Tulane returned to practice for the first time in four days this morning, but not everyone was there. Due to what Willie Fritz said were slow results from Wednesday's latest round of coronavirus tests, multiple players were not allowed to attend. The offensive line was particularly decimated, with Stephen Lewerenz, Sincere Haynesworth, Caleb Thomas, Cameron Jackel, Nik Hogan, Colby Orgeron and Michael Remondet all absent. For those keeping score, that's Tulane's No. 1 (Haynesworth), No. 2 (Thomas) and No. 3 centers (Remondet), so former walk-on Timothy Shafter spent time at center today. He was awarded a scholarship since the last practice along with wide receiver Thompson, and he spent time snapping to an assistant during the offensive line's individual drills to get some work. In the 11-on-11 drill at the end of practice, Corey Dublin got some reps. Dublin, of course, started at center all year as a sophomore after Junior Diaz transferred to FAU. Hopefully this was just a stopgap measure for one practice while they await test results. There was one dribbled snap (I believe by Shafter) that easily could have been a turnover in a game.
There was only one scholarship quarterback practicing today--Keon Howard. Justin Ibieta and Michael Pratt were not out there, and although Fritz shies away from giving names in coronavirus data, he implied very heavily that both freshman QBs missed the day because their test results had not come in rather than a positive result or a contact tracing issue. Howard, Drew Harris and Josh Holl took all the practice reps.
Other players who were not there included running back Cameron Carrroll, nose tackle Jeffery Johnson and linebacker Kevin Henry, although the defense appeared less affected than the offense, which was really hurting for bodies. At least all of the wide receivers were accounted for, with Jha'Quan Jackson practicing in a no-contact jersey and only participating in individual drills while Sorrell Brown continued to sit out. The first-team offensive line in the 11-on-11 drill was Joey Claybrook, Dublin, Shafter, Josh Remetich and Jaylen Miller from left to right. The second-team line was Matt Lombardi, Rashad Green, Jackson Fort, Ben Knutson and Trey Tuggle from left to right. Joseph Solomon was the only extra lineman.
The starting defense was Cameron Sample, De'Andre Williams, Eric Hicks and Patrick Johnson up front, a rotation of Marvin Moody, Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson at linebacker and all of the usual suspects in the secondary, with Willie Langham continuing to hold off Ajani Kerr at nickelback. Kerr got some reps with the first unit, though. The second-team defensive line was Carlos Hatcher, Davon Wright, Alfred Thomas and a player in a red jersey (presumably Angelo Anderson, but I'm not sure).
Fritz confirmed the reason they canceled Monday's practice was to allow players to address racial injustice. Fritz spoke passionately about the importance of addressing and rectifying the issue, bringing De'Andre Williams with him to his Zoom call and letting Williams talk about it. Keon Howard and Chase Kuerschen arrived later to talk about it, too, and they all emphasized how everyone had been forced to speak and address the idea of systemic racism in a team Zoom conference call on Monday. Williams was eloquent on the matter, and so was Fritz, who admitted he had never addressed stuff like this before because he was a humble man who preferred staying away from big issues but that it no longer would be the case.
One other thing from practice: Merek Glover is a weapon on kickoffs, particularly if the coverage is sound. He can kick off high to the goal line near the sideline with ease, prompting bold returners to try to run it out, which will allow Tulane to pin opponents well inside the 25-yard line.
Here are some excerpts from the Zoom call:
FRITZ
"I was going to start off talking about social injustice, the program we have at Tulane, and De'Andre Williams spearheads this for us. We call it the Wave of Change, and these guys have done a phenomenal job o bringing attention to a lot of the things that are going on right now in our society, the Black Lives movement. I am just really proud of the guys. We are getting ready to make a donation to United Way for the people out in western Louisiana, and then we're also going to make a donation to the Black Lives movement. The thing we're trying just to look at is the police brutality that's going on across the nation. We had a lot of dialogue with these guys. We took Monday off the other day and just had group conversations. This is for all our current and former players and the coaches that I have worked with, and it's just a really important event, so we've got all this stuff going on, getting ready for the first game, taking all these tough classes at Tulane, we're in the midst of a pandemic and these guys are also juggling the social justice, social injustice and just doing a tremendous job with it. I'm very proud of them. We are going to do this all the time. This isn't something that's going to happen in a day or two days or three days. It's just something that we're talking about every single day. We want to promote positive change. That's a huge deal for us. We know that if we stay positive and everybody comes together, particularly people like me--that's very, very important--we can promote positive change. I'm going to try to do a great job of being more vocal about it. That's something a little bit out of my wheelhouse. I'm a pretty humble person. I try to stay away from attention as much as I can, but I think it's important for all of us to be aware of it. (Fritz then turned the mic over to De'Andre Williams).
WILLIAMS
"I just want to give y'all a little bit about the vision of Wave of Change. Our vision is to bring awareness to as many people as possible about police brutality. As student-athletes we want to use our platform in a positive way to create change. There's a lot of things going on in our country that it's going to take people to be uncomfortable. It's going to take people to try their best to have sympathy for other people. That's very important in our vision as Wave of Change. We have a lot of things going on. The guys really work hard to bring awareness to everything. Coach Fritz and Tulane athletics are giving us power in our voices and are allowing to do everything that we feel is necessary to bring awareness to this situation. We've had meetings where we've had tough dialog where coaches and players opened up about things that they wouldn't normally open up about. We are actually making a tremendous effort to make a change in our small circle and hopefully that small circle can expand our country. If we bring the team aspect that we have and spread it to the world, the world will be a better place."
Fritz then said he should have had Williams go first instead of him.
"I have never walked in a lot of these guys' shoes and I'm just so proud of them that they are promoting positive change on our campus and in New Orleans. This is a group that we're going to have go on for as long as I'm here, I know that. Hopefully that's a long time."
I'll have a lot more later, but family duties are intruding. Tulane will practice again tomorrow, and hopefully almost all of the guys who missed practice today will be back. The schedule has a Saturday practice as well before they take off Sunday and get ready for a traditional game week.
There was only one scholarship quarterback practicing today--Keon Howard. Justin Ibieta and Michael Pratt were not out there, and although Fritz shies away from giving names in coronavirus data, he implied very heavily that both freshman QBs missed the day because their test results had not come in rather than a positive result or a contact tracing issue. Howard, Drew Harris and Josh Holl took all the practice reps.
Other players who were not there included running back Cameron Carrroll, nose tackle Jeffery Johnson and linebacker Kevin Henry, although the defense appeared less affected than the offense, which was really hurting for bodies. At least all of the wide receivers were accounted for, with Jha'Quan Jackson practicing in a no-contact jersey and only participating in individual drills while Sorrell Brown continued to sit out. The first-team offensive line in the 11-on-11 drill was Joey Claybrook, Dublin, Shafter, Josh Remetich and Jaylen Miller from left to right. The second-team line was Matt Lombardi, Rashad Green, Jackson Fort, Ben Knutson and Trey Tuggle from left to right. Joseph Solomon was the only extra lineman.
The starting defense was Cameron Sample, De'Andre Williams, Eric Hicks and Patrick Johnson up front, a rotation of Marvin Moody, Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson at linebacker and all of the usual suspects in the secondary, with Willie Langham continuing to hold off Ajani Kerr at nickelback. Kerr got some reps with the first unit, though. The second-team defensive line was Carlos Hatcher, Davon Wright, Alfred Thomas and a player in a red jersey (presumably Angelo Anderson, but I'm not sure).
Fritz confirmed the reason they canceled Monday's practice was to allow players to address racial injustice. Fritz spoke passionately about the importance of addressing and rectifying the issue, bringing De'Andre Williams with him to his Zoom call and letting Williams talk about it. Keon Howard and Chase Kuerschen arrived later to talk about it, too, and they all emphasized how everyone had been forced to speak and address the idea of systemic racism in a team Zoom conference call on Monday. Williams was eloquent on the matter, and so was Fritz, who admitted he had never addressed stuff like this before because he was a humble man who preferred staying away from big issues but that it no longer would be the case.
One other thing from practice: Merek Glover is a weapon on kickoffs, particularly if the coverage is sound. He can kick off high to the goal line near the sideline with ease, prompting bold returners to try to run it out, which will allow Tulane to pin opponents well inside the 25-yard line.
Here are some excerpts from the Zoom call:
FRITZ
"I was going to start off talking about social injustice, the program we have at Tulane, and De'Andre Williams spearheads this for us. We call it the Wave of Change, and these guys have done a phenomenal job o bringing attention to a lot of the things that are going on right now in our society, the Black Lives movement. I am just really proud of the guys. We are getting ready to make a donation to United Way for the people out in western Louisiana, and then we're also going to make a donation to the Black Lives movement. The thing we're trying just to look at is the police brutality that's going on across the nation. We had a lot of dialogue with these guys. We took Monday off the other day and just had group conversations. This is for all our current and former players and the coaches that I have worked with, and it's just a really important event, so we've got all this stuff going on, getting ready for the first game, taking all these tough classes at Tulane, we're in the midst of a pandemic and these guys are also juggling the social justice, social injustice and just doing a tremendous job with it. I'm very proud of them. We are going to do this all the time. This isn't something that's going to happen in a day or two days or three days. It's just something that we're talking about every single day. We want to promote positive change. That's a huge deal for us. We know that if we stay positive and everybody comes together, particularly people like me--that's very, very important--we can promote positive change. I'm going to try to do a great job of being more vocal about it. That's something a little bit out of my wheelhouse. I'm a pretty humble person. I try to stay away from attention as much as I can, but I think it's important for all of us to be aware of it. (Fritz then turned the mic over to De'Andre Williams).
WILLIAMS
"I just want to give y'all a little bit about the vision of Wave of Change. Our vision is to bring awareness to as many people as possible about police brutality. As student-athletes we want to use our platform in a positive way to create change. There's a lot of things going on in our country that it's going to take people to be uncomfortable. It's going to take people to try their best to have sympathy for other people. That's very important in our vision as Wave of Change. We have a lot of things going on. The guys really work hard to bring awareness to everything. Coach Fritz and Tulane athletics are giving us power in our voices and are allowing to do everything that we feel is necessary to bring awareness to this situation. We've had meetings where we've had tough dialog where coaches and players opened up about things that they wouldn't normally open up about. We are actually making a tremendous effort to make a change in our small circle and hopefully that small circle can expand our country. If we bring the team aspect that we have and spread it to the world, the world will be a better place."
Fritz then said he should have had Williams go first instead of him.
"I have never walked in a lot of these guys' shoes and I'm just so proud of them that they are promoting positive change on our campus and in New Orleans. This is a group that we're going to have go on for as long as I'm here, I know that. Hopefully that's a long time."
I'll have a lot more later, but family duties are intruding. Tulane will practice again tomorrow, and hopefully almost all of the guys who missed practice today will be back. The schedule has a Saturday practice as well before they take off Sunday and get ready for a traditional game week.
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