LATE UPDATE
Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher opens by saying the group is coming along well in terms of situational play. He adds they've got players who are still learning but they have a passion for learning.
Fisher said Josh Sweat was back at practice but players like Matthew Thomas and Johnathan Vickers are still out with an illness. He said its something that's going around the team. He also said Cyrus Fagan should be out for three-to-four weeks because he had too much cartilage.
Fisher also talked about a few players. Discussed what he's liked out of Landon Dickerson and said he's pleased with James Blackman. Fisher then talks about the 2016 offensive line class. Said Baveon Johnson has some things to clean up with his snaps but added he never played center in high school despite being the No. 1 center in the nation as a recruit. Fisher also says Anthony Boselli is doing well while splitting time at center and right guard.
Fisher was asked about Jared Jackson and said he's made some strides and feels he's can be an asset with the receivers. Said the same thing of Malique Jackson. Fisher was then asked about if they ever considered moving Ermon Lane back to receiver and he said they did not consider it.
At this point, Fisher is being asked about specific players and the insight he's given has been pretty interesting. He's talked about Bailey Hockman, Brian Burns and has done some assessment on Deondre Francois. He remarked, and in a joking fashion, about how Hockman holds on to the ball too long because he's still learning.
With Burns, he went off about all the skills he possesses. He was asked if Burns can be "one of the great ones" and Fisher just smiled. Fisher said he did not want to put that pressure on Burns but did list he has a ton of qualities which make him a stand out player.
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EARLY UPDATE
(This is a recap of notes from me and Ryan S. Clark)
It is super hot on the practice fields today. Temperature is in the low 90s, but someone said the "feels like" temperature is just over 100.
At one point, WRs coach Lawrence Dawsey encouraged players to be tough through it ... "Don't let your mind get ya!"
* As far as news goes, of the players who were out the other day, one that returned was WR D.J. Matthews. He has missed a few days with a hamstring, but he was full-go today. We'll ask Jimbo about other players who were absent (or limited) after practice, but Matthews was the only one I saw who was back in action,
* On the offensive line, we saw some guys working at different positions. Derrick Kelly was getting some reps at left tackle, and Rick Leonard got some at right tackle. It's not unusual for guys to move around throughout camp. Andrew Boselli continues to see time at guard and center, while Alec Eberle and Baveon Johnson seem to be consistently at center ... at least from what we've seen. And Cole Minshew, Landon Dickerson and David Robbins seem to be at guard when we're there.
When it came to the OL, the start of practice wasn't really to Rick Trickett's liking. He wasn't particularly pleased with how the linemen blocked or how the linemen simulated the opposing defense for the linemen to block.
* LBs coach Bill Miller also wasn't thrilled with the focus early in practice. Perhaps the heat was affecting guys.
* There was also some fun competition between different players when we were there. When they were running a pitch play, Deondre Francois and Jacques Patrick would race each other to the end zone. Players and coaches teased Patrick that "a quarterback" could beat him. Patrick disagreed.
Derwin James and Nyqwan Murray also were doing some light-hearted trash-talking during some drills.
* The defensive ends did some more technique work today as it relates to knocking the ball out of the quarterback's hands. Joshua Kaindoh appeared to be the best at it, but there were a few times when Brad Lawing had certain guys re-do the drill.
* The defensive tackles once again did more footwork drills. Odell seemed happy pretty pleased when we were there.
* During special teams, they worked some on the hands team for kickoffs. It's a mixture of mostly skill guys on offense and defense, as you'd expect. We'll have some more on this later.
* Several NFL teams had scouts at practice, including the Seahawks, Browns and Dolphins.
That's about it for now. We'll talk to Jimbo and players at about 7 p.m. ET. Check back for more.
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