We just wrapped at the first practice of Georgia Tech week. Here's the updates from today's practice and interviews:
- Fabien Lovett continues to try to ramp up. He was once again participating Tuesday morning and got into some team work as well, which wasn't the case during the bye week. Mike Norvell didn't provide any real update. When asked if his body was responding in the way the coaches hoped it would, he said, "It is. We're going to continue to track it throughout the week. We've got to be smart with him, any time you have that amount of time off. He's worked really hard in maintaining all the things that he could control with conditioning, with the rehabilitation process. But there are some things you just can't control. You've got to go through and take it each day that goes by. We're pushing him, I thought he got some really good work in today. We'll see how he responds coming in tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to push a little bit more."
- In a few promising developments, both defensive end Byron Turner Jr. and walk-on running back C.J. Campbell returned from injuries and were dressed out Tuesday morning. Turner has been sidelined for a few weeks, but looked good upon his return, getting a sack in red zone work and making a few other impactful plays. Campbell was a spring standout, but suffered an injury in the preseason which was originally deemed to be season-ending. Norvell wasn't sure when he would be cleared for full contact, but talked about how impressed he has been with Campbell's work to push his timeline up and potentially be available this season when that wasn't expected to be the case.
- It was a really good day of work for wide receiver Kentron Poitier. He had a nice back-shoulder catch in 1-on-1 reps against the secondary and really ramped it up in 7-on-7. During that period, he consistently created space and caught everything thrown his way including a long touchdown catch. It was an impressive day as Poitier looks to build upon a Clemson game where he caught his second career touchdown.
- While Poitier was the most consistent receiving target Tuesday, he didn't have the catch of the day. That goes to either Deuce Spann or running back Trey Benson. Benson snagged an impressive one-handed catch while sprinting down the sideline in 11-on-11 work, cradling the ball and pulling it into his body. Spann had a remarkable play in 1-on-1s where he rose over Jarrian Jones and snagged an unbelievable vertical catch against good downfield coverage.
- In the trenches, a few younger players had very good days in 1-on-1 work. Offensive lineman Julian Armella won his 1-on-1 reps convincingly, stonewalling both Leonard Warner III and Turner. On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Joshua Farmer was just about unblockable during this period, winning all three of his reps with ease as he blew past D'Mitri Emmanuel, Bryson Estes and Kanaya Charlton with an impressive mix of size and speed.
