Tulane was in shorts and shells today for practice No.7 after Tuesday's full pads workout and in anticipation of Saturday's scrimmage, with practice ending 13 minutes earlier than Tuesday. The first thing I noticed was Caleb Thomas practicing at center after missing the first two weeks with a minor injury. There were no snaps on the ground as a result, and Josh Remetich did not have to do double duty as first-team guard and second-team center.
The offense looked good in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 red zone work, with Dontae Fleming catching a touchdown pass from Darian Mensah in 7-on-7. Fleming has practiced well this week. I still have no idea what happened to him last year, when he followed a strong camp with next to nothing in games and struggled when he got his shot in the Military Bowl because all of the top receivers were unavailable. He is a talented player.
Ty Thompson was the first quarterback in the 11-on-11 work. With the ball placed at the 10, he handed off to Arnold Barnes, who is built like a bowling ball, for a nice run on the first play. He then completed passes to Yulkeith Brown and Terez Traynor on a crossing route before missing a well-covered Shaun Nicholas in the end zone.
Mensah was up next with the second unit and completed a pass to Phat Watts on his first attempt before hitting Trey Cornist on a pretty fade in the back of the end zone. He took a pressure "sack" on his next play.
Kai Horton went in with the 1s and handed off twice in a row to Iverson Celestine, who was stuffed on the first attempt but scored on the second. His first pass was deflected near the line of scrimmage, and he scrambled on the fourth rep.
Mensah went back in with the 2s and threw a touchdown pass to Shazz Preston before getting "sacked" on a blitz by Joshua Moore.
The defense fared better in the regular portion of the 11-on-11, with Jon Sumrall praising its physicality and effort level. The starting safeties were Jalen Geiger and Bailey Despanie. The starting cornerbacks were Jai Eugene and Lu Tillery.
Fleming and Mario Williams fielded punts during a special teams segment, with Will Karoll getting off several boomers.
Angelo Anderson and Matt Lombardi are in fact injured. Sumrall termed Anderson's issue short term but said Lombardi's issue, which he called "upper body," might linger longer. With Lombardi and Rashad Green out, Dominic Steward continued to practice with the first unit at right tackle while Trey Tuggle was the first-team left tackle.
SUMRALL
On how practice went:
"Solid. The first extended red zone work that we had gotten so far. Some give and some take early. The defense at the end of the practice in the move-the-ball period really stood out and kind of bowed their neck a little bit and won the period. The offense did well in the red zone 7 on 7 period, so some good on both sides. A lot of room for growth still. We're still a long way away from where I want to see us be, but the energy and the enthusiasm was good today."
On Ty Thompson:
"We saw his athleticism in the offseason drills and the winter conditioning before we diagnosed the problem he was having with his foot. He throws a really good ball. He's got a strong arm. Very accurate. Can extend and make plays with his feet at times. Commanding things at the line of scrimmage he's got to continue to grown and improve upon. He's really intelligent, but just understanding when to maybe speak up or change something or adjust something. The tools are there. In the middle of practice today I grabbed coach Craddock and said we've got three quarterbacks that can throw. Like three. Ty is really talented. Darian Mensah has done some really good things in this training camp so far, and then Kai is kind of the old head even though he hasn't started as many games as what you would consider an older guy. He's been around. All three guys I'm excited about, but Kai's done some really good things."
On the red zone work:
Offense installed a little bit for the red zone today. The defense just carried some calls over that we've already been running out on the field that made sense in the red zone. You play more quarters coverage at times, and so defensively we just kind of adapted calls that would fit. The offense did a nice job of scheming some things up for some guys. You saw some guys go make some plays in the passing game in particularly and a couple of good runs in there, too, but really the offense did a nice job of getting some plays designed that fit the red zone. I've been gradually more pleased with the physicality on defense. Our first shoulder padded today of spring practice about three weeks ago, I was not pleased with the physicality and they knew it. Today was much better. I was like, all right, we're starting to pop some pads a little bit and feel the physicality that needs to happen. This is meant to be a physical, tough game, and if you don't play the game that way you don't have a very good chance of winning. Our guys are just starting to understand that."
On Arnold Barnes:
"I've been following him since he was in high school, so I've really known the kid for a while. He's leaned up his body. This offseason's been good for him. He's paid closer attention to nutrition and those sort of things that can help you perform at a higher level, and his body's gotten better. He has great balance, power and vision. Obviously a low center of gravity, a hard guy to tackle because of the body type. He's not going to win a 30- or 40-yard sprint versus a receiver, but he has good speed. He's almost like a similar version of Makhi (Hughes) in some regards. He's got a battering ram mentality and sees things really well. The vision piece of playing running back is one of the most understated things. Long speed is maybe one of the most overstated. Top end speed is nice, but really having vision at the line of scrimmage and being able to set things up and see what's coming, and he's doing a really good job of that. He has really had a nice training camp so far through seven practices. I'm excited about the direction he's going."
On Lombardi and Angelo Anderson being out:
"Lombardi is a litte bit more to be determined. I don't have all the information yet. Not fully sure there. It's upper body. I thought he was going to be able to practice Tuesday. He didn't feel great. Today he still wasn't quite ready to go. Angelo I would describe as more of a short-term limitation. It's nothing major. You get bumps and bruises and I think he's got a bump and a bruise right now more than anything, a little bit of a strain if you will."
On his offensive line:
"Rashad Green is not practicing right now. We know what he is. I have to keep reminding myself that he'll be back because right now right tackle, Dominic Steward, a true freshman, is going with the 1s, which is pretty impressive. He's holding his own. He looks like a freshman at times but he should also still be in high school. He just got here a couple of months ago. After practice today I grabbed him and said keep your head up. Most people in your shoes are still in high school. You're doing fine. It's nice to have Caleb Thomas back. He was out for the first five practices. Having Caleb back has allowed us to operate better with that second group because he's got significant time on task and has played a lot of snaps. Shadre Hurst at left guard has a really high ceiling. I'm very impressed with what I've seen from him so far, and he's a tremendous worker and a great person. Trey Tuggle has gone a lot at right tackle. I really like Tuggle. He just has kind of a quiet, tough demeanor, plays really hard. One of my most impressive plays of training camp, Tuggle was running like 40 yards downfield right before we broke a couple of weeks ago from practice. I really have been pleased with his effort, so that group's growing.
"That's the position group that takes the most to develop. You can throw a young guy in at receiver like Shaun Nicholas and him flash. You can throw a young guy at DB like Jayden Lewis and him flash. It's hard to develop that whole group, and it's also hard to develop individuals at that position, so that takes a little time. It's about figuring out who's your best five, and that will be a work in progress as we go through training camp with Rashad out."
The offense looked good in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 red zone work, with Dontae Fleming catching a touchdown pass from Darian Mensah in 7-on-7. Fleming has practiced well this week. I still have no idea what happened to him last year, when he followed a strong camp with next to nothing in games and struggled when he got his shot in the Military Bowl because all of the top receivers were unavailable. He is a talented player.
Ty Thompson was the first quarterback in the 11-on-11 work. With the ball placed at the 10, he handed off to Arnold Barnes, who is built like a bowling ball, for a nice run on the first play. He then completed passes to Yulkeith Brown and Terez Traynor on a crossing route before missing a well-covered Shaun Nicholas in the end zone.
Mensah was up next with the second unit and completed a pass to Phat Watts on his first attempt before hitting Trey Cornist on a pretty fade in the back of the end zone. He took a pressure "sack" on his next play.
Kai Horton went in with the 1s and handed off twice in a row to Iverson Celestine, who was stuffed on the first attempt but scored on the second. His first pass was deflected near the line of scrimmage, and he scrambled on the fourth rep.
Mensah went back in with the 2s and threw a touchdown pass to Shazz Preston before getting "sacked" on a blitz by Joshua Moore.
The defense fared better in the regular portion of the 11-on-11, with Jon Sumrall praising its physicality and effort level. The starting safeties were Jalen Geiger and Bailey Despanie. The starting cornerbacks were Jai Eugene and Lu Tillery.
Fleming and Mario Williams fielded punts during a special teams segment, with Will Karoll getting off several boomers.
Angelo Anderson and Matt Lombardi are in fact injured. Sumrall termed Anderson's issue short term but said Lombardi's issue, which he called "upper body," might linger longer. With Lombardi and Rashad Green out, Dominic Steward continued to practice with the first unit at right tackle while Trey Tuggle was the first-team left tackle.
SUMRALL
On how practice went:
"Solid. The first extended red zone work that we had gotten so far. Some give and some take early. The defense at the end of the practice in the move-the-ball period really stood out and kind of bowed their neck a little bit and won the period. The offense did well in the red zone 7 on 7 period, so some good on both sides. A lot of room for growth still. We're still a long way away from where I want to see us be, but the energy and the enthusiasm was good today."
On Ty Thompson:
"We saw his athleticism in the offseason drills and the winter conditioning before we diagnosed the problem he was having with his foot. He throws a really good ball. He's got a strong arm. Very accurate. Can extend and make plays with his feet at times. Commanding things at the line of scrimmage he's got to continue to grown and improve upon. He's really intelligent, but just understanding when to maybe speak up or change something or adjust something. The tools are there. In the middle of practice today I grabbed coach Craddock and said we've got three quarterbacks that can throw. Like three. Ty is really talented. Darian Mensah has done some really good things in this training camp so far, and then Kai is kind of the old head even though he hasn't started as many games as what you would consider an older guy. He's been around. All three guys I'm excited about, but Kai's done some really good things."
On the red zone work:
Offense installed a little bit for the red zone today. The defense just carried some calls over that we've already been running out on the field that made sense in the red zone. You play more quarters coverage at times, and so defensively we just kind of adapted calls that would fit. The offense did a nice job of scheming some things up for some guys. You saw some guys go make some plays in the passing game in particularly and a couple of good runs in there, too, but really the offense did a nice job of getting some plays designed that fit the red zone. I've been gradually more pleased with the physicality on defense. Our first shoulder padded today of spring practice about three weeks ago, I was not pleased with the physicality and they knew it. Today was much better. I was like, all right, we're starting to pop some pads a little bit and feel the physicality that needs to happen. This is meant to be a physical, tough game, and if you don't play the game that way you don't have a very good chance of winning. Our guys are just starting to understand that."
On Arnold Barnes:
"I've been following him since he was in high school, so I've really known the kid for a while. He's leaned up his body. This offseason's been good for him. He's paid closer attention to nutrition and those sort of things that can help you perform at a higher level, and his body's gotten better. He has great balance, power and vision. Obviously a low center of gravity, a hard guy to tackle because of the body type. He's not going to win a 30- or 40-yard sprint versus a receiver, but he has good speed. He's almost like a similar version of Makhi (Hughes) in some regards. He's got a battering ram mentality and sees things really well. The vision piece of playing running back is one of the most understated things. Long speed is maybe one of the most overstated. Top end speed is nice, but really having vision at the line of scrimmage and being able to set things up and see what's coming, and he's doing a really good job of that. He has really had a nice training camp so far through seven practices. I'm excited about the direction he's going."
On Lombardi and Angelo Anderson being out:
"Lombardi is a litte bit more to be determined. I don't have all the information yet. Not fully sure there. It's upper body. I thought he was going to be able to practice Tuesday. He didn't feel great. Today he still wasn't quite ready to go. Angelo I would describe as more of a short-term limitation. It's nothing major. You get bumps and bruises and I think he's got a bump and a bruise right now more than anything, a little bit of a strain if you will."
On his offensive line:
"Rashad Green is not practicing right now. We know what he is. I have to keep reminding myself that he'll be back because right now right tackle, Dominic Steward, a true freshman, is going with the 1s, which is pretty impressive. He's holding his own. He looks like a freshman at times but he should also still be in high school. He just got here a couple of months ago. After practice today I grabbed him and said keep your head up. Most people in your shoes are still in high school. You're doing fine. It's nice to have Caleb Thomas back. He was out for the first five practices. Having Caleb back has allowed us to operate better with that second group because he's got significant time on task and has played a lot of snaps. Shadre Hurst at left guard has a really high ceiling. I'm very impressed with what I've seen from him so far, and he's a tremendous worker and a great person. Trey Tuggle has gone a lot at right tackle. I really like Tuggle. He just has kind of a quiet, tough demeanor, plays really hard. One of my most impressive plays of training camp, Tuggle was running like 40 yards downfield right before we broke a couple of weeks ago from practice. I really have been pleased with his effort, so that group's growing.
"That's the position group that takes the most to develop. You can throw a young guy in at receiver like Shaun Nicholas and him flash. You can throw a young guy at DB like Jayden Lewis and him flash. It's hard to develop that whole group, and it's also hard to develop individuals at that position, so that takes a little time. It's about figuring out who's your best five, and that will be a work in progress as we go through training camp with Rashad out."
