TC Report 8/8 p.m.

Hey Now

I'm just doing a relatively brief report for you tonite; it's been a long, hot day and i am tired.

Of course, E. Smith and J. Miller did not practice. I heard Smith was there, and wasnt on crutches, but I didnt see him myself.

The team was in shorts and shells, and practiced under the lights on the field in front of the bleachers.

Practice ran until about 8:45, and there was no hitting going on.

They practiced KOs and punt/punt returns. Westhoff was on fire again, and got in Harris' face again, though not as severely as he did the other day.
Most of Nuge's kicks made it to the 5 or goal line, though one was pretty short. Graham surprised everyone when he shanked one, but otherwise he kicked well tonite again.

There was a run-through of plays by the first and second team offense that looked like the plays they will run friday, and i am not going to describe them in great detail.

The routine changed somewhat tonite, as some players donned green jerseys with gold numbers or white jerseys with red numbers, signifying their scout team responsibilities. It looks like they are anticipating Atlanta running pitch out plays to the RBs, and also some wide open passing offense that Petrino's L'ville teams showed when he coached in the college ranks.

Tui QB'd the scout team, and Danny Ware looked very good running on the scout team.

-It was not an intense practice compared to a few others I have seen, but it looked like a lot was accomplished to get the team ready for Friday.

Random notes

-Rookie DB James Ihedigbo (44) had two picks tonite; one on Chad and one on Clemens.

-Dyson had a pick vs Chad in the 11s, and his coverage against Cotch looked better than it has. maybe he is getting healthier.

-TJ continues to look good, and seems to be hitting the hole without any of the dancing that he has been known to do.

-Leon looks awesome. Quick, fast, sure handed on the punts and KOs too.

-Stuckey had a good practice and made a couple of really nice receptions. He beat manny Collins for one that went for a long TD.

-Dominic Moran (59) getting some extensive reps at right guard on the second unit tonite.

-Collins, wearing 35, saw a lot of action tonite, on ST and as a CB.

-The first team ran some goal line offense against the first team D, which showed a stacked front that included both D-Rob and Pouha at DTs, side by side. Thumper FB Darian Barnes showed he can hit the hole quickly and powerfully on a short shortage run.

-Alvin Banks continues to run impressively imo.

-A lot of guys were being rotated in and out, and with the scout jerseys it was harder to keep track of who was doing what. But everyone was kept on their toes by the CS, in spite of there being no real hitting going on out there.

-Juan Wong was there, too!

 

Yes, I am it

LOL!

He actually got on the field and ran some patterns tonite, but the QBs didnt even look at him, much less throw him the ball.

Great name, though, and he's a staple in my reports as long as he is here.

 

I have one potential correction. Someone who also went to practice tonite told me that 44's picks came against Tui and clemens, and not Chad and clemens. Take it FWIW.

 

Harris has been on the field a lot with the second unit D, and has been getting ST reps with the KO and PR team, as a lot of rookies do.

He looks like he's been focusing on learning his assignments, as other new guys have been doing, like Bowens and Wadsworth.

He hasnt been overly aggressive or active in tc, but that doesnt mean he wont be when the hits start coming in anger.

He got chewed out pretty good by Westhoff the other day for slacking on the KO unit.

He definitely has good presence/size on the field and I always seem to notice when 52 is in there.