:40, the earliest of the fall but still longer than most of the practices in CJ's first three years. That's by design because of the intense heat. A heat advisory was in effect again today until p.m. with the temperature around 90 degrees by the end of the workout and the heat index above 100 degrees.
"We actually are going a little bit long because we're really taking our time," CJ said. "We're not doing much running until the end of practice, so we're getting a lot of work done. We're just being smart."
Tulane will practice again this afternoon at the Saints indoor facility, but that workout will be closed to reporters and the public.
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