With preseason camp ending Saturday and classes starting today, practice started an hour later and ended at 10:33, which will be the schedule going forward. I arrived during a 7-on-7 drill, and it took all of two plays for the first drop, when Phat Watts beat Jaylon Monroe by a step but bobbled an easy one, prompting Willie Fritz to yell, "you gotta catch that." Other than Jha'Quan Jackson, who was at full strength today, no one is going to know what will happen when the ball reaches a receiver's hands at the beginning of the year. These guys are capable, but they have to step up and hold on to the dang ball.
Michael Pratt and Justin Ibieta were sharp in 7-on-7, combining to complete 8 of 9 throws at one point. Pratt connected with tight end Keitha Jones on a beauty, with Jones beating freshman nickelback Jadon Canady's tight coverage for a contested catch while maintaining his balance and running down the field. Pratt found Shae Wyatt, who wins the award for getting open the most consistently in camp, on three plays in a row, including one when he was not open and grabbed a 50-50 ball with Lance Robinson simultaneously. Robinson made a hellacious effort to rip the ball away from him as they tumbled to the ground, but Wyatt would not let go. Pratt's streak of completions ended when Will Wallace had a tough catch bounce off his fingers with Derrion Rakestraw covering him tightly.
Ibieta completed a pass to Jackson, who was running well and later raced to the end zone to catch a pass that appeared to be sailing over his head in individual receiver drills against air. Ibieta also had a nice back shoulder throw to Duece Watts on Kiland Harrison before completing a pass to Reggie Brown and another one to Jones. Who knows how much the tight ends will be involved when the games start, but Fritz was not exaggerating when he said all four were good receivers last week, and Long's track record says he will use them a lot.
In 11-on-11, Pratt had a long completion to Tyjae Spears on a play that would have been a sack in a live drill. Angelo Anderson raced in virtually untouched, and Fritz went over to him to congratulate him after the play. Anderson is quick off the ball.
Today was the first day they used scout teams much if at all. There were only two scholarship players on the scout team defense--Torri Singletary and Parker Peterson. There were three scholarship linemen on the scout-team offense--Hutson Lillibridge, Haydan Shook and Joseph Solomon, plus quarterback Kai Horton. Luke Desjardins, despite his truly spectacular catch at the end of Saturday's scrimmage, was on the scout team as well, but none of the scholarship receivers or running backs were.
For the most part, they have discarded the black numberless First Wave of Defense jerseys (Jeffery Johnson, Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson were exceptions), so I had no guesswork on the first-team D. It was freshman Keith Cooper and Angelo Anderson outside, Adonis Friloux and Jeffery Johnson inside, Williams and Anderson at linebacker, Jadon Canady at nickelback, Jaylon Monroe and Lance Robinson at cornerback, Macon Clark at strong safety and Derrion Rakestraw at free safety. I really expect Canady, who had nine interceptions as a senior at a Florida high school last year, to start. There were no extenuating circumstances at nickelback. I am less confident about Cooper, but the depth chart up front bears watching moving forward and he definitely is part of the rotation.
The second-team defense had a black, numberless jersey guy (not sure who) at one end spot and Darius Hodges at the other one,with Noah Seiden and Noah Taliancich in between them. The linebackers were Kevin Henry and Marvin Moody, the nickelback was D.J. Douglas and the cornerbacks were Kiland Harrison and Ajani Kerr, who began camp as the starting nickel. The safeties were Larry Brooks and Rudy Dyson.
The first-team line offensive line was the same as in the scrimmage, with the usual suspects plus Caleb Thomas at right guard. With walk-on center Ethan Marcus on the scout team and Thomas playing guard, Sincere Haynesworth got double reps at center.
Wideout Tyrek Presley, who was not very visible in camp, missed two opportunities to make a big play, dropping one deep ball and failing to pull in another one that was slightly overthrown. To get in the mix, he has to start coming up with those.
For anyone who thinks coaches are not compassionate, Fritz went over to the sideline to console a backup player who appeared to suffer a significant knee injury on the last play of 11-on-11 work (unlike camp, the practices did not end with 11-on-11 but with scout-team stuff) and was helped to a cart. Fritz put his arm him around and said something to him before going back to the field. I would classify the player as third string, but if there is an update on his status in the next few days, I will give it.
They practiced kickoff coverage extensively, and one player who was offsides drew the wrath of the coaches. Casey Glover handled the first-team kickoffs.
Michael Pratt and Justin Ibieta were sharp in 7-on-7, combining to complete 8 of 9 throws at one point. Pratt connected with tight end Keitha Jones on a beauty, with Jones beating freshman nickelback Jadon Canady's tight coverage for a contested catch while maintaining his balance and running down the field. Pratt found Shae Wyatt, who wins the award for getting open the most consistently in camp, on three plays in a row, including one when he was not open and grabbed a 50-50 ball with Lance Robinson simultaneously. Robinson made a hellacious effort to rip the ball away from him as they tumbled to the ground, but Wyatt would not let go. Pratt's streak of completions ended when Will Wallace had a tough catch bounce off his fingers with Derrion Rakestraw covering him tightly.
Ibieta completed a pass to Jackson, who was running well and later raced to the end zone to catch a pass that appeared to be sailing over his head in individual receiver drills against air. Ibieta also had a nice back shoulder throw to Duece Watts on Kiland Harrison before completing a pass to Reggie Brown and another one to Jones. Who knows how much the tight ends will be involved when the games start, but Fritz was not exaggerating when he said all four were good receivers last week, and Long's track record says he will use them a lot.
In 11-on-11, Pratt had a long completion to Tyjae Spears on a play that would have been a sack in a live drill. Angelo Anderson raced in virtually untouched, and Fritz went over to him to congratulate him after the play. Anderson is quick off the ball.
Today was the first day they used scout teams much if at all. There were only two scholarship players on the scout team defense--Torri Singletary and Parker Peterson. There were three scholarship linemen on the scout-team offense--Hutson Lillibridge, Haydan Shook and Joseph Solomon, plus quarterback Kai Horton. Luke Desjardins, despite his truly spectacular catch at the end of Saturday's scrimmage, was on the scout team as well, but none of the scholarship receivers or running backs were.
For the most part, they have discarded the black numberless First Wave of Defense jerseys (Jeffery Johnson, Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson were exceptions), so I had no guesswork on the first-team D. It was freshman Keith Cooper and Angelo Anderson outside, Adonis Friloux and Jeffery Johnson inside, Williams and Anderson at linebacker, Jadon Canady at nickelback, Jaylon Monroe and Lance Robinson at cornerback, Macon Clark at strong safety and Derrion Rakestraw at free safety. I really expect Canady, who had nine interceptions as a senior at a Florida high school last year, to start. There were no extenuating circumstances at nickelback. I am less confident about Cooper, but the depth chart up front bears watching moving forward and he definitely is part of the rotation.
The second-team defense had a black, numberless jersey guy (not sure who) at one end spot and Darius Hodges at the other one,with Noah Seiden and Noah Taliancich in between them. The linebackers were Kevin Henry and Marvin Moody, the nickelback was D.J. Douglas and the cornerbacks were Kiland Harrison and Ajani Kerr, who began camp as the starting nickel. The safeties were Larry Brooks and Rudy Dyson.
The first-team line offensive line was the same as in the scrimmage, with the usual suspects plus Caleb Thomas at right guard. With walk-on center Ethan Marcus on the scout team and Thomas playing guard, Sincere Haynesworth got double reps at center.
Wideout Tyrek Presley, who was not very visible in camp, missed two opportunities to make a big play, dropping one deep ball and failing to pull in another one that was slightly overthrown. To get in the mix, he has to start coming up with those.
For anyone who thinks coaches are not compassionate, Fritz went over to the sideline to console a backup player who appeared to suffer a significant knee injury on the last play of 11-on-11 work (unlike camp, the practices did not end with 11-on-11 but with scout-team stuff) and was helped to a cart. Fritz put his arm him around and said something to him before going back to the field. I would classify the player as third string, but if there is an update on his status in the next few days, I will give it.
They practiced kickoff coverage extensively, and one player who was offsides drew the wrath of the coaches. Casey Glover handled the first-team kickoffs.
