Florida State closed out its week of practice availabilities a day early this week Tuesday morning ahead of Friday night's game at Duke.
After a balanced practice Monday, Tuesday morning's practice was more solidly won by the FSU defense. Here are the observations from Tuesday's day of work:
- That impact from the defensive line began from the very first team period of Tuesday's practice. Both Darrell Jackson and Byron Turner Jr. had sacks during a one-minute drill which derailed the offense's drive just after it crossed midfield. Marvin Jones Jr. added what was not whistled but sure looked like another "sack" during the subsequent 11-on-11 period and Pat Payton added a "sack" of his own near the end of this period. Payton added a second sack during red-zone work near the end of practice.
- In the secondary, veteran safety Shyheim Brown had an interception during the middle 11-on-11 portion on a tip-drill pass that was slightly high and bounced off the intended receiver's hands into Brown's vicinity. Edwin Joseph followed that up with an interception of his own shortly thereafter on a pass where the freshman DB put himself in position to run the receiver's route and snag the pick.
- Azareye'h Thomas was also his usual tight-coverage self Tuesday, racking up quite a few pass breakups. He broke up a deep pass to Hykeem Williams in 1-on-1s and added another PBU in the red zone on a pass over the middle of the field. Freshman Ricky Knight Jr. had a great pass breakup of his own during 7-on-7 pass skelly work.
- After the offense had a pretty good day Monday, I didn't think Tuesday was their best day. They never seemed to really get into a rhythm until scout-team work at the end of the practice. However, I did see some moments where Brock Glenn operated the offense well. He had a few great anticipation throws where he released the pass before the receiver even broke on his route, correctly identifying where they will be when the pass gets there. That's one clear area of improved understanding in the offense where Glenn has grown since his true freshman season last fall.
- Freshman running back Kam Davis had the best rush of the day, breaking off a touchdown run down the far sideline during red-zone work. We haven't seen him really break a run through the first half of his true freshman season, but Davis' speed is legit and he remains a real threat to bust one in the near future.
- Freshman wideout BJ Gibson, somewhat recently elevated from scout team to contributing practice player, had another of the convincing 1-on-1 rep wins he seems to have at every practice Tuesday. He blew by the safety covering him, creating separation and snagging a deep ball for an uncontested chunk gain. Gibson also had a 1-on-1 catch in the back corner of the end zone where he did well in his route-running to create the space he needed to make the play and got his feet narrowly inbounds.
- Jalen Brown also had a 1-on-1 deep catch down the sideline and Ja'Khi Douglas showed off his toughness on a 1-on-1 rep where he caught a pass at the goal line on an underneath route and then held onto the ball while the defensive back tried to rip the ball out and threw him to the ground in doing so.
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