FRIDAY practice observations

[PonyPride]

Another short visit today. Hopefully I'll get a longer visit to at least one practice over the weekend.

• Hard to say if the swelling on QB Justin Willis's surgically repaired throwing hand is bothering him, but he again showed excellent velocity on deeper passes, and continues to show a soft passing touch. At one point, he threaded a floating pass over the shoulder of WR Columbus Givens, who made a stretching catch between S David Haynes, LB Wilton McCray and CB Bryan McCann. The pass was so perfect McCray went out of his way to praise his teammate's accuracy.
• OK, maybe the hand is bothering Willis. Moments after his perfect pass over the shoulder of Givens, he spotted WR Zach Zimmerman running across the middle of the field and fired .... without seeing LB Pete Fleps, who got up and snagged the pass. Fleps could have walked into the end zone, and it was pretty clear Willis never saw him, but he also underthrew the ball significantly.
• Phil Bennett and his staff are hosting their high school coaches' clinic. An estimate 100 coaches -- including former SMU defensive tackle Lute Croy -- are expected to be at in attendance. Croy was at practice Friday afternoon.
• Someone has to get LB Taylor Bon a new facemask -- he has one of those odd grills that looks like a bulldog's underbite, a huge rack of bars extending way out in front, but only over the lower half of his face. Looks incomplete.
• Redshirt freshman DE Jordan Johnson made his second straight appearance with a boot on his right foot, protecting a broken metatarsal bone. He said the foot feels good and that he expects to return to practice within a couple of weeks.
• RB DeMyron Martin had a rough year in 2006, never staying healthy enough to get on a roll. In two practices, he looks like he's a step quicker, and running with more authority. He's cutting hard and accelerating quickly. Teammates say Martin's weight hasn't changed a lot, but he reportedly is working like a maniac in the weight room, and he's clearly leaner, if not lighter.
• It's always sounded silly to hear an announcer talk about a guy who weighs 300-plus pounds and refer to him as "quick" .... but that term could be applied to OT Kenard Burley, who said he's down to 305-308 pounds (depending, I guess, on how recently he's eaten). That weight marks a reduction of nearly 20 pounds, and he really looks almost light on his feet, easily moving with DEs who he outweighs by 50-80 pounds.
• TE Jeff Brock is listed on this year's roster at 6'6" and 240 pounds. He's another who looks like he has rebuilt his physique with rigorous offseason work.

[indianmustang]

thanks for the updates

[PonySnob]

Any word on Phillip Burley?

[mrydel]

Any word on Phillip Burley?

Read the full Thursday report thread. He is still recovering.

[The PonyGrad]

• It's always sounded silly to hear an announcer talk about a guy who weighs 300-plus pounds and refer to him as "quick" .... but that term could be applied to OT Kenard Burley, who said he's down to 305-308 pounds (depending, I guess, on how recently he's eaten). That weight marks a reduction of nearly 20 pounds, and he really looks almost light on his feet, easily moving with DEs who he outweighs by 50-80 pounds.

I hope that is not an indication of the speed of our DEs