We just wrapped up at the final media availability of the week before Saturday's home game against Syracuse (noon on ABC). Here are some updates:
- It was a chippier practice than most of FSU's practices. Mike Norvell alluded to this after practice, talking about emotion and how while it is good to have, it has to be controlled and harnassed in the proper ways. "Part of toughness is being able to be disciplined in the moment whatever things are uncomfortable for you."
- Once again, Jaheim Bell made his presence felt with a number of catches, including two touchdowns against the scout-team defense, as he looks to return to a more prominent role. Tatum Bethune also practiced and was effective Wednesday morning, coming away with an interception on a tip-drill pass during red-zone work.
- Speaking of injuries, here was Norvell's response when asked about the health of the team entering this weekend: "We'll see how it continues to progress through the week. We've got some guys who were out that are moving around and we had a couple guys that were banged up in the (VT) game that I think will be available. But we'll see. Obviously, some of them will have to have a good next 48 hours. We'll see how that all goes. It's all part of it. We've got to be ready for whoever is out there play 1 or play 70. If you get the opportunity, you've got to go show up and play big."
- It was certainly a Keon Coleman day out on the practice field. He started the practice with a leaping contested catch on the first play of the first team period and kept making plays over the entirety of the practice. He had a pair of catches during FSU's third-down work, caught a prayer of a pass in a crowd during FSU's goal-line play, had a few ridiculous 1-on-1 catches (including one where he was nearly horizontal to make the play). When he's at his very best like he was Wednesday, he can absolutely take over a practice.
- I also liked what I saw from Kentron Poitier Wednesday. He had a catch in the first team period that was negated by a penalty and then made a few catches over the middle of the field against the scout team. Destyn Hill also had a long touchdown catch and run down the sideline in third-down work, showing off his impressive speed, and then had a long touchdown catch on a deep ball against the scout team.
- In the trenches, Jaylen Early earned a lot of praise from teammates for how well he performed in 1-on-1s at Wednesday's practice. He held his own against Jared Verse twice as well as Gilber Edmond and Jaden Jones once each. His offensive linemen were showing a lot of love for how impressively he was practicing, and even defensive tackle Fabien Lovett couldn't help but come over and show him some love for his very nice stretch of practice.
- On the defensive line, Daniel Lyons combined for a "sack" with Byron Turner Jr. in the red zone, showing some deceptive closing speed on Tate Rodemaker. Speaking of Rodemaker, he led a pretty nice one-minute-drill drive that stalled out and ended with a field goal after a big pass to Markeston Douglas and a scramble by himself.
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