Justin McMillan's first set of reps in Tulane's Sunday practice at the Superdome featured an incomplete pass on every down, but it was obvious from first glance that his addition will make the the Green Wave more complete this year.
McMillan has a terrific arm and three years of college practice experience, qualities Tulane's other scholarship backups at the position lack. He also has a good head on his shoulders, which should allow him to digest another new system quicker than the normal quarterback.
One of McMillan's incompletions was a laser that eluded cornerback Thakarius Keyes in the end zone but bounced off of Darnell Mooney's hands as he tried to reach behind to make a tough grab he probably would catch more than not. McMillan overthrew everyone on his first attempt. could not connect with a well-covered Jacob Robertson on his third try and threw behind a receiver on the final attempt.
No matter. It was only his second day with the team, and his arm alone gives him a huge upside as he becomes more comfortable.
In other news, Darius Bradwell did not practice today and does not look great. We will find out about his status for the game at Willie Fritz' press conference tomorrow morning, but the way Bradwell carried himself today, I'm not sure he will be available on Thursday.
Cornerback Donnie Lewis also did not practice today and was not wearing his helmet. I was there for the last hour. Tight end Charles Jones remains out with an ankle injury. I also did not see Robert Kennedy taking any reps, so De'Andre Williams took over his spot in between nose tackle Jeffery Johnson and outside linebacker Patrick Johnson.
Terren Encalade was still in red today, but he had his best practice in weeks. He looked really sharp in his route running and explosive.
Chris Joyce practiced at cornerback today after getting a week at wide receiver.
Tulane practiced at the dome the last two days after saying it would practice at the Saints facility both days because Superdome officials called and asked the Wave to break in the new turf. Willie Fritz said he was happy to oblige them, but this likely will not happen again this year.
Here are quotes from Fritz and McMillan after practice today:
FRITZ
Where do you see Justin McMillan fitting in this year?
"We're excited about him. It's always great to add an experienced quarterback to the mix. He hasn't played a whole lot of games but he's been through the Division I process and he's really chomping at the bit. Obviously we're playing a game Thursday. It's difficult to get him ready this quickly. He's been putting in a bunch of time, I know that. I'm looking forward to having him digest a large percentage of the playbook and see what he can do, but he's impressed me with some of the things he's been doing out there. It's great to have another experienced quarterback."
So will he get in some games at some point this year?
"Oh, I would think so. We'll have to see how it all plays out. The one thing he and I talked about is we're going to give him an opportunity, but it's going to be how quickly he can learn and where everybody's at and those kinds of things. He's really putting in the time and effort to do it."
How quickly do you feel like he can be at the point where he's ready?
"I don't know. I'm hoping a couple of weeks that he will pick up quite a bit of the playbook. We're trying to put it in in sections right now for him where this part of it he can know, a limited run and pass game but a little bit of everything right now. The coaches have said he's picked up things quickly. He's obviously a smart kid because he graduated (from LSU) in three years."
Knowing you have a guy who has been in Division I, how much more of a comfort factor is that to know you have a guy like that in the wings getting ready?
"I did not know much about Justin prior to all this. I didn't really get a chance to look at him until after he was already coming. I was real busy in preseason camp. The system in college is a lot different than the system in high school and the attention to detail at the Division I level is a lot different than in high school just because you have so many coaches and nobody is going both ways. You're spending more time at it. He really comes from a great high school program. They won two state championships. I'm guessing he played 15 or 16 games to win a state championship in Texas, so he has a lot of experience."
How do you learn about a quarterback when you haven't seen him play?
"The one thing I did look at is on Youtube I watched him play in the spring game. I went over there for a practice in the spring. I wasn't really looking at the quarterbacks, but I kind of remember them working out. It was the day before the spring game so they weren't doing too much, but you can tell a little bit just by looking at the guys. That's it. What he did in the past isn't going to matter. What he does here at Tulane is what's going to count."
When you are able to get a player from a school like that, what does it say? Do you think it helps the ongoing perception?
"I think it does. The big part of it is when you get guys in like this from these kinds of programs, the quarterback is a unique position. You only play with one of them. You get an offensive line transfer and maybe he's the right tackle and you've got a great right tackle, you move him to left tackle or right guard or something, and the same thing with corner, you move him to safety, but quarterback is a lot different. Guys have a certain amount of time left. That's why you see a lot more quarterbacks transfer than you do other positions because there's only one of them."
It's game week. Are you glad to finally see your team on the field against somebody else?
"Yeah, we really are. They've got a great team obviously. They beat Texas A&M in a bowl game at the end of the year and have 10 of 11 starters back on offense (Phil Steele lists it as eight) and six starters back on defense. What's been interesting is the punt team has all 11 guys back and the kickoff team has 10 guys back. There's a lot of carryover for us because that guy's probably going to be in the same spot, and often times that's not the case at least with the kicking game. It's going to be a great test for us, a great challenge for us. It's exciting."
How did you end up at the Superdome the last two days?
"You know, the Superdome actually got a hold of us and asked us if we could come around and run around on the turf. I guess this is new turf out here. We fooled a couple of our players and told them they should have mowed it a little bit. A couple of the guys went for it unfortunately. It's a great surface. We're always lucky. The Saints I'm sure had something to do with it as well, but the Superdome people invited us to come out. I thought it would be something neat to do."
Will you be out here again?
"I don't think so. We're going to try to stay outside and be at our place the next three days."
McMillan has a terrific arm and three years of college practice experience, qualities Tulane's other scholarship backups at the position lack. He also has a good head on his shoulders, which should allow him to digest another new system quicker than the normal quarterback.
One of McMillan's incompletions was a laser that eluded cornerback Thakarius Keyes in the end zone but bounced off of Darnell Mooney's hands as he tried to reach behind to make a tough grab he probably would catch more than not. McMillan overthrew everyone on his first attempt. could not connect with a well-covered Jacob Robertson on his third try and threw behind a receiver on the final attempt.
No matter. It was only his second day with the team, and his arm alone gives him a huge upside as he becomes more comfortable.
In other news, Darius Bradwell did not practice today and does not look great. We will find out about his status for the game at Willie Fritz' press conference tomorrow morning, but the way Bradwell carried himself today, I'm not sure he will be available on Thursday.
Cornerback Donnie Lewis also did not practice today and was not wearing his helmet. I was there for the last hour. Tight end Charles Jones remains out with an ankle injury. I also did not see Robert Kennedy taking any reps, so De'Andre Williams took over his spot in between nose tackle Jeffery Johnson and outside linebacker Patrick Johnson.
Terren Encalade was still in red today, but he had his best practice in weeks. He looked really sharp in his route running and explosive.
Chris Joyce practiced at cornerback today after getting a week at wide receiver.
Tulane practiced at the dome the last two days after saying it would practice at the Saints facility both days because Superdome officials called and asked the Wave to break in the new turf. Willie Fritz said he was happy to oblige them, but this likely will not happen again this year.
Here are quotes from Fritz and McMillan after practice today:
FRITZ
Where do you see Justin McMillan fitting in this year?
"We're excited about him. It's always great to add an experienced quarterback to the mix. He hasn't played a whole lot of games but he's been through the Division I process and he's really chomping at the bit. Obviously we're playing a game Thursday. It's difficult to get him ready this quickly. He's been putting in a bunch of time, I know that. I'm looking forward to having him digest a large percentage of the playbook and see what he can do, but he's impressed me with some of the things he's been doing out there. It's great to have another experienced quarterback."
So will he get in some games at some point this year?
"Oh, I would think so. We'll have to see how it all plays out. The one thing he and I talked about is we're going to give him an opportunity, but it's going to be how quickly he can learn and where everybody's at and those kinds of things. He's really putting in the time and effort to do it."
How quickly do you feel like he can be at the point where he's ready?
"I don't know. I'm hoping a couple of weeks that he will pick up quite a bit of the playbook. We're trying to put it in in sections right now for him where this part of it he can know, a limited run and pass game but a little bit of everything right now. The coaches have said he's picked up things quickly. He's obviously a smart kid because he graduated (from LSU) in three years."
Knowing you have a guy who has been in Division I, how much more of a comfort factor is that to know you have a guy like that in the wings getting ready?
"I did not know much about Justin prior to all this. I didn't really get a chance to look at him until after he was already coming. I was real busy in preseason camp. The system in college is a lot different than the system in high school and the attention to detail at the Division I level is a lot different than in high school just because you have so many coaches and nobody is going both ways. You're spending more time at it. He really comes from a great high school program. They won two state championships. I'm guessing he played 15 or 16 games to win a state championship in Texas, so he has a lot of experience."
How do you learn about a quarterback when you haven't seen him play?
"The one thing I did look at is on Youtube I watched him play in the spring game. I went over there for a practice in the spring. I wasn't really looking at the quarterbacks, but I kind of remember them working out. It was the day before the spring game so they weren't doing too much, but you can tell a little bit just by looking at the guys. That's it. What he did in the past isn't going to matter. What he does here at Tulane is what's going to count."
When you are able to get a player from a school like that, what does it say? Do you think it helps the ongoing perception?
"I think it does. The big part of it is when you get guys in like this from these kinds of programs, the quarterback is a unique position. You only play with one of them. You get an offensive line transfer and maybe he's the right tackle and you've got a great right tackle, you move him to left tackle or right guard or something, and the same thing with corner, you move him to safety, but quarterback is a lot different. Guys have a certain amount of time left. That's why you see a lot more quarterbacks transfer than you do other positions because there's only one of them."
It's game week. Are you glad to finally see your team on the field against somebody else?
"Yeah, we really are. They've got a great team obviously. They beat Texas A&M in a bowl game at the end of the year and have 10 of 11 starters back on offense (Phil Steele lists it as eight) and six starters back on defense. What's been interesting is the punt team has all 11 guys back and the kickoff team has 10 guys back. There's a lot of carryover for us because that guy's probably going to be in the same spot, and often times that's not the case at least with the kicking game. It's going to be a great test for us, a great challenge for us. It's exciting."
How did you end up at the Superdome the last two days?
"You know, the Superdome actually got a hold of us and asked us if we could come around and run around on the turf. I guess this is new turf out here. We fooled a couple of our players and told them they should have mowed it a little bit. A couple of the guys went for it unfortunately. It's a great surface. We're always lucky. The Saints I'm sure had something to do with it as well, but the Superdome people invited us to come out. I thought it would be something neat to do."
Will you be out here again?
"I don't think so. We're going to try to stay outside and be at our place the next three days."
