MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama football team practiced in shells for the first time this season Friday morning at the practice fields on campus.
And although the Jaguars aren’t going through full contact drills just yet, the intensity of Friday’s practice was elevated from the first couple of days in shorts.
“When you put the pads on for the first day, it’s always that way,” head coach Joey Jones said. “We have a bunch of competitive young men. They love the game and love to be physical. My job a lot of the time is pulling them back, which is good. You don’t want to have to push them forward; you want to pull them back. That’s the kind of kids we have. If we can learn to practice every day and practice with that great effort, we can be a really good football team. I like our attitude.”
Friday’s practice opened with work on the kicking game, followed by individual and group work that included double teams for the offensive linemen and tight end and receiver routes for the quarterbacks. The offense later came together and worked on the inside and outside running game against the defense, along with play-action pass work.
From there, the offensive line worked on pass protection fundamentals while the quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends and running backs ran skeleton pass drills.
After a team break, the offense worked for 35 minutes against the defense with emphasis on certain packages and scenarios. Later in the drill, the Jaguar offense worked on blitz pickup against the defense which elevated the intensity level and caught Jones’ attention as far as early improvement.
“I’ve noticed that defensively we’re getting off of blocks and running to the football very well,” he said. “Offensively, we’re picking up blitzes better. The last couple of years, it seemed like every time we ran blitz period we were just getting killed on offense. Our offensive line is doing a much better job of picking that up so far. But we’re improved on both sides of the ball right now.”
USA closed Friday’s practice with a punt cover drill, while the quarterbacks worked on ball security.
Asked after practice if anyone stood out in Friday’s session, Jones named a couple of newcomers to the Jaguar program.
“B.J. [Scott] looked really good out there – he has a knack for getting to the football. He has a great feel for the game. And I thought Demetre Baker looked good running the ball today. He looked a little better to me today than he did in the spring. He’s a powerful back and his vision is getting better.”
South Alabama will practice Saturday at 6:15 a.m. on campus.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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