Hey folks, here are some observations from the first day of practice, which was completely open to the media.
These are mostly my comments, with some contributed by Gene, Corey and Aslan. Shout out to them for helping put this together.
There is some information in the live updates thread that won't be covered here. So be sure to check that out if you haven't.
I'll break this up into four categories -- offense notes, defense notes, injury updates and other notes.
One thing to remember ... they broke the team up into two practices today. Many of the younger players (and some backups) practiced in an earlier morning session, which was not open to the media. So we didn't see a lot of the freshmen. We'll ask Willie about it tomorrow, but I'm thinking they did this so they could spend time teaching the younger players early, then did a quicker-tempo practice later with the players who knew their assignments. Anyway, keep that in mind as we discuss depth charts, etc.
OFFENSE NOTES
* The starting OL today was (from left to right): Jajuan Williams, Derrick.Kelly, Alec Eberle, Cole Minshew and Landon Dickerson. The second OL featured Mike Arnold, Baveon Johnson, Corey Martinez and Abdul Bello. Only saw those four linemen with the second team. Think the other linemen were either rehabbing or in that earlier practice.
* Corey Martinez was the second-team right tackle during 11-11, and he also saw action at center and guard. Baveon Johnson also spent time at backup center and guard. Lots of cross-training going on with the OL, as usual.
- The QBs were pretty hot-and-cold for most of the day. They made some really nice throws and then some poor ones. For awhile, it looked like Francois was the most accurate, but he had some errant throws as well, and the others picked up their game. It probably didn't help that several of the older WRs were limited, including DJ Matthews, Nyqwan Murray and George Campbell. Some walk-ons got major reps. James Blackman seemed to go first in most drills, but there was little separating him, Francois and Bailey Hockman.
- There wasn't a ton of work on tempo for day one. A couple times they tried to bump up the pace with mixed results.
- One of the best runs during 11-on-11 came from Khalan Laborn. A couple of shifty moves got him free for a nice pick-up. Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick also had nice runs.
* Patrick looks so much slimmer than before. We'll have more on that, but he's in really good shape.
* WRs coach David Kelly is a tremendous teacher and motivator. Has something constructive to say after just about every rep.
* WR George Campbell ran through some of the WR drills, but didn't look like he did much of the team stuff yet. One thing that stands out is he's really a great teammate. He's constantly talking with David Kelly and cheering on his teammates. Great leadership. Don't know if he was like this before, or he's just in a great place because he's feeling healthier. But one of the best leaders I've seen out there in awhile. Like a coach on the field.
* WR Keith Gavin looked a little smoother than he did in the spring.
* WR Tamorrion Terry seemed to hurt his leg a little during the 11-11 portion at the end, but it was hard to tell what it was ... could have been a bad cramp. It wasn't immediately iced or taped up. He did walk off gingerly after practice.
* WR Ontaria "Pokey" Wilson is really good considering he just moved to receiver in the spring. I actually overheard some DBs talking about how tough he is to cover. I'll be surprised if he doesn't contribute this fall.
* Walk-on WR Adarius Dent had some nice plays. Hauled in one long touchdown pass, and Bailey Hockman and Nyqwan Murray both ran down to celebrate with him.
* Overall, the WRs had a few too many drops ... but there were some walk-ons out there, as we said.
DEFENSE NOTES
* The defense really dominated the 11-on-11s at the end of practice. There were a handful of negative plays and very few positive.
* Brian Burns was at a whole different level than the guys he was going up against. He dominated the 1-on-1s and had a sack in 11-on-11. Landon Dickerson and the other tackles who lined up against him didn't have much of a chance.
* DT Demarcus Christmas looked good when he was in there, but they let him skip some reps. Looked to be just precautionary.
* D-Line looked like Demarcus Christmas and Fred Jones starting at DT with Marvin Wilson out. Then Ja'Len Parks and Cory Durden as the backups. ... The DEs were Brian Burns and Joshua Kaindoh, followed by Wally Aime and Janarius Robinson. Then Tre Lawson and Adam Torres third.
* Looked like the starting linebackers at one point were Dontavious Jackson, Adonis Thomas and Jaiden Woodbey (as the Star). Then Amari Gainer, Leonard Warner and DeCalon Brooks. But that could have just been when I was paying attention. Very possible they were rotating. In fact, Gene said he saw Brooks, Woodbey and Jackson together. And Corey said DeCalon Brooks was with the ones at the start of the 11-on-11 portion.
* Looked like the starting secondary was Levonta Taylor and Kyle Meyers at corner and Stanford Samuels and A.J. Westbrook at safety. But they really rotated DBs a lot. I expect Fagan and Nasirildeen will factor in heavily at safety as well. So hard to say for sure.
* Levonta Taylor is really good. He had tight coverage on everyone. Nobody could seem to get separation from him. And even when he was beat, he recovered very well.
* Stanford Samuels had a couple of nice plays in coverage. Harlon Barnett acknowledged him: "I see you Boosie (Samuels' nickname)."
* Backup safety Calvin Brewton had some nice plays in 7-on-7. Could be a guy who benefits from the coaching change.
INJURY/REHAB NOTES
* A couple guys we weren't supposed to see were out there (Nyqwan Murray and Derrick Kelly) and participating. Wondering if it's because they were in shorts. Guessing they'll probably be limited when they go to full pads.
* DT Marvin Wilson did some jogging for rehab, but he did not appear close to being back. We have heard there's a good chance he won't be ready for the season opener. Had a brace on his left knee.
* DE Joshuan Kaindoh, who missed all of spring with an undisclosed injury, worked with the starters but didn't participate in every drill. He skipped some work (probably still a little limited).
* OL Jauan Williams, who missed spring with a shoulder injury, was with the first team at left tackle but also was held out at times.
* WR Nyqwan Murray -- looked good in drills, but he also was pulled out some for rehab.
* WR DJ Matthews -- was in the IPF rehabbing. We'll ask about his injury tomorrow.
* DT Cedric Wood -- was in the IPF rehabbing. Appears to have a hand injury.
* A few players needed trainers to help with heat-related issues. Cold towels, stretching out cramps. But nothing major.
OTHER NOTES
* There was lots of friendly trash talk between position groups, but very playful.
* During 7-on-7, Woodbey had a nice PBU on a pass for Tre McKitty, who wanted a pass interference call. But it looked like good coverage.
* Some really good battles between Tamorrion Terry and Levonta Taylor in one-on-ones. One time, Terry had a step on Taylor, but Bailey Hockman threw it just a touch too far and it slipped off Terry's fingertips. But Taylor really battled and received praise from David Kelly afterward: "That's the way to compete, dude." It was cool to see how often position coaches complimented guys on the other side of the ball.
* Late in the practice, Terry made a great leaping catch over Taylor for what should have been a huge gain. But as he was going to the ground, Taylor jarred it loose. Everybody went crazy. Kelly gave Taylor a lot of love for the play and then coached up Terry on securing the ball.
* The coaches are using headsets during 11-on-11 drills, like a game. Apparently they did that in the spring too.
* Taggart keeps his own stop watch to check the get-off time for the punters.
* No players have received single-digit jerseys yet.
That's it for now. We'll be back out there for the full practice again Tuesday.
These are mostly my comments, with some contributed by Gene, Corey and Aslan. Shout out to them for helping put this together.
There is some information in the live updates thread that won't be covered here. So be sure to check that out if you haven't.
I'll break this up into four categories -- offense notes, defense notes, injury updates and other notes.
One thing to remember ... they broke the team up into two practices today. Many of the younger players (and some backups) practiced in an earlier morning session, which was not open to the media. So we didn't see a lot of the freshmen. We'll ask Willie about it tomorrow, but I'm thinking they did this so they could spend time teaching the younger players early, then did a quicker-tempo practice later with the players who knew their assignments. Anyway, keep that in mind as we discuss depth charts, etc.
OFFENSE NOTES
* The starting OL today was (from left to right): Jajuan Williams, Derrick.Kelly, Alec Eberle, Cole Minshew and Landon Dickerson. The second OL featured Mike Arnold, Baveon Johnson, Corey Martinez and Abdul Bello. Only saw those four linemen with the second team. Think the other linemen were either rehabbing or in that earlier practice.
* Corey Martinez was the second-team right tackle during 11-11, and he also saw action at center and guard. Baveon Johnson also spent time at backup center and guard. Lots of cross-training going on with the OL, as usual.
- The QBs were pretty hot-and-cold for most of the day. They made some really nice throws and then some poor ones. For awhile, it looked like Francois was the most accurate, but he had some errant throws as well, and the others picked up their game. It probably didn't help that several of the older WRs were limited, including DJ Matthews, Nyqwan Murray and George Campbell. Some walk-ons got major reps. James Blackman seemed to go first in most drills, but there was little separating him, Francois and Bailey Hockman.
- There wasn't a ton of work on tempo for day one. A couple times they tried to bump up the pace with mixed results.
- One of the best runs during 11-on-11 came from Khalan Laborn. A couple of shifty moves got him free for a nice pick-up. Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick also had nice runs.
* Patrick looks so much slimmer than before. We'll have more on that, but he's in really good shape.
* WRs coach David Kelly is a tremendous teacher and motivator. Has something constructive to say after just about every rep.
* WR George Campbell ran through some of the WR drills, but didn't look like he did much of the team stuff yet. One thing that stands out is he's really a great teammate. He's constantly talking with David Kelly and cheering on his teammates. Great leadership. Don't know if he was like this before, or he's just in a great place because he's feeling healthier. But one of the best leaders I've seen out there in awhile. Like a coach on the field.
* WR Keith Gavin looked a little smoother than he did in the spring.
* WR Tamorrion Terry seemed to hurt his leg a little during the 11-11 portion at the end, but it was hard to tell what it was ... could have been a bad cramp. It wasn't immediately iced or taped up. He did walk off gingerly after practice.
* WR Ontaria "Pokey" Wilson is really good considering he just moved to receiver in the spring. I actually overheard some DBs talking about how tough he is to cover. I'll be surprised if he doesn't contribute this fall.
* Walk-on WR Adarius Dent had some nice plays. Hauled in one long touchdown pass, and Bailey Hockman and Nyqwan Murray both ran down to celebrate with him.
* Overall, the WRs had a few too many drops ... but there were some walk-ons out there, as we said.
DEFENSE NOTES
* The defense really dominated the 11-on-11s at the end of practice. There were a handful of negative plays and very few positive.
* Brian Burns was at a whole different level than the guys he was going up against. He dominated the 1-on-1s and had a sack in 11-on-11. Landon Dickerson and the other tackles who lined up against him didn't have much of a chance.
* DT Demarcus Christmas looked good when he was in there, but they let him skip some reps. Looked to be just precautionary.
* D-Line looked like Demarcus Christmas and Fred Jones starting at DT with Marvin Wilson out. Then Ja'Len Parks and Cory Durden as the backups. ... The DEs were Brian Burns and Joshua Kaindoh, followed by Wally Aime and Janarius Robinson. Then Tre Lawson and Adam Torres third.
* Looked like the starting linebackers at one point were Dontavious Jackson, Adonis Thomas and Jaiden Woodbey (as the Star). Then Amari Gainer, Leonard Warner and DeCalon Brooks. But that could have just been when I was paying attention. Very possible they were rotating. In fact, Gene said he saw Brooks, Woodbey and Jackson together. And Corey said DeCalon Brooks was with the ones at the start of the 11-on-11 portion.
* Looked like the starting secondary was Levonta Taylor and Kyle Meyers at corner and Stanford Samuels and A.J. Westbrook at safety. But they really rotated DBs a lot. I expect Fagan and Nasirildeen will factor in heavily at safety as well. So hard to say for sure.
* Levonta Taylor is really good. He had tight coverage on everyone. Nobody could seem to get separation from him. And even when he was beat, he recovered very well.
* Stanford Samuels had a couple of nice plays in coverage. Harlon Barnett acknowledged him: "I see you Boosie (Samuels' nickname)."
* Backup safety Calvin Brewton had some nice plays in 7-on-7. Could be a guy who benefits from the coaching change.
INJURY/REHAB NOTES
* A couple guys we weren't supposed to see were out there (Nyqwan Murray and Derrick Kelly) and participating. Wondering if it's because they were in shorts. Guessing they'll probably be limited when they go to full pads.
* DT Marvin Wilson did some jogging for rehab, but he did not appear close to being back. We have heard there's a good chance he won't be ready for the season opener. Had a brace on his left knee.
* DE Joshuan Kaindoh, who missed all of spring with an undisclosed injury, worked with the starters but didn't participate in every drill. He skipped some work (probably still a little limited).
* OL Jauan Williams, who missed spring with a shoulder injury, was with the first team at left tackle but also was held out at times.
* WR Nyqwan Murray -- looked good in drills, but he also was pulled out some for rehab.
* WR DJ Matthews -- was in the IPF rehabbing. We'll ask about his injury tomorrow.
* DT Cedric Wood -- was in the IPF rehabbing. Appears to have a hand injury.
* A few players needed trainers to help with heat-related issues. Cold towels, stretching out cramps. But nothing major.
OTHER NOTES
* There was lots of friendly trash talk between position groups, but very playful.
* During 7-on-7, Woodbey had a nice PBU on a pass for Tre McKitty, who wanted a pass interference call. But it looked like good coverage.
* Some really good battles between Tamorrion Terry and Levonta Taylor in one-on-ones. One time, Terry had a step on Taylor, but Bailey Hockman threw it just a touch too far and it slipped off Terry's fingertips. But Taylor really battled and received praise from David Kelly afterward: "That's the way to compete, dude." It was cool to see how often position coaches complimented guys on the other side of the ball.
* Late in the practice, Terry made a great leaping catch over Taylor for what should have been a huge gain. But as he was going to the ground, Taylor jarred it loose. Everybody went crazy. Kelly gave Taylor a lot of love for the play and then coached up Terry on securing the ball.
* The coaches are using headsets during 11-on-11 drills, like a game. Apparently they did that in the spring too.
* Taggart keeps his own stop watch to check the get-off time for the punters.
* No players have received single-digit jerseys yet.
That's it for now. We'll be back out there for the full practice again Tuesday.
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