The first of three Florida State bye weeks this season is already upon us. While it's a slightly different week of practice with no game Saturday, the Seminoles did hold one practice availability Thursday morning where we got to watch the entire practice and talked afterwards to Mike Norvell and three players.
Here are the observations from a modified day of work:
With no opponent to prepare for Saturday, FSU didn't have any scout team work at Thursday's practice. Instead, it was more of a training camp practice, Norvell said, with more individual work and good-on-good work with the first-team offense going against the first-team defense.
I thought it was a mixed-bag day for the quarterbacks. DJ Uiagalelei and Brock Glenn each made some throws during team periods, but missed some others. One notable change to the passing game Thursday was Hykeem Williams making his presence felt in a major way. After missing some time in practice and each of the first two games, he made quite a few catches in team periods Thursday, including a third-and-long catch from Uiagalelei to convert, While Williams' return likely won't revolutionize the offense, it will certainly help matters if he's back vs. Memphis as he's arguably FSU's most talented wideout. Darion Williamson also made a sensational one-handed catch in a situational period and made an exceptional leaping catch in the back of the end zone on a slightly high pass during goal-line 7-on-7 pass skelly.
I'm sure the message has been said in a variety of ways to the team over the last few days since the season began, but what Norvell said to the defensive lineman at the start of practice after his race Thursday morning resonated. "Every day, you get to make a choice." Norvell also paid much closer attention to the half-line inside run drill Thursday morning, lauding praise on trench players who stood out during this drill. It was certainly not the norm as he's usually watching the passing game during this portion of practice.
Perhaps the biggest ovation of the day came when the defense swarmed Azareye'h Thomas in 1-on-1s after he successfully pressed Malik Benson and refused to let him off the line on a route. He was swarmed by the entire defense after the rep. While Thomas has looked good in coverage throughout the preseason, he's been challenged against the run in FSU's first two games. It was a promising display of physicality when he's struggled a bit in that capacity early this season even while his coverage hasn't been an issue.
That's it for this week's availability. After the bye week, we'll be back on Monday with press conferences and the next practice availability will be Tuesday morning.
Here are the observations from a modified day of work:
With no opponent to prepare for Saturday, FSU didn't have any scout team work at Thursday's practice. Instead, it was more of a training camp practice, Norvell said, with more individual work and good-on-good work with the first-team offense going against the first-team defense.
I thought it was a mixed-bag day for the quarterbacks. DJ Uiagalelei and Brock Glenn each made some throws during team periods, but missed some others. One notable change to the passing game Thursday was Hykeem Williams making his presence felt in a major way. After missing some time in practice and each of the first two games, he made quite a few catches in team periods Thursday, including a third-and-long catch from Uiagalelei to convert, While Williams' return likely won't revolutionize the offense, it will certainly help matters if he's back vs. Memphis as he's arguably FSU's most talented wideout. Darion Williamson also made a sensational one-handed catch in a situational period and made an exceptional leaping catch in the back of the end zone on a slightly high pass during goal-line 7-on-7 pass skelly.
I'm sure the message has been said in a variety of ways to the team over the last few days since the season began, but what Norvell said to the defensive lineman at the start of practice after his race Thursday morning resonated. "Every day, you get to make a choice." Norvell also paid much closer attention to the half-line inside run drill Thursday morning, lauding praise on trench players who stood out during this drill. It was certainly not the norm as he's usually watching the passing game during this portion of practice.
Perhaps the biggest ovation of the day came when the defense swarmed Azareye'h Thomas in 1-on-1s after he successfully pressed Malik Benson and refused to let him off the line on a route. He was swarmed by the entire defense after the rep. While Thomas has looked good in coverage throughout the preseason, he's been challenged against the run in FSU's first two games. It was a promising display of physicality when he's struggled a bit in that capacity early this season even while his coverage hasn't been an issue.
That's it for this week's availability. After the bye week, we'll be back on Monday with press conferences and the next practice availability will be Tuesday morning.
