We just wrapped at the first practice availability of Miami week. Here are some updates from Tuesday:
- Mike Norvell said he was happy with the day's work. I agree with his assessment. I thought the offense had maybe the best start to practice in the first few team periods that it has had all season. It began with a deep-shot touchdown from Jordan Travis to Johnny Wilson down the sideline in early 11-on-11. Then Caziah Holmes hit a big run on the ensuing second-team drive, which was capped off by a Vandrevius Jacobs bobbled touchdown catch.
- Wilson's early catch was far from the only play he made on the day. He was back with quite a bang Tuesday morning. He had three catches during the first few team periods, a one-handed catch on a deep ball during 1-on-1s and then a really nice grab in 7-on-7 pass skelly where he went up over a walk-on cornerback deep down the sideline. Asked about Wilson and how he's been able to bounce back after the practice, Norvell said, "The last game that he missed, he came out and I think he had roughly five catches in the first half coming back. He is training and has done a good job in his preparation. Nobody likes to miss any time, but when you do, you've got to be ready to bounce back when you get back fully healthy. I know he's been working this week, got some work in last week, continuing to build towards that and I'm hopeful for what it can be."
- Destyn Hill also had a touchdown catch early in practice and was returning kickoffs along with Deuce Spann on Tuesday morning. Another receiver who stood out Tuesday was Ja'Khi Douglas, who seemed to pick up right where he left off Saturday, with a touchdown late in practice against the scout team, a few other 11-on-11 catches and a few 1-on-1 wins.
- I thought the defense responded really well after the offense started the day out so well. During the second 11-on-11 period, Travis twice tried to escape with scrambles on the first two plays, but he was wrapped up in the backfield both times, first by Braden Fiske and then by Conrad Hussey. Ashlynd Barker also had a great pass breakup during this period where he read Jaheim Bell's eyes and timed his arm raise perfectly to deny the tight end the catch, drawing quite a bit of praise from Adam Fuller. Renardo Green also played great tight coverage shortly after this on the goal line to deny Wilson one of his acrobatic catches where he uses his long arms to reach over a defender to make a catch.
- In the trenches, Fiske was remarkable in his 1-on-1 reps Tuesday, twice getting instant pressures. Darrell Jackson Jr. was also impactful as he nears the timeline for his long-awaited eligibility just in time for postseason play.
- Against the scout-team offense, Jared Verse and Dante Anderson each had impressive PBUs. The FSU defensive line continues to defend passes at a very high level in an effort to aid the Seminoles' secondary. On the other side, Lawrance Toafili broke a number of nice runs against the scout-team defense after he appeared to leave the Pitt game early with an injury. Brock Glenn also had an exceptional touchdown pass to Jaheim Bell late in the practice against the scout team.
