As I referenced in the Banks thread, Justin McMillan took all of the second-team reps at practice today as Tulane prepared for Ohio State. Only three QBs threw a pass today--Banks, McMillan and scout team QB Keon Howard, who wore the jersey No. 7 that Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins wears. I could not even find Dane Ledford or Christian Daniels at first before I realized they were in white jerseys instead of red ones.
Nose tackle Jeffery Johnson practiced. He played 35 snaps against UAB, defensive coordinator Jack Curtis told me, and graded out well.
Neither Kendall Ardoin nor Charles Jones practiced today, leaving Will Wallace and Tyrick James as the only scholarship tight ends. I'd like to see James get some more chances. He elevated to catch that sideline pass in the fourth quarter against UAB, making a play starting wide receiver Jabril Clewis has failed to make repeatedly in two years.
Offensive coordinator Doug Ruse was not in a good mood today during practice, lambasting the effort of his players at times. He knows the offense has under-performed through three games, and I caught up with him after practice.
DOUG RUSE
Banks did not play well Saturday and the offensive line did not protect well. What were the key factors in his performance?
"Group effort. A total group effort. JB was off target. He missed some opportunities and had some guys open and couldn't quite hit the spot. He was flushed out of the pocket at times, forcing him to create. It was a total group effort. He's got to play better. Everybody's got to play better."
What does Banks need to do better. He has not played as well in the first three games this year as he did in the last three games last year?
"I'd say what he and a lot of players need to do right now is not pay attention to all the negativity and control what we can control. That is getting better fundamentally, techinique wise. That's all you can do. You can't get dragged down by everything that's coming from the outside. We can control what we can control. That's get out here and practice hard with better, consistent focus, and that's going to lead to better play."
What have been the biggest issues with pass protection? Is it mental, physical or Banks not getting rid of the ball?
It's alll of the above. I wish I knew exactly what's led to some of the issues we've had. If it was that simple, it would be an easy fix. It's everything. We've just got to play better across the board. I have to do a better job. Every position has got to do a better job. You can analyze the thing and point at a reason that's the cause. Well, it's not that simple. You go to work. You go to work."
Darnell Mooney has been terrific through three games. What do you like best about him?
"You know what, I would have said the same thing about Darnell two years ago. Darnell is the same guy every single day. He's got a smile on his face. He's always giving great effort. The guy loves to play, and he is off to an excellent start. He's made a lot of plays for us, and that will continue. We were expecting Darnell to have a heck of a year, and he's going to keep rolling like he's been playing."
Darius Bradwell had a much better game against UAB. How much of a factor will he be now that he's gotten over the physical ailments that bothered him at the start of the year?
"Yeah, he's definitely looking more 100 percent here the last week and a half or so. He was really banged up and wasn't anywhere near full speed those first couple of games. It's great to have him back. He's another guy who's been very consistent for us and brings great effort and focus every day, so it's finally good to see him healthy."
What do you feel about the run game right now? If the option pitch to Mooney had counted as a run rather than a pass, you would have gained more than 200 yards on the ground against UAB, but there also have been some bad plays.
"We have created some plays in the running game, but I echo everything I said about our protection in our passing game. We've got a long way to go. We can play a lot better in some very simple things--the quarterback's footwork and the track of the back and some minor things that you kind of take for granted after a month-and-a-half of practice, but if you don't pay great attention to those every day, it will come back and bite you in the tail, and that happened to us Saturday some too--just a back on the wrong landmark, the quarterback's footwork slightly off that greatly affects the play. So just like I said about protection, we have to clean it all up and get back to fundamentals and technique."
A key play early was the fourth-and-2 direct snap to Bradwell where he got stuffed. The same play had worked well on the touchdown drive right before then, but what went wrong there?
"They just outplayed us on that particular play. We had run similar scheme early that was a touchdown for us and was blocked well and executed well. Just they won at the point of attack on fourth down. Sometimes it's not about necessarily the perfect call. It's fourth down and there's somebody you can't block. That's the nature of fourth down or goal line. You've got to get behind your pads and move the chains regardless of the look or the situation."
How much better do you feel like this offense is capable of playing?
"Oh, much better, but this is year 32 I'm doing this and at 55 I forget a lot of things that happened over a couple of years ago, but that's coaching. You always see ways you can play a lot better and there's always motivation to come out here and go to work every day because you do see the potential to play so much better. We've done some things very well, but we're nowhere near our potential at this point."
Would you like to see Jonathan Banks tuck it and run more often when no one's open?
"It's all based on the situation. There were two or three times in that game Saturday, and you've got to love the guy's effort because he's battling for yards, but the smart thing to do is just throw the ball away and you're not losing yardage and you're not taking a beating physically. It's one thing to say that and it's another thing when the live bullets are flying. You've just to program yourself to make those decisions. Obviously if it's fourth down, you've got to tuck your head, get behind your pads and move the chains. But he knows there are times when he has to limit the contact, throw the ball away and live to play the next down."
Is his mindset OK right now or did you have to give him some encouragement after the game?
"He's like we all were after that game Saturday--disappointed about the loss. Win or lose, you see things you've got to get better at and then you get to work the next Tuesday morning and attack those. That's what we're doing. We can play a lot better. There's no doubt about that, and that's what we're on track to do--play better."
Nose tackle Jeffery Johnson practiced. He played 35 snaps against UAB, defensive coordinator Jack Curtis told me, and graded out well.
Neither Kendall Ardoin nor Charles Jones practiced today, leaving Will Wallace and Tyrick James as the only scholarship tight ends. I'd like to see James get some more chances. He elevated to catch that sideline pass in the fourth quarter against UAB, making a play starting wide receiver Jabril Clewis has failed to make repeatedly in two years.
Offensive coordinator Doug Ruse was not in a good mood today during practice, lambasting the effort of his players at times. He knows the offense has under-performed through three games, and I caught up with him after practice.
DOUG RUSE
Banks did not play well Saturday and the offensive line did not protect well. What were the key factors in his performance?
"Group effort. A total group effort. JB was off target. He missed some opportunities and had some guys open and couldn't quite hit the spot. He was flushed out of the pocket at times, forcing him to create. It was a total group effort. He's got to play better. Everybody's got to play better."
What does Banks need to do better. He has not played as well in the first three games this year as he did in the last three games last year?
"I'd say what he and a lot of players need to do right now is not pay attention to all the negativity and control what we can control. That is getting better fundamentally, techinique wise. That's all you can do. You can't get dragged down by everything that's coming from the outside. We can control what we can control. That's get out here and practice hard with better, consistent focus, and that's going to lead to better play."
What have been the biggest issues with pass protection? Is it mental, physical or Banks not getting rid of the ball?
It's alll of the above. I wish I knew exactly what's led to some of the issues we've had. If it was that simple, it would be an easy fix. It's everything. We've just got to play better across the board. I have to do a better job. Every position has got to do a better job. You can analyze the thing and point at a reason that's the cause. Well, it's not that simple. You go to work. You go to work."
Darnell Mooney has been terrific through three games. What do you like best about him?
"You know what, I would have said the same thing about Darnell two years ago. Darnell is the same guy every single day. He's got a smile on his face. He's always giving great effort. The guy loves to play, and he is off to an excellent start. He's made a lot of plays for us, and that will continue. We were expecting Darnell to have a heck of a year, and he's going to keep rolling like he's been playing."
Darius Bradwell had a much better game against UAB. How much of a factor will he be now that he's gotten over the physical ailments that bothered him at the start of the year?
"Yeah, he's definitely looking more 100 percent here the last week and a half or so. He was really banged up and wasn't anywhere near full speed those first couple of games. It's great to have him back. He's another guy who's been very consistent for us and brings great effort and focus every day, so it's finally good to see him healthy."
What do you feel about the run game right now? If the option pitch to Mooney had counted as a run rather than a pass, you would have gained more than 200 yards on the ground against UAB, but there also have been some bad plays.
"We have created some plays in the running game, but I echo everything I said about our protection in our passing game. We've got a long way to go. We can play a lot better in some very simple things--the quarterback's footwork and the track of the back and some minor things that you kind of take for granted after a month-and-a-half of practice, but if you don't pay great attention to those every day, it will come back and bite you in the tail, and that happened to us Saturday some too--just a back on the wrong landmark, the quarterback's footwork slightly off that greatly affects the play. So just like I said about protection, we have to clean it all up and get back to fundamentals and technique."
A key play early was the fourth-and-2 direct snap to Bradwell where he got stuffed. The same play had worked well on the touchdown drive right before then, but what went wrong there?
"They just outplayed us on that particular play. We had run similar scheme early that was a touchdown for us and was blocked well and executed well. Just they won at the point of attack on fourth down. Sometimes it's not about necessarily the perfect call. It's fourth down and there's somebody you can't block. That's the nature of fourth down or goal line. You've got to get behind your pads and move the chains regardless of the look or the situation."
How much better do you feel like this offense is capable of playing?
"Oh, much better, but this is year 32 I'm doing this and at 55 I forget a lot of things that happened over a couple of years ago, but that's coaching. You always see ways you can play a lot better and there's always motivation to come out here and go to work every day because you do see the potential to play so much better. We've done some things very well, but we're nowhere near our potential at this point."
Would you like to see Jonathan Banks tuck it and run more often when no one's open?
"It's all based on the situation. There were two or three times in that game Saturday, and you've got to love the guy's effort because he's battling for yards, but the smart thing to do is just throw the ball away and you're not losing yardage and you're not taking a beating physically. It's one thing to say that and it's another thing when the live bullets are flying. You've just to program yourself to make those decisions. Obviously if it's fourth down, you've got to tuck your head, get behind your pads and move the chains. But he knows there are times when he has to limit the contact, throw the ball away and live to play the next down."
Is his mindset OK right now or did you have to give him some encouragement after the game?
"He's like we all were after that game Saturday--disappointed about the loss. Win or lose, you see things you've got to get better at and then you get to work the next Tuesday morning and attack those. That's what we're doing. We can play a lot better. There's no doubt about that, and that's what we're on track to do--play better."
