Date: 8/2
Time: 10 a.m.-11:40 a.m. (CDT)
Place: James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility
Practice attire: Helmets and shorts, no pads

Offensive Player of the Day: Jordan McCray, R-Fr., WR, Marietta, Ga.
-Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent on McCray: "Jordan is a wide receiver who got here this summer and has caught on.  He is an intelligent kid, and he is long with good ball skills.  He made play after play after play.  It was good to see him go out there on his first day and make a lot of competitive catches and a lot of big plays."

Defensive Player of the Day: Neiko Robinson, Jr., S, Century, Fla.
-Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack on Robinson: "I thought Neiko really stepped up today.  Usually you see new guys swimming a little bit compared to some of these older players, he was one guy battling for a position right now who stepped up and is tit-for-tat with the rest of the ones.  It was pretty impressive for a guy to come in on day one and execute like he did."

Play of the Day: Jeremy Reaves recorded the first takeaway of preseason camp when he went back to make a diving interception on the final series of 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills.

Team period highlights: With the Jaguars in just helmets and no pads, there was just one 12-minute 7-on-7 passing period.

Miscellaneous Notes
-On Monday night at the first team meeting of the fall, head coach Joey Jones announced that Roman Buchanan will wear the No. 5 jersey this year.  The honor is in memory of Anthony Mostella, who wore the number during USA's inaugural season but passed away following a motorcycle accident on June 13, 2010.
-The only special teams period of the day came at the start of practice and focused on punt coverage.
-During 7-on-7 drills Dallas Davis completed each of his first six attempts before finishing practice 8-of-13 passing; that included the only touchdown of the period after he found Samary Collier in the right end zone on the final snap of the workout.
-Senior tight end Gerald Everett caught three passes from Davis, with Kawaan Baker matching that total while running routes with the second- and third-team units.
-Darian Mills broke up a pair of passes to lead the defense during the last period, with Jalen Thompson, Wayne Johnson and Bobby Flott adding one apiece.

Head coach Joey Jones
-On awarding the No. 5 to Roman Buchanan: "We have a lot of guys who are very deserving of wearing No. 5, but it was a real easy decision this year; I didn't have to think but about three seconds to know who the guy was going to be.  Roman is that perfect player — he's never missed a meeting or been late for anything the last four years, he's a heck of a football player, he's a competitor, he's smart, and he treats everybody with respect just like Anthony Mostella did."
-On the first practice of the season: "The first thing that stood out is our guys are in really good shape.  It was hot out here, I think we were one degree from having to get them off the field.  I want to congratulate our strength staff for getting these guys in good shape, which was part of the plan.  We backed off lifting one day per week during the summer and added more conditioning, and I think it paid off."
-On teaching fundamentals at this stage of preseason camp: "The way college football works now you have them during the summer and work on a lot of things before you get to this point.  We put the whole picture in front of them, then break it down into parts, then come back and teach the whole again, so we're at the point in the first five days where we are going to throw everything at them.  Fundamentals are the key to the game; the bottom line is if we are not good fundamentally then we are not going to be a very good football team."
-On how he has changed his philosophy regarding fall camp: "They did a study that we were privy to in the spring where a lot of injuries occur in the first two to three days of practice.  We backed off today to an hour and 40 minute practice, and I told the coaches purposely to back off the sprinting; let's get them acclimated the first day or two so we don't have injuries and have a bunch of guys missing practice over the next two or three weeks."
-On if he feels pressure as a coach this year: "You're right I do, as a competitor you always want to win.  We've done some good things in this program, but I'm not happy with where we are.  We have to raise this thing to the next level, and I think we all know that.  That's me putting pressure on myself as a head coach and hopefully that oozes to the players."

Dallas Davis
-On impressions of the opening practice of the year: "We came out slinging, but that's the first day and everybody is all hyped up.  We'll see how it goes after the first week or two, but hopefully we can keep the mentality and keep moving forward because today was off the charts."
-On his approach to the quarterback competition in camp: "It's not the first time I've been in a battle.  I'm taking it one day at a time.  Who knows what is going to happen, but best of luck to the other guys and we will see who gets the job."
-On how much playing at the end of the 2015 season helps him now: "Toward the end I got a little more playing time and I actually started feeling comfortable for the first time since high school ball.  I feel like it's helped me a bunch."

Kevin Kutchera
-On the focus of the initial practice of the preseason: "It's pretty much all fundamental right now.  The first practice you're not going to come out and be perfect,  the coaches know that.  We have a lot of new guys this week, the older guys are trying to integrate them into the offense as fast as we can; they seem to be doing really well for the first day."
-On Dallas Davis: "He has gotten a lot better from last year I think, but I think we all have as a team.  He throws a nice, hard spiral.  I would say he has it all; he has speed, the arm and the smarts.  We have two other good quarterbacks right behind him, whoever starts we are going to be alright."
-On the competition both at quarterback and wide receiver: "You can't blame a quarterback if there's a bad throw and you can't blame a receiver for dropping the ball.  You just have to move on to the next play, do the best you can and be as consistent as you can."

Jeremy Reaves
-On the Jaguars' first practice: "It was fun.  I've been thinking about this all week, last night I couldn't go to sleep.  I was real excited to be out here with the guys running around, it felt good to be back."
-On what the focus of practice was on Tuesday: "When you get to the upper levels it's all about technique at this point.  Everybody has the skill to play at the collegiate level, so it's about perfecting the fundamentals."
-On not getting in depth at the start of preseason camp: "That's the goal, we don't want to put too much on guys.  I'm an older guy so I ran the system in the spring, but the younger guys who are just getting here we don't want to put too much on them too soon."

Up next: South is back on the practice field Wednesday from 8-10 a.m.
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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