NON-PARTICIPANTS:
Tight end Kyle Anderton was in red jersey and a boot, and on crutches.
Tight end DeAndre Woods was in a red jersey and not practicing.
Safety Arnold Tarpley was in a red jersey and had his left arm in a sling.
Linebacker Landon Stokes was in a red jersey and sweats.
Wide receiver Caleb Scott was in a red jersey, though he was moving around really well and essentially shadowing and simulating some of what his teammates were doing.
Adam Butler was sort of in the same boat as Scott here.
All these players did some stretching with the team and a couple did very minor jogging around, though Anderton couldn’t run and was obviously limited in what he could do in stretching.
TEAM NOTES:
First impressions of new offensive line coach Cameron Norcross: he’s as interactive as any offensive line coach that I remember at VU. He’s very, very hands on—and sometimes, I mean that literally; he would guide players how he wanted this done or that done. He’s intense and talks constantly, but not necessarily in a drill-sergeant kind-of way, and seems to strike a good balance between encouraging and correcting.
Coach Derek Mason spent a lot of his time with the defensive backs today.
The team was wearing shirts and shorts and the black “Deep Water” helmets. No pads.
VU spent first part of practice working on basic walkthroughs with formations in the run game.
There didn’t seem to be a lot of down time; the team got from one place to another efficiently and seemed to practice on a tight schedule with a sense of purpose.
PLAYER NOTES:
Jalen Banks and Khari Blasingame were getting reps in the offensive backfield. The main drivers of these moves are that they’re really, really short on players at running back.
In the case of Blasingame, they’re giving him a trial at fullback. It seems to be a bit of an experiment that’s not set in stone. Remember, he was seeing the field some at linebacker at season’s end.
To that, I noticed Blasingame also working with the linebackers later.
Darrius Sims, last seen at running back, was working out with the wide receivers. Shout-out to Justin Angel on this one; he called that a few weeks ago. He caught a nice deep ball from Sean Stankavage at one point.
Walk-on John Webb, a 5-foot-11, 182-pounder who wears No. 4, was working out with the quarterbacks today. He’s from Dallas. They list him as a sophomore. I don’t see hm being a factor.
They had the JUGS machine hooked up and simulating punt returns. Players catching them included Trent Sherfield, Darrius Sims, Trey Ellis, Taurean Ferguson, Donovan Sheffield, Ryan White and C.J. Duncan, with Scott (again, in a red jersey) standing behind them and mirroring them.
I think this may have been noted before, but Jay Hockaday is listed as an inside linebacker.
I focused on C.J. Duncan for a while, to see how he was moving, cutting, etc. I didn’t notice him having any difficulties. Late in practice, Duncan made probably the play of the day, making a catch on a Kyle Shurmur throw in traffic about 40 yards downfield, a ball Shurmur admitted he didn’t throw well. Mason later said Duncan is “100 percent.”
I saw some things I liked out of quarterback Sean Stankavage this time last year, especially when it comes to mobility. I tried to watch him throw more today; he didn’t demonstrate the arm strength that I think he needs to play much in this league. I’m not saying he can’t make it work but that kind of player has to be very, very precise with his throws and demonstrably better than the other guys in terms of accuracy if he's going to see the field, and that wasn't the case today.
He’s also wearing No. 10, which is what Trent Sherfield wears, and obviously VU can’t have both on the field at the same time.
Incumbent starting quarterback Kyle Shurmur was really having trouble with some throws today. The zip’s there, but he was high on a whole lot of throws. This shouldn't be an alarm bell--it's the first practice and he should be fine--but just an observation.
In the this-isn’t-new-news category, Wade Freebeck still has the best arm on the team. In the few throws that I noticed, he was accurate today but they were also short-to-short-intermediate throws.
I wanted to watch cornerback Bryce Lewis just a bit; I’m not sure what his role will be. In one of those drills where the DBs back-pedal, then move laterally and try to make a pick, he made a nice play on a ball thrown behind him and corralled it in. Derek Mason, who threw the ball, seemed really pleased with that one.
It wasn't a great day for cornerback Tre Herndon when I had my eyes on him. He dropped a pick in this same drill and Mason was upset with his technique one time I watched him.
Offensive tackle Will Holden was in a red jersey, though he didn’t seem to be limited.
The same goes for left tackle Andrew Jelks, though again, with the team wearing no pads whatsoever, the contact was minimized.
Linebacker Nigel Bowden was back on the practice field and a full-go; he missed the entire season after the Georgia game with that concussion, and so that was great to see. Mason later termed him “100 percent.”
We were watching to see where Emmanuel Smith lined up, thinking that perhaps a switch to outside linebacker was in play based on his size. When I noticed him, he was always lined up at safety (not nickel) though I freely admit he could have been there and I just missed it.
Running back Ralph Webb looked noticeably faster and quicker. I asked The Tennessean’s Adam Sparks if I was dreaming this, and he said he’d noticed it also. Mason affirmed this later, said that he just continually does whatever he needs to do to get better.
He didn’t do a ton today, but I think tight end Jared Pinkney has a chance to be a real weapon in this offense. I really like his size/speed combo. Shurmur had some really good things to say about him after practice, including how hard he’d worked on his blocking after coming to VU as a wide receiver.
Tight end Kyle Anderton was in red jersey and a boot, and on crutches.
Tight end DeAndre Woods was in a red jersey and not practicing.
Safety Arnold Tarpley was in a red jersey and had his left arm in a sling.
Linebacker Landon Stokes was in a red jersey and sweats.
Wide receiver Caleb Scott was in a red jersey, though he was moving around really well and essentially shadowing and simulating some of what his teammates were doing.
Adam Butler was sort of in the same boat as Scott here.
All these players did some stretching with the team and a couple did very minor jogging around, though Anderton couldn’t run and was obviously limited in what he could do in stretching.
TEAM NOTES:
First impressions of new offensive line coach Cameron Norcross: he’s as interactive as any offensive line coach that I remember at VU. He’s very, very hands on—and sometimes, I mean that literally; he would guide players how he wanted this done or that done. He’s intense and talks constantly, but not necessarily in a drill-sergeant kind-of way, and seems to strike a good balance between encouraging and correcting.
Coach Derek Mason spent a lot of his time with the defensive backs today.
The team was wearing shirts and shorts and the black “Deep Water” helmets. No pads.
VU spent first part of practice working on basic walkthroughs with formations in the run game.
There didn’t seem to be a lot of down time; the team got from one place to another efficiently and seemed to practice on a tight schedule with a sense of purpose.
PLAYER NOTES:
Jalen Banks and Khari Blasingame were getting reps in the offensive backfield. The main drivers of these moves are that they’re really, really short on players at running back.
In the case of Blasingame, they’re giving him a trial at fullback. It seems to be a bit of an experiment that’s not set in stone. Remember, he was seeing the field some at linebacker at season’s end.
To that, I noticed Blasingame also working with the linebackers later.
Darrius Sims, last seen at running back, was working out with the wide receivers. Shout-out to Justin Angel on this one; he called that a few weeks ago. He caught a nice deep ball from Sean Stankavage at one point.
Walk-on John Webb, a 5-foot-11, 182-pounder who wears No. 4, was working out with the quarterbacks today. He’s from Dallas. They list him as a sophomore. I don’t see hm being a factor.
They had the JUGS machine hooked up and simulating punt returns. Players catching them included Trent Sherfield, Darrius Sims, Trey Ellis, Taurean Ferguson, Donovan Sheffield, Ryan White and C.J. Duncan, with Scott (again, in a red jersey) standing behind them and mirroring them.
I think this may have been noted before, but Jay Hockaday is listed as an inside linebacker.
I focused on C.J. Duncan for a while, to see how he was moving, cutting, etc. I didn’t notice him having any difficulties. Late in practice, Duncan made probably the play of the day, making a catch on a Kyle Shurmur throw in traffic about 40 yards downfield, a ball Shurmur admitted he didn’t throw well. Mason later said Duncan is “100 percent.”
I saw some things I liked out of quarterback Sean Stankavage this time last year, especially when it comes to mobility. I tried to watch him throw more today; he didn’t demonstrate the arm strength that I think he needs to play much in this league. I’m not saying he can’t make it work but that kind of player has to be very, very precise with his throws and demonstrably better than the other guys in terms of accuracy if he's going to see the field, and that wasn't the case today.
He’s also wearing No. 10, which is what Trent Sherfield wears, and obviously VU can’t have both on the field at the same time.
Incumbent starting quarterback Kyle Shurmur was really having trouble with some throws today. The zip’s there, but he was high on a whole lot of throws. This shouldn't be an alarm bell--it's the first practice and he should be fine--but just an observation.
In the this-isn’t-new-news category, Wade Freebeck still has the best arm on the team. In the few throws that I noticed, he was accurate today but they were also short-to-short-intermediate throws.
I wanted to watch cornerback Bryce Lewis just a bit; I’m not sure what his role will be. In one of those drills where the DBs back-pedal, then move laterally and try to make a pick, he made a nice play on a ball thrown behind him and corralled it in. Derek Mason, who threw the ball, seemed really pleased with that one.
It wasn't a great day for cornerback Tre Herndon when I had my eyes on him. He dropped a pick in this same drill and Mason was upset with his technique one time I watched him.
Offensive tackle Will Holden was in a red jersey, though he didn’t seem to be limited.
The same goes for left tackle Andrew Jelks, though again, with the team wearing no pads whatsoever, the contact was minimized.
Linebacker Nigel Bowden was back on the practice field and a full-go; he missed the entire season after the Georgia game with that concussion, and so that was great to see. Mason later termed him “100 percent.”
We were watching to see where Emmanuel Smith lined up, thinking that perhaps a switch to outside linebacker was in play based on his size. When I noticed him, he was always lined up at safety (not nickel) though I freely admit he could have been there and I just missed it.
Running back Ralph Webb looked noticeably faster and quicker. I asked The Tennessean’s Adam Sparks if I was dreaming this, and he said he’d noticed it also. Mason affirmed this later, said that he just continually does whatever he needs to do to get better.
He didn’t do a ton today, but I think tight end Jared Pinkney has a chance to be a real weapon in this offense. I really like his size/speed combo. Shurmur had some really good things to say about him after practice, including how hard he’d worked on his blocking after coming to VU as a wide receiver.
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