Thursday/Friday practice notes

[PonyPride]

Some new notes from Thursday's and Friday's practices (not a lot, I realize — sorry).

• After being moved to cornerback in the spring, A'Darius Medford is back at wide receiver, and looked very good. In one drill, he lost defenders with very crisp cuts in his route, and in one case, raw speed when he simmply outran the entire defense.

• The confusion with jersey numbers continues. Some of the reported number changes might not be changes after all, because the number on a couple of guys' jerseys don't match the number on the back of their helmets (i.e. Terrance Wilkerson wore jersey No. 7 and had 18 — his listed number in the media guide — on the back of his helmet. Bryan McCann had 3 on his jersey, 6 on the back of his helmet). In other words .... no idea who's going to wear what jersey. Show up for the Tech game. According to the roster, Derrius Bell is supposed to be wearing 8. So, of course, he shows up wearing No. 12. The guys in the equipment room must be laughing for hours over this.

• Late signee DeMikel Shankle, who was supposed to start out as a defensive back, was working Thursday with the running backs.

• Confirmed: D.J. Emerson is here, playing WR and wearing No. 31. Extremely fast, too.

• Coaches and teammates caught their breath when new safety Rock Dennis felt his knee buckle and get helped off the field. Trainers checked his knee, and he walked very gingerly on the sideline. A few plays later, he trotted — still a little gingerly — back out on the field … and promptly shot way up in the air to pick off a pass. Gets up pretty high, and the catch was impressive. Coaches presdumably have resumed breathing.

• Good hands, twice: Columbus Givens caught a screen pass and took off. Bryan McCann closed in on him, only to get drilled — all the way out of a shoe — by Devin Lowery.

• Maybe he saw the comment here about Justin Willis winning the conditioning sprints at Wednesday's practice. Regardless of the reason, the group that includes the quarterbacks has been led across the finish line since then by Zach Rhodes.

• Picture Devon Pearson — that gives an idea of how big (OK, almost) De'Von Bailey looks at safety. He's not a misplaced linebacker, either. The guy is fast and very smooth when changing directions.

• Catch of the day: it was only in position drills, as opposed to full-team scrimmage drills, but walk-on Josh Bryant made a great one-handed snag in the corner of the end zone on a pass by wide receivers coach Larry Edmondson.

• Move of the day: Cedrick Dorsey caught a quick screen pass on the left side and headed toward the sideline. A dip of the shoulder in conjunction with some kind of a wiggle and he absolutely lost linebacker Jason Jackson.

• Hit of the day, maybe hit of the week: Linebacker Will Bonilla zeroed in on Dorsey after a handoff and kept his eyes on his target … unaware of rapidly-approaching left guard Tommy Poynter, who nearly took Bonilla out of his cleats. Bonilla got up just fine, while Poynter enjoyed howls of approval from his teammates.

[davidsmu94]

Thanks Pride! keep them coming!

[Roach]

Really excited about De'Von Bailey. We've had some good safeties over the years, but if this guy can learn the college game, he could be a monster.

Glad Rock Dennis is OK.

[perunapower]

Good stuff! You're making it harder and harder to wait until Labor Day.