Amare Jones did not practice today and was wearing a bigger brace on his right leg than last Thursday, but Willie Fritz said he was optimistic Jones would be ready for Temple. Jones was in good spirits on the sideline, playing toss with newly injured wide receiver Phat Watts for part of the workout.
Linebacker Marvin Moody, who started the first six games, sat out with an unspecified injury. The other regular starter, Kevin Henry, wore a no-contact red jersey but took all of his normal reps. Nick Anderson, the only one of Tulane's four starter-quality linebackers who did not start in the 3-3-5 formation it trotted out unsuccessfully against UCF, replaced Moody. Freshman Jesus Machado got second-team reps, playing alongside Dorian Williams, who is not a starter but would be my choice for MVP of the defense through six games. His textbook hit on UCF running back Otis Anderson drew a flag for targeting on Saturday, probably because the hit was so violent, the referees assumed he'd done something wrong, but the replay review overturned the penalty and allowed him to stay in the game.
Angelo Anderson returned to practice today after missing several weeks, but he worked with the scout-team defense. He was easy to spot because he did not look like a typical scout-team guy. Alfred Thomas was back, too, after missing the last two games, so Tulane's depth up front is improving.
Caleb Thomas and Ben Knutson continued to start on the offensive line, and I finally found out what the issue is with true freshman Josh Remetich. I hesitate to ask Willie Fritz about specific injuries at times because he does not like to give out that information, but I whiffed on this one. It turns out Remetich was not injured. He had mono and was taken out after the first series of the Houston game. Since I was on deadline for that one, I never even realized he had been replaced, and I never got to watch the replay because of DirecTV's stupid system where all college football games you record are under the title of the most recent one you recorded. I recorded Florida-Texas A&M two days later, decided not to watch it when the Gators lost and erased Florida-Texas A&M on the screen, unwittingly getting rid of all four games I had recorded, including Tulane-Houston, so I know less about what happened at Houston than anyone who watched the game on TV.
Anyway, Fritz said he doubted Remetich would be ready for Temple but expected him to be ready for Army. Mono differs in seriousness from case to case and can linger a long time.
As for Joey Claybrook, who I did see get hurt against Houston, his ankle injury was pretty significant. Fritz almost never rules out players during the week unless they have season-ending type injuries, but I would expect Knutson to make his third straight start. The offensive line needs Claybrook to get healthy, but Knutson has fared better than I anticipated the last two games.
Wide receiver Jacob Robertson practiced today after missing the UCF game with an injury. If Phat Watts returns later in the week, the Wave will be a full strength at the position.
Tulane worked on onside kicks today during the special teams portion of practice. Merek Glover's first one against UCF was poor when he tried to surprise UCF and kicked it too far up the middle. His second one was excellent, putting one UCF player against three Tulane players. Unfortunately for the Wave, the guy made an excellent play fielding it cleanly off the hop.
I will post quotes from Fritz, Dorian Williams and Corey Dublin shortly.
Linebacker Marvin Moody, who started the first six games, sat out with an unspecified injury. The other regular starter, Kevin Henry, wore a no-contact red jersey but took all of his normal reps. Nick Anderson, the only one of Tulane's four starter-quality linebackers who did not start in the 3-3-5 formation it trotted out unsuccessfully against UCF, replaced Moody. Freshman Jesus Machado got second-team reps, playing alongside Dorian Williams, who is not a starter but would be my choice for MVP of the defense through six games. His textbook hit on UCF running back Otis Anderson drew a flag for targeting on Saturday, probably because the hit was so violent, the referees assumed he'd done something wrong, but the replay review overturned the penalty and allowed him to stay in the game.
Angelo Anderson returned to practice today after missing several weeks, but he worked with the scout-team defense. He was easy to spot because he did not look like a typical scout-team guy. Alfred Thomas was back, too, after missing the last two games, so Tulane's depth up front is improving.
Caleb Thomas and Ben Knutson continued to start on the offensive line, and I finally found out what the issue is with true freshman Josh Remetich. I hesitate to ask Willie Fritz about specific injuries at times because he does not like to give out that information, but I whiffed on this one. It turns out Remetich was not injured. He had mono and was taken out after the first series of the Houston game. Since I was on deadline for that one, I never even realized he had been replaced, and I never got to watch the replay because of DirecTV's stupid system where all college football games you record are under the title of the most recent one you recorded. I recorded Florida-Texas A&M two days later, decided not to watch it when the Gators lost and erased Florida-Texas A&M on the screen, unwittingly getting rid of all four games I had recorded, including Tulane-Houston, so I know less about what happened at Houston than anyone who watched the game on TV.
Anyway, Fritz said he doubted Remetich would be ready for Temple but expected him to be ready for Army. Mono differs in seriousness from case to case and can linger a long time.
As for Joey Claybrook, who I did see get hurt against Houston, his ankle injury was pretty significant. Fritz almost never rules out players during the week unless they have season-ending type injuries, but I would expect Knutson to make his third straight start. The offensive line needs Claybrook to get healthy, but Knutson has fared better than I anticipated the last two games.
Wide receiver Jacob Robertson practiced today after missing the UCF game with an injury. If Phat Watts returns later in the week, the Wave will be a full strength at the position.
Tulane worked on onside kicks today during the special teams portion of practice. Merek Glover's first one against UCF was poor when he tried to surprise UCF and kicked it too far up the middle. His second one was excellent, putting one UCF player against three Tulane players. Unfortunately for the Wave, the guy made an excellent play fielding it cleanly off the hop.
I will post quotes from Fritz, Dorian Williams and Corey Dublin shortly.