Practice Report - August 12
Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2017 1:22 pm
It was of course a hot and muggy morning at Yulman. There was a slight breeze from the south. At first players were spread out working in position groups. One of note was of centers practicing shotgun snaps to QB's. The three centers were Diaz, Dublin and Leglue. All the snaps appeared to be clean.
Team drill started with the offense having 11 going against 6. The defenders were basically just out there as they weren't rushing at all. Banks went first with a line that was from left to right- Leglue, Dublin,Diaz, Briggs and Mcleod. They were at the south 25 going south. Banks missed Encalade and then pitched to Hillard. The pitch was clean. Brantley came in. His line was Claybrook, Jackel,Diaz,Brown and Devon Johnson. Brantley made a clean pitch to Bradwell. He then threw a 25 yard TD pass to Robertson. The ball was under thrown and he had to come back for it. I'll note here that it didn't seem like the QB's were throwing 100% in this drill. At least I hope so. It appeared as if they were just loosening up. McClain came in and pitched left to Badie. He then hit Owens at the 5 on an underthrown pass that Owens had to stop for. Ledford then came in and underthrew a 10 yarder to Owens. Banks came in and hit Mooney in the end zone. He then overthrew a sideline route to Mooney. Brantley finished it off by hitting Robertsonat the 10 and then hit Glenn in the end zone from 25 out. The line at the end was left to right- Mcleod,Jackel,Leglue,Briggs and Tyler Johnson.
The next segment was FG kicking. Neenan went first. He hit a 31 yarder from the left hash. It was hit very well. He then had a 39 yarder from the middle of the field blocked. The snap was good. He just hit it very low. The next kick was a 38 yarder from the right hash that he again nailed. He then had a 40 yarder from the right hash blocked. This was again b/c of his low kick. He then missed from 42 on the left hash. Glover, a WO, then shanked a 43 yarder. He hit a 37 yarder from the middle of the field. Another WO,Singer , came out next. He missed from 35 and was short on a 42 yarder. I was surprised Harvey didn't kick. He was dressed out and didn't appear to be injured.
Block then came on to punt. The ball was being snapped from the south 25. His first kick went to the north 45 and then took a high bounce and rolled to the 20. His next punt went to the 50 and was almost blocked. The snap was good. He just takes a long time to get his kicks off.
The scrimmage was next. There were refs and all QB's were in red no contact jersey's. It started with ones versus ones. The ball was placed on the north 30 going south. Banks came out first. The D was Aruna, Wilson, Eldrick Washington and Carroll. The LB's were Marbley and Luke Jackson. The CB's were Nickerson and Lewis. The safeties were Teamer and Franklin with Shenall at the NB. Banks ran right for 2 . He then overthrew Encalade on a deep ball. There should have been a penalty as the DB was clearly holding Encalalde. He was then sacked by Aruna. Banks limped slightly going to the sideline but appeared fine the rest of the way. Banks then overtrhrew a pass. Badie went up the middle for no gain. He then hit Robertson for 8 on the left side.
Brantley came on also starting on the 30. HIs line was Claybrook, Dublin,Diaz, Briggs and Mcleod. Badie went up the middle for 6 and the ball was stripped and recovered by the defense who probably would have returned it for a TD. He came off holding his left wrist. He was looked at by a trainer. He did later come back in. They picked it back up as 2nd and 4. He pitched to Hilliard for 3. He then kept it going left and lost 2. On 4th down he faked a hand off up the middle and then went off the left side of the line for 22 yards. He was then sacked as no one was open. Huderson went left for 2 and then Huderson went left for 5. On his last play he threw it away as no one was open.
Banks came in with the 2's. They started at the south 40 going south. Huderson went up the middle for 7. Banks then went for 8 up the middle. Badie got 4 up the middle. Under pressure he took off and got 4. Hiliard got 1 up the middle. Hilliard then got 5 up the middle for a first down. Banks kept left for 5 . Hilliard then started up the middle and bounced it to the right and got 7. On first and goal from the 2 Hillard was stuffed for no gain. Banks then kept it right and got the TD.
Brantley came back out and they started on the south 28 going north. No one was open on 1st down so he threw it away. Badie then went for 12 up the middle. Hilliard got5. Then there was a fumble on the hand off to Huderson and Brantley recovered it. He then hit Robertson for 9 yards and a first down. I noticed Sample in at DT with the 2's.
Banks came back on with the ball placed on the north 47 going north. Banks started with a pass from the pocket to a wide open Huderson that he grossly underthrew to the left side. He then threw a TD to Robertson down the right sideline. Beautiful pass and catch. The throw was made as he scrambled right . It appeared to me that a DE could have sacked him but let up b/c of his red jersey and he released the ball right after that.
The next series had Banks hand the ball to Bradwell for 4 up the middle. He then kept it for 3 which was followed by a keeper for 7.
Next were kick-offs. Block kicked the first one to the goal line and Badie returned it to the 20. Harvey then kicked it to the 5 and Hilliard returned it to the 35. Block then kicked it to the goal line again and Glenn returned it to the 31.
McClain came in. He pitched right to Huderson and then threw incomplete to Fenroy. Bradwell went up the middle for 5. He hit Ledee for 20. He ended with an overthrow to the end zone.
Ledford came in and went to throw and the ball fell out of his hand behind him. Keyes appeared to hurt his ankle and went down for few minutes. He limped off.
McClain came back and overthrew Johnson deep. He then bit Bradwell for 10 on the right side. Dauphine took a pitch right and got about 7. He then kept it for 7. On the next play no one was open and he ran for 5. Things ended with a wobbily deep ball by Ledford to Owens at the 5 for a 25 yard gain.
Fritz then lectured the team from midfield for a good 10 minutes pacing back and forth the whole time. I couldn't hear him but his body language made it appear that he was not pleased. After he finished the O-Linemen were taken by Atkins and made to do a series of up and downs. The LB group was made to do the same.
Fritz later came to the Glazer Club. He asked the Glazer Club members to come early and party and then get in their seats for 7 for the Grambling game. When asked about anything different being done on offense he said yes-WE WILL SCORE A LOT MORE which brought loud laughter. Asked about the RB's behind Hilliard and Badie he really talked up Huderson. He made note the he can run it inside and outside and most importantly that he was good in pass protection. He then mentioned Bradwell and noted he wasn't that good with pass protection and needed work and said he is a power runner. He said Neenan is the kicker. He said Dannen was having 5 hogs cooked at this house for a team get together tonight.
By all accounts the line still just has too many breakdowns. Both Banks and Brantley can run and they both throw well on the run. This is more of a competition than many think. Fritz even called it that when he spoke to the crowd. Brantley's shoulder is fine now and he appears very capable. As for field goal kicking it was extremely disappointing to see today. That has to be cleaned up ASAP. The defense is solid and moves well at all levels. Hopefully the next few weeks lead to better offensive production and a better kicking game. There's a lot of work that must be done for us to see any improvement this season.
Team drill started with the offense having 11 going against 6. The defenders were basically just out there as they weren't rushing at all. Banks went first with a line that was from left to right- Leglue, Dublin,Diaz, Briggs and Mcleod. They were at the south 25 going south. Banks missed Encalade and then pitched to Hillard. The pitch was clean. Brantley came in. His line was Claybrook, Jackel,Diaz,Brown and Devon Johnson. Brantley made a clean pitch to Bradwell. He then threw a 25 yard TD pass to Robertson. The ball was under thrown and he had to come back for it. I'll note here that it didn't seem like the QB's were throwing 100% in this drill. At least I hope so. It appeared as if they were just loosening up. McClain came in and pitched left to Badie. He then hit Owens at the 5 on an underthrown pass that Owens had to stop for. Ledford then came in and underthrew a 10 yarder to Owens. Banks came in and hit Mooney in the end zone. He then overthrew a sideline route to Mooney. Brantley finished it off by hitting Robertsonat the 10 and then hit Glenn in the end zone from 25 out. The line at the end was left to right- Mcleod,Jackel,Leglue,Briggs and Tyler Johnson.
The next segment was FG kicking. Neenan went first. He hit a 31 yarder from the left hash. It was hit very well. He then had a 39 yarder from the middle of the field blocked. The snap was good. He just hit it very low. The next kick was a 38 yarder from the right hash that he again nailed. He then had a 40 yarder from the right hash blocked. This was again b/c of his low kick. He then missed from 42 on the left hash. Glover, a WO, then shanked a 43 yarder. He hit a 37 yarder from the middle of the field. Another WO,Singer , came out next. He missed from 35 and was short on a 42 yarder. I was surprised Harvey didn't kick. He was dressed out and didn't appear to be injured.
Block then came on to punt. The ball was being snapped from the south 25. His first kick went to the north 45 and then took a high bounce and rolled to the 20. His next punt went to the 50 and was almost blocked. The snap was good. He just takes a long time to get his kicks off.
The scrimmage was next. There were refs and all QB's were in red no contact jersey's. It started with ones versus ones. The ball was placed on the north 30 going south. Banks came out first. The D was Aruna, Wilson, Eldrick Washington and Carroll. The LB's were Marbley and Luke Jackson. The CB's were Nickerson and Lewis. The safeties were Teamer and Franklin with Shenall at the NB. Banks ran right for 2 . He then overthrew Encalade on a deep ball. There should have been a penalty as the DB was clearly holding Encalalde. He was then sacked by Aruna. Banks limped slightly going to the sideline but appeared fine the rest of the way. Banks then overtrhrew a pass. Badie went up the middle for no gain. He then hit Robertson for 8 on the left side.
Brantley came on also starting on the 30. HIs line was Claybrook, Dublin,Diaz, Briggs and Mcleod. Badie went up the middle for 6 and the ball was stripped and recovered by the defense who probably would have returned it for a TD. He came off holding his left wrist. He was looked at by a trainer. He did later come back in. They picked it back up as 2nd and 4. He pitched to Hilliard for 3. He then kept it going left and lost 2. On 4th down he faked a hand off up the middle and then went off the left side of the line for 22 yards. He was then sacked as no one was open. Huderson went left for 2 and then Huderson went left for 5. On his last play he threw it away as no one was open.
Banks came in with the 2's. They started at the south 40 going south. Huderson went up the middle for 7. Banks then went for 8 up the middle. Badie got 4 up the middle. Under pressure he took off and got 4. Hiliard got 1 up the middle. Hilliard then got 5 up the middle for a first down. Banks kept left for 5 . Hilliard then started up the middle and bounced it to the right and got 7. On first and goal from the 2 Hillard was stuffed for no gain. Banks then kept it right and got the TD.
Brantley came back out and they started on the south 28 going north. No one was open on 1st down so he threw it away. Badie then went for 12 up the middle. Hilliard got5. Then there was a fumble on the hand off to Huderson and Brantley recovered it. He then hit Robertson for 9 yards and a first down. I noticed Sample in at DT with the 2's.
Banks came back on with the ball placed on the north 47 going north. Banks started with a pass from the pocket to a wide open Huderson that he grossly underthrew to the left side. He then threw a TD to Robertson down the right sideline. Beautiful pass and catch. The throw was made as he scrambled right . It appeared to me that a DE could have sacked him but let up b/c of his red jersey and he released the ball right after that.
The next series had Banks hand the ball to Bradwell for 4 up the middle. He then kept it for 3 which was followed by a keeper for 7.
Next were kick-offs. Block kicked the first one to the goal line and Badie returned it to the 20. Harvey then kicked it to the 5 and Hilliard returned it to the 35. Block then kicked it to the goal line again and Glenn returned it to the 31.
McClain came in. He pitched right to Huderson and then threw incomplete to Fenroy. Bradwell went up the middle for 5. He hit Ledee for 20. He ended with an overthrow to the end zone.
Ledford came in and went to throw and the ball fell out of his hand behind him. Keyes appeared to hurt his ankle and went down for few minutes. He limped off.
McClain came back and overthrew Johnson deep. He then bit Bradwell for 10 on the right side. Dauphine took a pitch right and got about 7. He then kept it for 7. On the next play no one was open and he ran for 5. Things ended with a wobbily deep ball by Ledford to Owens at the 5 for a 25 yard gain.
Fritz then lectured the team from midfield for a good 10 minutes pacing back and forth the whole time. I couldn't hear him but his body language made it appear that he was not pleased. After he finished the O-Linemen were taken by Atkins and made to do a series of up and downs. The LB group was made to do the same.
Fritz later came to the Glazer Club. He asked the Glazer Club members to come early and party and then get in their seats for 7 for the Grambling game. When asked about anything different being done on offense he said yes-WE WILL SCORE A LOT MORE which brought loud laughter. Asked about the RB's behind Hilliard and Badie he really talked up Huderson. He made note the he can run it inside and outside and most importantly that he was good in pass protection. He then mentioned Bradwell and noted he wasn't that good with pass protection and needed work and said he is a power runner. He said Neenan is the kicker. He said Dannen was having 5 hogs cooked at this house for a team get together tonight.
By all accounts the line still just has too many breakdowns. Both Banks and Brantley can run and they both throw well on the run. This is more of a competition than many think. Fritz even called it that when he spoke to the crowd. Brantley's shoulder is fine now and he appears very capable. As for field goal kicking it was extremely disappointing to see today. That has to be cleaned up ASAP. The defense is solid and moves well at all levels. Hopefully the next few weeks lead to better offensive production and a better kicking game. There's a lot of work that must be done for us to see any improvement this season.