Monday morning was by far the feistiest practice of the preseason, with at least five fights between offensive and defensive players finally prompting Jon Sumrall to stop the workout and force everyone to run a series of short sprints as a disciplinary measure near the end of the workout. They went back out to have one final red zone sequence, and when Darian Mensah (more on him in a second) fired a strike to Sidney Mbanasor over the middle in the end zone, barely beating cornerback E'Zaiah Shine. Mbanasor, whose helmet came off at the end of the play, celebrated by spiking the ball into the wall behind the end zone. Those two had had a dust-up earlier. but Mbanasor and the offense got the last laugh, with the whistle blowing to signify the end of practice seconds later. Sumrall lectured the team on fighting in his post-practice address on the field, saying they should channel their intensity into big plays like wide receiver Dontae Fleming (more on that in a second, too), but he was not overly upset.
"It wasn't like what happened at Appalachian State, where a guy grabbed a helmet (a defensive lineman took off an offensive lineman's helmet and smashed him in the head with hit)," Sumrall said. "We haven't had any of that. That's scary. I like the enthusiasm. I'd much rather have to say, 'whoa, whoa, whoa' than 'giddyup.' We've got to be a little smarter with how we compete with each other and recognize we all play for the same team. We all play for Tulane. We have to protect our team, but it was enthusiastic and it was charged and it was competitive. Coming off a Saturday scrimmage with yesterday a day off and full gear today, as a coach you're worried about are they going to bring it? They brought it. Now we just got to get them to bring it with the confines of the rules, but I liked the energy for sure."
Practice No. 11 was a heavy-duty affair in very hot, humid conditions ripe for tempers to flare. Sumrall said Saturday they would treat this like a Tuesday and Wednesday practice before a Saturday game, mimicking what they will face in the short week before the Thursday night Halloween game at Charlotte. Other than the fights, which were out of the ordinary and likely will not be repeated, there were two big storylines. The first one was the continuation of the camp-long surge by Dontae Fleming, who topped himself today. I've been a little circumspect about him because he's a prove-it-in-games guy to me, but god Almighty, he has looked fantastic in practice. He ran under a deep ball down the sideline from Darian Mensah in 11 on 11 as if he were a seasoned pro, making the long touchdown catch look easy. A little later, though, he turned in the best catch I've seen since I started covering Tulane practices in the middle of the 2010 season. With cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant draped all over him on another deep pass from Mensah, he pulled it in with his left hand while straddling the sideline to keep his feet inbounds. The celebratory screaming from his offensive teammates reached a crescendo at that point, but he was not done, scoring on another pass from Mensah on the the next play as about 30 players ran over to congratulate him in the back of the end zone. I liked Fleming in the preseason last fall and predicted some good things from him before he had a very quiet year (six catches), but he was nothing like this. He absolutely, positively has been the best receiver on the roster nearly every day.
"He's been very productive and very consistent all throughout training camp," Sumrall said. "Just reliable, dependable, very steady, and to be that way and go make those big-time plays, he is playing at a really high level. He transferred here, didn't maybe have the year he wanted to last year, has been through some adversity. He has real-life stuff he's taken on. He's a father, and he's a mature guy and the most consistent, hard-working guy on our team probably. You get what you earn, and he's earned it right now with how he's performing. He's worked extremely hard and I'm proud to see the results he's getting. I think he's going to have a big year. I really do."
The other storyline is the ascension of Mensah to make it a legitimate three-quarterback competitions. The consensus among observers after Saturday's scrimmage was that Kai Horton had played considerably better than Ty Thompson, but my take was different--Horton won by default, playing OK at best while Thompson struggled, and that's not enough to impress me. Mensah was sharp when he came in with the backups at the latter end of the scrimmage, and Sumrall felt he earned the right to join the competition for real. Mensah spent a lot of time with the first team today, although Horton and Thompson were the first guys in the only totally live drill--some goal-line work at the beginning of 11-on-11. Mensah likely will get a third of the snaps with the first team in Thursday night's scrimmage, giving him a shot to show what he can do on an equal footing with Horton and Thompson.
Neither Horton nor Thompson did enough in the first two weeks of camp to keep the coaches from wanting to get another good look at Mensah.
"There are different days where I feel differently," Sumrall said. "Darian Mensah went with the 1s today for a reason. He had a really good scrimmage. I'm not saying he's going to start. We're still in training camp mode. We're still working things out, flushing things out. You're seeing different guys go with the 1s at other spots, too, that maybe aren't 1s, but the quarterback position gets highlighted because we don't have an incumbent starter. All three guys have done some good things. There have been times where I'm like, hey, it's a two-man race. I gave reps to No. 10 with the 1s today because if you watched Saturday's scrimmage, he deserved them. My job is to do what's best for the team, and right now he earned the opportunity to go take some reps with the 1s. He didn't take the first reps with the 1s in the goal-line period. That was the other two guys, but he's earned enough to get thrown in that mix."
Sumrall even changed the parameters around the defense going after Mensah today.
"We made him 'thud,' he said. "He hadn't played a live college snap, so he was thud today. He wasn't tag or the halo rule where you need to stay away from the quarterback. I told the guys on defense put your hands on him. I want him to feel you if you're back there, so I like where we're at. Do I wish there was a clear-cut guy that might make my job a little easier? We're having to work a little bit through it more, but Kai's done some really good things. Ty's done some good things, and Darian Mensah, he just seems to have that it factor a little bit right now. I'll be honest with you, he's got a little something about him, and by no way does that mean he's the guy right now, but I want to put him in those situations to see what we got, and now is the time to do it. Through this Thursday we are going to put all of them in situations to find out who they are and what they do under pressure, and then after Thursday we'll have to start narrowing down our scope, but we're still in training camp mode through Thursday and I want to put him out there. You'll see him go with the 1s some the rest of the week, and the other two guys will, too. It's not a one-man show."
I have never really bought Mensah as being in the quarterback competition, and he clearly was No. 3 entering Saturday's scrimmage, but this is not lip service or an attempt to keep him happy by Sumrall. The guy who performs the best in the next week or so will get an upper hand. I'm on the fence as to how it will turn out, with Horton maybe having the slight edge after I thought Thompson had the edge entering camp. Both of them need to play better than they have or Mensah will get a real shot.
"It wasn't an intended wake-up call (putting Mensah in with the 1s)," Sumrall said. "You get what you earn. We're going to play who prepares and who the guys rally around. Yeah, the way he's performing might be a wake-up call to those guys, this is another guy in the room. That room's great, though. They pull for him. They are not pulling against him, and if they are pulling against him, they are going to have to come deal with me. I think everything's a wake-up call. If you don't do things with a sense of urgency, you've got a problem in this game. I hope that those guys recognize there's a youngster pushing their heels. I don't care if he's a redshirt freshman that hasn't played a game. I will start him if he earns it. He hasn't earned it clearcut yet, but he's in the mix. He's doing a good job."
Gerrod Henderson, who had two "sacks" in the scrimmage, including a definite strip of Thompson, practiced with the 1s at defensive end, today. To Sumrall, he's probably been the biggest surprise of camp. Henderson plays the same spot as Adin Huntington, whom Sumrall loves and will be the first-team guy when he returns from a minor knee injury next week, but it is a position with a clear opportunity for playing time.
"He (Henderson)'s a guy that full disclosure, when I got here in January the report was not outstanding. It wasn't fatal, but it was like, hey, he hasn't really done a whole lot and he's been inconsistent off the field with how he's conducted himself. He's been really good. He's flashed, he's produced, he's twitchy, he's violent, he plays with some explosiveness, he's got good effort and good energy. It's been really fun to watch him grow. To be fully transparent, I didn't know what his opportunity to have an impact on this team was going to look like back in the winter, and he just kind of showed up every day and stacked some good things on top of each other, and now we have a shot to see him have a role on this defense. I'm really proud of what he's done."
"It wasn't like what happened at Appalachian State, where a guy grabbed a helmet (a defensive lineman took off an offensive lineman's helmet and smashed him in the head with hit)," Sumrall said. "We haven't had any of that. That's scary. I like the enthusiasm. I'd much rather have to say, 'whoa, whoa, whoa' than 'giddyup.' We've got to be a little smarter with how we compete with each other and recognize we all play for the same team. We all play for Tulane. We have to protect our team, but it was enthusiastic and it was charged and it was competitive. Coming off a Saturday scrimmage with yesterday a day off and full gear today, as a coach you're worried about are they going to bring it? They brought it. Now we just got to get them to bring it with the confines of the rules, but I liked the energy for sure."
Practice No. 11 was a heavy-duty affair in very hot, humid conditions ripe for tempers to flare. Sumrall said Saturday they would treat this like a Tuesday and Wednesday practice before a Saturday game, mimicking what they will face in the short week before the Thursday night Halloween game at Charlotte. Other than the fights, which were out of the ordinary and likely will not be repeated, there were two big storylines. The first one was the continuation of the camp-long surge by Dontae Fleming, who topped himself today. I've been a little circumspect about him because he's a prove-it-in-games guy to me, but god Almighty, he has looked fantastic in practice. He ran under a deep ball down the sideline from Darian Mensah in 11 on 11 as if he were a seasoned pro, making the long touchdown catch look easy. A little later, though, he turned in the best catch I've seen since I started covering Tulane practices in the middle of the 2010 season. With cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant draped all over him on another deep pass from Mensah, he pulled it in with his left hand while straddling the sideline to keep his feet inbounds. The celebratory screaming from his offensive teammates reached a crescendo at that point, but he was not done, scoring on another pass from Mensah on the the next play as about 30 players ran over to congratulate him in the back of the end zone. I liked Fleming in the preseason last fall and predicted some good things from him before he had a very quiet year (six catches), but he was nothing like this. He absolutely, positively has been the best receiver on the roster nearly every day.
"He's been very productive and very consistent all throughout training camp," Sumrall said. "Just reliable, dependable, very steady, and to be that way and go make those big-time plays, he is playing at a really high level. He transferred here, didn't maybe have the year he wanted to last year, has been through some adversity. He has real-life stuff he's taken on. He's a father, and he's a mature guy and the most consistent, hard-working guy on our team probably. You get what you earn, and he's earned it right now with how he's performing. He's worked extremely hard and I'm proud to see the results he's getting. I think he's going to have a big year. I really do."
The other storyline is the ascension of Mensah to make it a legitimate three-quarterback competitions. The consensus among observers after Saturday's scrimmage was that Kai Horton had played considerably better than Ty Thompson, but my take was different--Horton won by default, playing OK at best while Thompson struggled, and that's not enough to impress me. Mensah was sharp when he came in with the backups at the latter end of the scrimmage, and Sumrall felt he earned the right to join the competition for real. Mensah spent a lot of time with the first team today, although Horton and Thompson were the first guys in the only totally live drill--some goal-line work at the beginning of 11-on-11. Mensah likely will get a third of the snaps with the first team in Thursday night's scrimmage, giving him a shot to show what he can do on an equal footing with Horton and Thompson.
Neither Horton nor Thompson did enough in the first two weeks of camp to keep the coaches from wanting to get another good look at Mensah.
"There are different days where I feel differently," Sumrall said. "Darian Mensah went with the 1s today for a reason. He had a really good scrimmage. I'm not saying he's going to start. We're still in training camp mode. We're still working things out, flushing things out. You're seeing different guys go with the 1s at other spots, too, that maybe aren't 1s, but the quarterback position gets highlighted because we don't have an incumbent starter. All three guys have done some good things. There have been times where I'm like, hey, it's a two-man race. I gave reps to No. 10 with the 1s today because if you watched Saturday's scrimmage, he deserved them. My job is to do what's best for the team, and right now he earned the opportunity to go take some reps with the 1s. He didn't take the first reps with the 1s in the goal-line period. That was the other two guys, but he's earned enough to get thrown in that mix."
Sumrall even changed the parameters around the defense going after Mensah today.
"We made him 'thud,' he said. "He hadn't played a live college snap, so he was thud today. He wasn't tag or the halo rule where you need to stay away from the quarterback. I told the guys on defense put your hands on him. I want him to feel you if you're back there, so I like where we're at. Do I wish there was a clear-cut guy that might make my job a little easier? We're having to work a little bit through it more, but Kai's done some really good things. Ty's done some good things, and Darian Mensah, he just seems to have that it factor a little bit right now. I'll be honest with you, he's got a little something about him, and by no way does that mean he's the guy right now, but I want to put him in those situations to see what we got, and now is the time to do it. Through this Thursday we are going to put all of them in situations to find out who they are and what they do under pressure, and then after Thursday we'll have to start narrowing down our scope, but we're still in training camp mode through Thursday and I want to put him out there. You'll see him go with the 1s some the rest of the week, and the other two guys will, too. It's not a one-man show."
I have never really bought Mensah as being in the quarterback competition, and he clearly was No. 3 entering Saturday's scrimmage, but this is not lip service or an attempt to keep him happy by Sumrall. The guy who performs the best in the next week or so will get an upper hand. I'm on the fence as to how it will turn out, with Horton maybe having the slight edge after I thought Thompson had the edge entering camp. Both of them need to play better than they have or Mensah will get a real shot.
"It wasn't an intended wake-up call (putting Mensah in with the 1s)," Sumrall said. "You get what you earn. We're going to play who prepares and who the guys rally around. Yeah, the way he's performing might be a wake-up call to those guys, this is another guy in the room. That room's great, though. They pull for him. They are not pulling against him, and if they are pulling against him, they are going to have to come deal with me. I think everything's a wake-up call. If you don't do things with a sense of urgency, you've got a problem in this game. I hope that those guys recognize there's a youngster pushing their heels. I don't care if he's a redshirt freshman that hasn't played a game. I will start him if he earns it. He hasn't earned it clearcut yet, but he's in the mix. He's doing a good job."
Gerrod Henderson, who had two "sacks" in the scrimmage, including a definite strip of Thompson, practiced with the 1s at defensive end, today. To Sumrall, he's probably been the biggest surprise of camp. Henderson plays the same spot as Adin Huntington, whom Sumrall loves and will be the first-team guy when he returns from a minor knee injury next week, but it is a position with a clear opportunity for playing time.
"He (Henderson)'s a guy that full disclosure, when I got here in January the report was not outstanding. It wasn't fatal, but it was like, hey, he hasn't really done a whole lot and he's been inconsistent off the field with how he's conducted himself. He's been really good. He's flashed, he's produced, he's twitchy, he's violent, he plays with some explosiveness, he's got good effort and good energy. It's been really fun to watch him grow. To be fully transparent, I didn't know what his opportunity to have an impact on this team was going to look like back in the winter, and he just kind of showed up every day and stacked some good things on top of each other, and now we have a shot to see him have a role on this defense. I'm really proud of what he's done."
