Friday practice report
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:24 amA few notes from this morning's practice:
• Kyle Padron took most of the snaps with the second-string offense. However, head coach June Jones said that contrary to some reports, Padron is not No. 2 on the quarterback depth chart, adding that "rookies are getting the second-string snaps at a lot of positions."
• Injury update: sitting out practice were WRs Aldrick Robinson (ankle) and Darius Johnson (collarbone). CB Derrius Bell is back on the practice field, albeit in a limited role. He has done conditioning work and individual coverage drills, and some seven-on-seven drills.
• Several nice plays in passing drills, including QB Bo Levi Mitchell floating a 35-yard pinpoint pass over S Ryan Smith and in front of CB Keith Robinson, where WR Cole Loftin made a nice, leaping grab.
• Nobody fights for the ball after a catch is made like CB Sterling Moore. As he has done since his arrival on campus, Moore has shown that he is not content with merely reaching for the pass and then making a tackle — he keeps trying for the ball. He got locked up Friday morning with WR Charles Clay on a fly route down the right sideline, and when Clay leaped to make a catch of a Mitchell bomb over his outside shoulder, Moore climbed up the front of the freshman WR's uniform to knock the ball away.
• If Moore's play wasn't the best defensive effort of the day, that honor would have to go to ... WR Chayse Joubert, who responded to a Bryan McCann interception by whirling around and knocking the ball free for an incomplete pass.
• Practice concluded with the annual bye week Rookie Game. Most plays had six offensive players against eight defensive players (no linemen on either side of the ball), although one or two linebackers did little more than token pass-rushing.
∞ QB J.J. McDermott ran the offense and completed a number of passes, including an early 30-yard strike to WR Ryan Walker on a deep slant route. Walker made the catch and held on, despite getting popped pretty hard by CB Jeremy Gray.
∞ McDermott missed out on another sure completion moments later when Joubert got behind the defense on a deep sideline route, waited on a McDermott pass with no defender within five yards ... and dropped it (while looking straight into the sun), drawing howls from his veteran teammates on both sides.
∞ Maybe the sun really did cause Joubert's drop, because on the very next play, WR Deonte McDade ended up almost in the exact same spot on the left sideline, but he was running a crossing route with his back to the sun. In any event, he made a lunging catch in almost the same spot. Whether his helmet shielded his eyes was unclear.
∞ LB E.J. Drewery made several nice plays in the Rookie Game, both in coverage and tackling. On one of the first plays of the scrimmage, he shadowed WR Walker across the field and dove for the ball, stretching out to knock the ball away just before it reached Walker.
∞ McDermott's best throw of the day came late in the scrimmage, when he found WR Charles Clay streaking down the right sideline and dropped a 30-yard pass over Clay's outside shoulder. CB Keivon Gamble was defending on the play, and had no chance to reach the ball. Clay made the catch and got both feet inbounds inside the 10-yard line.
• Kyle Padron took most of the snaps with the second-string offense. However, head coach June Jones said that contrary to some reports, Padron is not No. 2 on the quarterback depth chart, adding that "rookies are getting the second-string snaps at a lot of positions."
• Injury update: sitting out practice were WRs Aldrick Robinson (ankle) and Darius Johnson (collarbone). CB Derrius Bell is back on the practice field, albeit in a limited role. He has done conditioning work and individual coverage drills, and some seven-on-seven drills.
• Several nice plays in passing drills, including QB Bo Levi Mitchell floating a 35-yard pinpoint pass over S Ryan Smith and in front of CB Keith Robinson, where WR Cole Loftin made a nice, leaping grab.
• Nobody fights for the ball after a catch is made like CB Sterling Moore. As he has done since his arrival on campus, Moore has shown that he is not content with merely reaching for the pass and then making a tackle — he keeps trying for the ball. He got locked up Friday morning with WR Charles Clay on a fly route down the right sideline, and when Clay leaped to make a catch of a Mitchell bomb over his outside shoulder, Moore climbed up the front of the freshman WR's uniform to knock the ball away.
• If Moore's play wasn't the best defensive effort of the day, that honor would have to go to ... WR Chayse Joubert, who responded to a Bryan McCann interception by whirling around and knocking the ball free for an incomplete pass.
• Practice concluded with the annual bye week Rookie Game. Most plays had six offensive players against eight defensive players (no linemen on either side of the ball), although one or two linebackers did little more than token pass-rushing.
∞ QB J.J. McDermott ran the offense and completed a number of passes, including an early 30-yard strike to WR Ryan Walker on a deep slant route. Walker made the catch and held on, despite getting popped pretty hard by CB Jeremy Gray.
∞ McDermott missed out on another sure completion moments later when Joubert got behind the defense on a deep sideline route, waited on a McDermott pass with no defender within five yards ... and dropped it (while looking straight into the sun), drawing howls from his veteran teammates on both sides.
∞ Maybe the sun really did cause Joubert's drop, because on the very next play, WR Deonte McDade ended up almost in the exact same spot on the left sideline, but he was running a crossing route with his back to the sun. In any event, he made a lunging catch in almost the same spot. Whether his helmet shielded his eyes was unclear.
∞ LB E.J. Drewery made several nice plays in the Rookie Game, both in coverage and tackling. On one of the first plays of the scrimmage, he shadowed WR Walker across the field and dove for the ball, stretching out to knock the ball away just before it reached Walker.
∞ McDermott's best throw of the day came late in the scrimmage, when he found WR Charles Clay streaking down the right sideline and dropped a 30-yard pass over Clay's outside shoulder. CB Keivon Gamble was defending on the play, and had no chance to reach the ball. Clay made the catch and got both feet inbounds inside the 10-yard line.