Tulane had a very light practice this morning at Yulman Stadium, partly because the fitness tracking system the team uses indicated guys had exerted a lot of energy in the past two days and needed to ramp it down to keep themselves fresh. The Green Wave will conduct another workout tomorrow on campus before going to the Superdome on Friday for another like workout in preparation for Saturday's scrimmage.
The big news was Jha'Quan Jackson returned to practice today, fielding punts, after missing the past few days with a minor knee injury that kept him out of Saturday's scrimmage. He looked very close to 100 percent.
Offensive guard Trey Tuggle was on a scooter today with a left leg injury, but Tulane still has plenty of competition at his position. Caleb Thomas is the frontrunner to start at right guard, with Josh Remetich also in the picture and Jackson Fort trying to work his way into the picture. Other guys who did not practice were Christian Daniels (right leg). Alfred Thomas,, Devean Deal, Reggie Brown, Colby Orgeron, Matt Lombardi, Larry Brooks, Derrion Rakestraw and Angelo Anderson. Rakestraw and Anderson were out there in shorts, took mental reps and did not have any wrapping or any limp connoting a significant issue. The Wave is a little low on bodies at safety right now, with walk-on Gabe Liu getting second-team reps along with freshman Bailey Despanie but the guys out should be fine by the time the Oklahoma game rolls around.
They worked on onside kicks again today, but this team focusing on recovering an opponent's attempt. Cyron Sutton did exactly what he was supposed to do, falling on a ball cleanly, and so did Jackson.
The defense did its first scout-team work of camp, but not with offensive players serving as scout players yet. The coaches have not divided up the team that way yet, so defensive players performed the roles of the scout team while the offense had a long receiving drill, with guys running patterns on air and catching passes. Ygenio Booker made a nice grab of a Justin Ibieta deep ball thrown slightly behind him, adjusting to make the catch look easy. Jaetavian Toles had the only drop.
The practice ended without the normal 11-on-11 session.
Archie Manning attended practice and addressed the team after it was over. You'll never hear anyone utter a bad word about him. He's as nice a guy as there is although it was funny in casual conversation he referred to his sons as my middle son Peyton and my oldest son Cooper, etc, as if anyone was not familiar with the Manning clan.
WILLIE FRITZ
"We cut back quite a bit today. We're trying to build up to Saturday's scrimmage in more game-like situations, so we're going to go uppers tomorrow and on Friday we're going to go helmets again down in the Dome and then we're going to scrimmage on Saturday. We have this GPS Catapult we follow quite closely and we put up a bunch of high numbers for a few days in a row, so we wanted to back off a little bit."
On who will participate in scrimmage:
"Everybody will play for sure. We will do more game situations. I love when we have officials at practice. It's a lot more realistic when you have the refs out at practice. We'll get in some goal line, we'll run drives to completion. Some guys will play a lot and some guys will play a little. Some of these guys have played thousands of snaps here at Tulane, so I've got a pretty good bead on the team. Some guys have played only 30 or 40, and I want to get them more reps and more experience."
On Oklahoma being ranked No. 2:
"Yeah, they are a great team obviously and have been great forever, since Bud Wilkerson many years ago. Coach (Lincoln) Riley is doing a sensational job. It's going to be a tremendous challenge. I think our guys are excited about playing if not the best team in the country, one of the best teams in the country."
FRITZ FROM YESTERDAY
"We were back outside today. We'll be back outside the majority of the time. We might have one more opportunity to be inside either the Dome if they allow us to go out there or possibly in Metairie at the Saints facility. Otherwise, we have to get ready for this. We play 11 o'clock, the first game. Oklahoma here. Most of the guys have really done a good job adapting to the heat and the humidity. We've upped our pitch count. We're going six plays in a row (with the same personnel) and we were going four the first week. We're just trying to build that stamina up as best we can."
On Tyrick James being capable of reaching another level:
"There really is. He's been a steady guy, but at times he showed flashes he can be an All-Conference type performer for us. We just need to get that done consistently. We've got a lot of competition in the tight end room with Tyrick and Will Wallace. Reggie Brown has had a good camp. Keitha Jones is hobbled and banged up right now, but he started off well and had a good spring for us. Tight end's a big part of our offense. The guy who plays the best during camp is going to get more opportunities in the first game. We like the Steady Eddie, but we also want to get some plays where wow, that guy's a heck of a tight end. All those guys can be that kind of guy. All of those guys have good speed. Will Wallace had some long catches for us last year and has done it in camp so far. Reggie Brown has good speed but is a little bit hobbled right now. Keitha's got good speed, so all of them can stretch a field vertically. We just want to see them be consistent and play at a high level every single down."
On Chip Long using the position heavily:
"We ask them to do a lot of things. They've got to think now. We don't run three plays. We run a bunch of them with a bunch of different concepts and those guys have to understand the call, they have to understand the situation and they have to execute the call. Luckily all those guys are bright guys and are able to do that."
On consistency he needs from James:
"Just down after down after down after down. He's an outstanding young man and has had a very nice career for us, but we really think he can take it to another level. That's what we're looking for."
On fighting through dog days of August in practice:
"Not bad. Not bad. We'll come out and do some walkthrough this evening. We'll come out late. It's not a very good schedule for coaches but it's a real good schedule for players. We get done with practice here, we've got lunch beginning at 10:30, we do special teams meeting at noon and if you're not involved in special teams you do positional meetings, and then basically they've got block of time with about four hours off. And most of those guys, I bet you it would be 99.9 percent of them, go to their humble abode and take a good, solid two-hour nap. Then we come back and have a team dinner at 5. We have a team meeting at 6. We positional meet at 6:30 until almost 8, and then we come out here and do a walkthrough until about 8:45. By that time it's cool outside and the guys are pretty ready to go. When they get done with that, they walk out the door with their snack and get another good, solid seven hours of sleep in. We get up early, but during camp we're able to give them some time off so those guys can rest and recover."
The big news was Jha'Quan Jackson returned to practice today, fielding punts, after missing the past few days with a minor knee injury that kept him out of Saturday's scrimmage. He looked very close to 100 percent.
Offensive guard Trey Tuggle was on a scooter today with a left leg injury, but Tulane still has plenty of competition at his position. Caleb Thomas is the frontrunner to start at right guard, with Josh Remetich also in the picture and Jackson Fort trying to work his way into the picture. Other guys who did not practice were Christian Daniels (right leg). Alfred Thomas,, Devean Deal, Reggie Brown, Colby Orgeron, Matt Lombardi, Larry Brooks, Derrion Rakestraw and Angelo Anderson. Rakestraw and Anderson were out there in shorts, took mental reps and did not have any wrapping or any limp connoting a significant issue. The Wave is a little low on bodies at safety right now, with walk-on Gabe Liu getting second-team reps along with freshman Bailey Despanie but the guys out should be fine by the time the Oklahoma game rolls around.
They worked on onside kicks again today, but this team focusing on recovering an opponent's attempt. Cyron Sutton did exactly what he was supposed to do, falling on a ball cleanly, and so did Jackson.
The defense did its first scout-team work of camp, but not with offensive players serving as scout players yet. The coaches have not divided up the team that way yet, so defensive players performed the roles of the scout team while the offense had a long receiving drill, with guys running patterns on air and catching passes. Ygenio Booker made a nice grab of a Justin Ibieta deep ball thrown slightly behind him, adjusting to make the catch look easy. Jaetavian Toles had the only drop.
The practice ended without the normal 11-on-11 session.
Archie Manning attended practice and addressed the team after it was over. You'll never hear anyone utter a bad word about him. He's as nice a guy as there is although it was funny in casual conversation he referred to his sons as my middle son Peyton and my oldest son Cooper, etc, as if anyone was not familiar with the Manning clan.
WILLIE FRITZ
"We cut back quite a bit today. We're trying to build up to Saturday's scrimmage in more game-like situations, so we're going to go uppers tomorrow and on Friday we're going to go helmets again down in the Dome and then we're going to scrimmage on Saturday. We have this GPS Catapult we follow quite closely and we put up a bunch of high numbers for a few days in a row, so we wanted to back off a little bit."
On who will participate in scrimmage:
"Everybody will play for sure. We will do more game situations. I love when we have officials at practice. It's a lot more realistic when you have the refs out at practice. We'll get in some goal line, we'll run drives to completion. Some guys will play a lot and some guys will play a little. Some of these guys have played thousands of snaps here at Tulane, so I've got a pretty good bead on the team. Some guys have played only 30 or 40, and I want to get them more reps and more experience."
On Oklahoma being ranked No. 2:
"Yeah, they are a great team obviously and have been great forever, since Bud Wilkerson many years ago. Coach (Lincoln) Riley is doing a sensational job. It's going to be a tremendous challenge. I think our guys are excited about playing if not the best team in the country, one of the best teams in the country."
FRITZ FROM YESTERDAY
"We were back outside today. We'll be back outside the majority of the time. We might have one more opportunity to be inside either the Dome if they allow us to go out there or possibly in Metairie at the Saints facility. Otherwise, we have to get ready for this. We play 11 o'clock, the first game. Oklahoma here. Most of the guys have really done a good job adapting to the heat and the humidity. We've upped our pitch count. We're going six plays in a row (with the same personnel) and we were going four the first week. We're just trying to build that stamina up as best we can."
On Tyrick James being capable of reaching another level:
"There really is. He's been a steady guy, but at times he showed flashes he can be an All-Conference type performer for us. We just need to get that done consistently. We've got a lot of competition in the tight end room with Tyrick and Will Wallace. Reggie Brown has had a good camp. Keitha Jones is hobbled and banged up right now, but he started off well and had a good spring for us. Tight end's a big part of our offense. The guy who plays the best during camp is going to get more opportunities in the first game. We like the Steady Eddie, but we also want to get some plays where wow, that guy's a heck of a tight end. All those guys can be that kind of guy. All of those guys have good speed. Will Wallace had some long catches for us last year and has done it in camp so far. Reggie Brown has good speed but is a little bit hobbled right now. Keitha's got good speed, so all of them can stretch a field vertically. We just want to see them be consistent and play at a high level every single down."
On Chip Long using the position heavily:
"We ask them to do a lot of things. They've got to think now. We don't run three plays. We run a bunch of them with a bunch of different concepts and those guys have to understand the call, they have to understand the situation and they have to execute the call. Luckily all those guys are bright guys and are able to do that."
On consistency he needs from James:
"Just down after down after down after down. He's an outstanding young man and has had a very nice career for us, but we really think he can take it to another level. That's what we're looking for."
On fighting through dog days of August in practice:
"Not bad. Not bad. We'll come out and do some walkthrough this evening. We'll come out late. It's not a very good schedule for coaches but it's a real good schedule for players. We get done with practice here, we've got lunch beginning at 10:30, we do special teams meeting at noon and if you're not involved in special teams you do positional meetings, and then basically they've got block of time with about four hours off. And most of those guys, I bet you it would be 99.9 percent of them, go to their humble abode and take a good, solid two-hour nap. Then we come back and have a team dinner at 5. We have a team meeting at 6. We positional meet at 6:30 until almost 8, and then we come out here and do a walkthrough until about 8:45. By that time it's cool outside and the guys are pretty ready to go. When they get done with that, they walk out the door with their snack and get another good, solid seven hours of sleep in. We get up early, but during camp we're able to give them some time off so those guys can rest and recover."