I have kid duties this week until school starts Monday, so I got to practice about 9 a.m. after dropping him off at his grandmother's. I was there before the start of 11-on-11 work, so I did not miss a whole lot.
The 1s versus 1s began with running back Darius Bradwell catching a swing pass and getting stripped downfield, mimicking a drill the defense had just run for about 15 minutes. I was blocked from seeing who stripped the ball, but the defensive coaches were very pleased. McMillan spiked a ball on the next play when no one got open, something he has done a lot more the first two days than he did last year.
Overall, though, it was not McMillan's sharpest day. He went 1 of 3 on the opening set and was "sacked" by Jeffery Johnson on a good push up the middle. McMillan actually threw the ball after the whistle, and Jaetavian Toles dropped it trying to make a low catch.
On McMillan's next series, Amare Jones made a nice catch near the sideline before McMillan connected with an open receiver deep down the sideline (I believe it was McCleskey, but I was blocked again) for what would have been a touchdown if he had not led him too far to the outside, forcing him to step out of bounds right after he grabbed it. McMillan chided himself for the inaccurate throw. One play later, Thakarius Keyes dropped a would-be interception, and on the next snap, McMillan threw deep down the field in desperation under heavy pressure and Corey Dauphine made a circus catch in traffic.
On his third series, McMillan missed Bradwell with a short throw, had a deep ball in the end zone knocked down on a heck of a play by Jaylon Monroe covering McCleskey and threw behind Darnell Mooney on a crossing route.
McMillan has become much more comfortable as a leader. He had plenty of discussions with his receivers on the sideline in between series, instructing them where they needed to be and taking feedback. Insiders say that's one of the primary differences between him and Jonathan Banks. While Banks tried to make plays, McMillan wants to do whatever is necessary to win. He's clearly much more comfortable with his teammates than he was last year.
Backup Keon Howard threw pretty well, including a deep ball to Jacob Robertson over safety Larry Brooks, but he dropped two perfect shotgun snaps, which simply cannot happen. One play after the ball sailed through his hands the first time, he connected deep with walk-on Ryan Thompson for a touchdown. He then threw deep for Jorien Vallien, but Willie Langham blanketed him (and maybe interfered with him when he got too handsy unnecessarily).
Christian Daniels and Josh Holl also got reps with limited success. Holl found wide-open freshman tight end Keshon Williams for a nice gain in the middle of the field but missed Dauphine on an easy throw and was picked off by freshman safety Tyler Judson on another throw.
Willie Fritz felt much better about today's practice than yesterday's, when he talked with the players about how winded they were halfway through and reminded them that all the summer running they did had not prepared them for the fast pace of Will Hall's offense with helmets on. Today, they appeared more acclimated, which they will need to be on both sides of the ball to keep up.
"You have to be in shape to play at this pace," Fritz reminded them.
NOTES
--Virginia grad transfer Ben Knutson practiced with the first team today at right guard.
--Willie Langham worked with the first team at cornerback at the start of 11 on 11 work, with Monroe getting reps there later. That's one of Tulane's closest position battles.
--Linebacker Quentin Brown left the field and headed to the trainers' room with what appeared to be a left hip issue. Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams got reps with the second unit at linebacker, as did Arizona State grad transfer Malik Lawal a little later.
--Freshman Sincere Hayneworth is the third-team center behind Christian Montano and Stephen Lewerenz.
--Reserve defensive end Nick Kubiet is not practicing with an unspecified injury. He is taking mental reps.
--wide receiver Dane Ledford was wincing in pain at the end of practice with some type of upper-leg injury.
--Colby Orgeron is lining up as a reserve right tackle. Nik Hogan is at left tackle and Michael Remondet is at left guard.
--KJ Vault has missed the first two practices, or at least the second half of them, because of a class conflict.
--Keitha Jones remains with the tight ends, the position he played in the spring, so Tulane has five scholarship guys at the position--Jones, Tyrick James, Will Wallace, Williams and Conner Richardson.
--Ygenio Booker is a definite threat as a receiver wherever he lines up. I predict that Tulane's running backs will match or surpass the 14 receptions they had in 13 games last year in two games this season. I've covered teams that did ran different stuff in games from what they had showed in practice, but Hall is a smart guy and he knows who his best playmakers are.
The 1s versus 1s began with running back Darius Bradwell catching a swing pass and getting stripped downfield, mimicking a drill the defense had just run for about 15 minutes. I was blocked from seeing who stripped the ball, but the defensive coaches were very pleased. McMillan spiked a ball on the next play when no one got open, something he has done a lot more the first two days than he did last year.
Overall, though, it was not McMillan's sharpest day. He went 1 of 3 on the opening set and was "sacked" by Jeffery Johnson on a good push up the middle. McMillan actually threw the ball after the whistle, and Jaetavian Toles dropped it trying to make a low catch.
On McMillan's next series, Amare Jones made a nice catch near the sideline before McMillan connected with an open receiver deep down the sideline (I believe it was McCleskey, but I was blocked again) for what would have been a touchdown if he had not led him too far to the outside, forcing him to step out of bounds right after he grabbed it. McMillan chided himself for the inaccurate throw. One play later, Thakarius Keyes dropped a would-be interception, and on the next snap, McMillan threw deep down the field in desperation under heavy pressure and Corey Dauphine made a circus catch in traffic.
On his third series, McMillan missed Bradwell with a short throw, had a deep ball in the end zone knocked down on a heck of a play by Jaylon Monroe covering McCleskey and threw behind Darnell Mooney on a crossing route.
McMillan has become much more comfortable as a leader. He had plenty of discussions with his receivers on the sideline in between series, instructing them where they needed to be and taking feedback. Insiders say that's one of the primary differences between him and Jonathan Banks. While Banks tried to make plays, McMillan wants to do whatever is necessary to win. He's clearly much more comfortable with his teammates than he was last year.
Backup Keon Howard threw pretty well, including a deep ball to Jacob Robertson over safety Larry Brooks, but he dropped two perfect shotgun snaps, which simply cannot happen. One play after the ball sailed through his hands the first time, he connected deep with walk-on Ryan Thompson for a touchdown. He then threw deep for Jorien Vallien, but Willie Langham blanketed him (and maybe interfered with him when he got too handsy unnecessarily).
Christian Daniels and Josh Holl also got reps with limited success. Holl found wide-open freshman tight end Keshon Williams for a nice gain in the middle of the field but missed Dauphine on an easy throw and was picked off by freshman safety Tyler Judson on another throw.
Willie Fritz felt much better about today's practice than yesterday's, when he talked with the players about how winded they were halfway through and reminded them that all the summer running they did had not prepared them for the fast pace of Will Hall's offense with helmets on. Today, they appeared more acclimated, which they will need to be on both sides of the ball to keep up.
"You have to be in shape to play at this pace," Fritz reminded them.
NOTES
--Virginia grad transfer Ben Knutson practiced with the first team today at right guard.
--Willie Langham worked with the first team at cornerback at the start of 11 on 11 work, with Monroe getting reps there later. That's one of Tulane's closest position battles.
--Linebacker Quentin Brown left the field and headed to the trainers' room with what appeared to be a left hip issue. Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams got reps with the second unit at linebacker, as did Arizona State grad transfer Malik Lawal a little later.
--Freshman Sincere Hayneworth is the third-team center behind Christian Montano and Stephen Lewerenz.
--Reserve defensive end Nick Kubiet is not practicing with an unspecified injury. He is taking mental reps.
--wide receiver Dane Ledford was wincing in pain at the end of practice with some type of upper-leg injury.
--Colby Orgeron is lining up as a reserve right tackle. Nik Hogan is at left tackle and Michael Remondet is at left guard.
--KJ Vault has missed the first two practices, or at least the second half of them, because of a class conflict.
--Keitha Jones remains with the tight ends, the position he played in the spring, so Tulane has five scholarship guys at the position--Jones, Tyrick James, Will Wallace, Williams and Conner Richardson.
--Ygenio Booker is a definite threat as a receiver wherever he lines up. I predict that Tulane's running backs will match or surpass the 14 receptions they had in 13 games last year in two games this season. I've covered teams that did ran different stuff in games from what they had showed in practice, but Hall is a smart guy and he knows who his best playmakers are.