Tight end Charles Jones became a forgotten man on the Tulane roster when he battled injuries last year. He suffered a high ankle sprain against Southern in week 3 and then tore ligaments and broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot against UMass in the fifth game, sidelining him for the rest of the season and requiring a pair of surgeries, one in October and then another one in December.
Ultimately, Jones applied for and received a medical redshirt from the NCAA, meaning he will be a redshirt junior in the fall as he tries to rekindle the feeling he had when he played right away as a true freshman out of St. Aug, catching 21 passes with three touchdowns while starting six times. He followed up with 19 receptions and five starters in Curtis Johnson's final year, but he did not make a reception in his injury-plagued 2016 seasons under Willie Fritz.
"It was very difficult watching my team go out there and battle," he said. "I could watch from the sidelines. I kind of felt like we were the Spartans and I was that one soldier that just had to go back home and tell the story about the rest of them. I'm glad to be back."
He punctuated that point with a tremendous catch in Thursday morning's practice, high-pointing a ball from Jonathan Banks in the back of the end zone for a pretty touchdown. He and Kendall Ardoin are competing for the first-team spot, and he believes the lost year helped him in some ways.
"That year was good for me," he said. "I learned this offense. I didn't really know it that well early last year and wasn't the best person in the playbook. I feel like Kendall and I can help this offense tremendously, from the blocking to the run-pass options to the passing to the special teams. Anything they need, we can do it."
Jones said he could add physicality, encouragement, grit and energy to the team. Fritz wants to see it every day, though, rather than in bursts of brilliance like Thursday's touchdown.
"He can help us out big time," Fritz said. "He really has great ability. Today we had Matt Forte and Michael Parenton talk to the team, and one of the things Matt talked about was consistency and doing it every single day and over and over and over again. That's something Charles has to do. When he has it together and the stars are all aligned, he's a very good player."
Still, Fritz said Jones' absence hurt the team last year. When Ardoin got banged up later, it was hard to use the tight ends at all, taking what he considered a significant part of the offense away. To avoid that possibility again in 2017, the coaches are looking at Andrew Hicks as a potential tight end when he returns in August from his second ACL injury.
"He's 225 pounds and has great strength," Fritz said. "He's close to a 500-pound squatter and about a 350 bencher. That might be a good spot for him."
It was a very feisty practice, getting out of hand a couple of times, particularly when guard Dominique Briggs lost his cool with Ade Aruna and started swinging wildly trying to hit him. That fight had to be broken up by teammates and coaches, and Fritz said he preferred having players maintain control of their emotions. Roderic Teamer and Stephon Huderson almost got into it when Teamer kept trying to slap the ball away from him after Huderson ran into the end zone, and there were about three or four more flare-ups.
"I kind of talked to them afterward," Fritz said. "I had a team one time that won 26 in a row, and we never had anybody get into a fight or anything. It really doesn't show you how tough a guy is, fighting in practice. Now going hard 12 plays in a row, that's tough."
Frits slapped the hands of the first-team defensive linemen at one point, congratulating them on their play in an 11-on-11 drill.
"There were some good things they did on both sides of the ball," he said. "We've got more competition going on within the O-line and the D-line. I'm hoping when we get these freshmen in here we're going to have even more competition as a coach, when you have tough decisions. Unfortunately last year there were not as many tough decisions as I wanted to have."
Tulane worked on special teams for a good portion of the practice, doing the nitty gritty stuff like practicing the initial blocks on returns that I never saw the Wave practice under CJ's staff. They did the drills in segments without live returning, working on the fundamentals. The guys shagging kickoffs were Dontrell Hilliard, Tre Jackson and Stephon Huderson. Sherman Badie also will be in the picture, but he was held out with a minor injury and should return either Friday or early next week.
On punts, Fritz said Donnie Lewis, Tre Jackson, Hilliard and Badie were the four leading candidates.
Johnathan Brantley has not had many passing highlights in the spring, but he had a nice connection with Devin Glenn for a touchdown on a bomb, hitting him in stride. Fritz praised Glenn the other day, but this was the first time I saw him make a big play this spring. Brantley gave away a touchdown when safety Sam Harper stripped him and ran in for a score.
Banks did not have as good a day as he did Tueday, throwing low a few times and misfiring badly on one deep ball, but he zipped a pass to Darnell Mooney on a corner route before connecting with Jones on the big touchdown.
The tackling drill Thursday involved one player holding a cushion and another one drive-tackling him backwards in a pad. As always, Fritz was hands on, pointing out when guys used the wrong technique, reminding them repeatedly "right shoulder, left hook."
Fritz clearly loves having ex-players around, bringing them in to speak to the team often. Forte is the latest example.
"Any school I've been at, I've tried to really embrace the alums," Fritz said. "We've got NFL lockers in there for those guys (at Yulman Stadium). Matt doesn't have an opportunity to make it back very much. I went out and worked his camp last summer in Slidell and got to meet him a little bit out there. He's a great example. The thing I thought was most impressive is he started off by saying he's got a degree in finance from Tulane. And he's on the cusp of being one of the few backs in NFL history who's rushed for over 10,000 and caught for over 5,000. That would be interesting to look that up. There's not many. If he has a really good next couple of years, he's got a chance to be in the Hall of Fame, and not just the Bears' Hall of Fame--the Hall of Fame."
Ultimately, Jones applied for and received a medical redshirt from the NCAA, meaning he will be a redshirt junior in the fall as he tries to rekindle the feeling he had when he played right away as a true freshman out of St. Aug, catching 21 passes with three touchdowns while starting six times. He followed up with 19 receptions and five starters in Curtis Johnson's final year, but he did not make a reception in his injury-plagued 2016 seasons under Willie Fritz.
"It was very difficult watching my team go out there and battle," he said. "I could watch from the sidelines. I kind of felt like we were the Spartans and I was that one soldier that just had to go back home and tell the story about the rest of them. I'm glad to be back."
He punctuated that point with a tremendous catch in Thursday morning's practice, high-pointing a ball from Jonathan Banks in the back of the end zone for a pretty touchdown. He and Kendall Ardoin are competing for the first-team spot, and he believes the lost year helped him in some ways.
"That year was good for me," he said. "I learned this offense. I didn't really know it that well early last year and wasn't the best person in the playbook. I feel like Kendall and I can help this offense tremendously, from the blocking to the run-pass options to the passing to the special teams. Anything they need, we can do it."
Jones said he could add physicality, encouragement, grit and energy to the team. Fritz wants to see it every day, though, rather than in bursts of brilliance like Thursday's touchdown.
"He can help us out big time," Fritz said. "He really has great ability. Today we had Matt Forte and Michael Parenton talk to the team, and one of the things Matt talked about was consistency and doing it every single day and over and over and over again. That's something Charles has to do. When he has it together and the stars are all aligned, he's a very good player."
Still, Fritz said Jones' absence hurt the team last year. When Ardoin got banged up later, it was hard to use the tight ends at all, taking what he considered a significant part of the offense away. To avoid that possibility again in 2017, the coaches are looking at Andrew Hicks as a potential tight end when he returns in August from his second ACL injury.
"He's 225 pounds and has great strength," Fritz said. "He's close to a 500-pound squatter and about a 350 bencher. That might be a good spot for him."
It was a very feisty practice, getting out of hand a couple of times, particularly when guard Dominique Briggs lost his cool with Ade Aruna and started swinging wildly trying to hit him. That fight had to be broken up by teammates and coaches, and Fritz said he preferred having players maintain control of their emotions. Roderic Teamer and Stephon Huderson almost got into it when Teamer kept trying to slap the ball away from him after Huderson ran into the end zone, and there were about three or four more flare-ups.
"I kind of talked to them afterward," Fritz said. "I had a team one time that won 26 in a row, and we never had anybody get into a fight or anything. It really doesn't show you how tough a guy is, fighting in practice. Now going hard 12 plays in a row, that's tough."
Frits slapped the hands of the first-team defensive linemen at one point, congratulating them on their play in an 11-on-11 drill.
"There were some good things they did on both sides of the ball," he said. "We've got more competition going on within the O-line and the D-line. I'm hoping when we get these freshmen in here we're going to have even more competition as a coach, when you have tough decisions. Unfortunately last year there were not as many tough decisions as I wanted to have."
Tulane worked on special teams for a good portion of the practice, doing the nitty gritty stuff like practicing the initial blocks on returns that I never saw the Wave practice under CJ's staff. They did the drills in segments without live returning, working on the fundamentals. The guys shagging kickoffs were Dontrell Hilliard, Tre Jackson and Stephon Huderson. Sherman Badie also will be in the picture, but he was held out with a minor injury and should return either Friday or early next week.
On punts, Fritz said Donnie Lewis, Tre Jackson, Hilliard and Badie were the four leading candidates.
Johnathan Brantley has not had many passing highlights in the spring, but he had a nice connection with Devin Glenn for a touchdown on a bomb, hitting him in stride. Fritz praised Glenn the other day, but this was the first time I saw him make a big play this spring. Brantley gave away a touchdown when safety Sam Harper stripped him and ran in for a score.
Banks did not have as good a day as he did Tueday, throwing low a few times and misfiring badly on one deep ball, but he zipped a pass to Darnell Mooney on a corner route before connecting with Jones on the big touchdown.
The tackling drill Thursday involved one player holding a cushion and another one drive-tackling him backwards in a pad. As always, Fritz was hands on, pointing out when guys used the wrong technique, reminding them repeatedly "right shoulder, left hook."
Fritz clearly loves having ex-players around, bringing them in to speak to the team often. Forte is the latest example.
"Any school I've been at, I've tried to really embrace the alums," Fritz said. "We've got NFL lockers in there for those guys (at Yulman Stadium). Matt doesn't have an opportunity to make it back very much. I went out and worked his camp last summer in Slidell and got to meet him a little bit out there. He's a great example. The thing I thought was most impressive is he started off by saying he's got a degree in finance from Tulane. And he's on the cusp of being one of the few backs in NFL history who's rushed for over 10,000 and caught for over 5,000. That would be interesting to look that up. There's not many. If he has a really good next couple of years, he's got a chance to be in the Hall of Fame, and not just the Bears' Hall of Fame--the Hall of Fame."