MONDAY PRACTICE notes

[PonyPride]

• Just add water: A new element was added to Monday's practice ... rain. Not a lot, but just enough to make footing a little slippery at times, and to make catching the ball a little more of an adventure. Several players slipped on the wet surface, and others had passes skip through their hands, either to the ground or into the hands of waiting defenders. Cornerback Bryan McCann was bailed out by safety Rock Dennis when Dennis intercepted a pass that had flown right through McCann's hands.

• Aquaman? One player who seemed remarkably UNaffected by the damp turf was backup running back Chris Butler, who showed exceptional balance and cutting ability, to go along with his burst of speed. On several plays, Butler would start inside, bounce to the outside and then cut back and forth between defenders, as if his shoes allowed much better traction than those of the guys trying to tackle him.

• Not just because you're reading this: One of the more entertaining receivers Monday was Kellis Cunningham, the former high school wingback who sometimes steps in as a receiver or defensive back during drills. Cunningham got a little of the complete receiver experience: he caught a screen pass on the left, only to get wrapped up immediately by cornerback Bryan McCann. Moments later, he caught a screen pass on the other side, planted his feet in time to let linebacker Jason Jackson sail by and then took off upfield. He then made his catch of the day - maybe the team's catch of the day - when he went up over Chris Castro for an underthrown pass, tipped the ball up in the air and then made the catch on the rebound. Not bad for a kicker.

• Non-catch of the day: Winston Gamso fired a pass toward the right side of the field that was nowhere near being caught, because of an apparent communication interruption with his intended receiver, who broke off his route toward the inside of the field. The ball whistled out of bounds, skipped twice off the slick grass where safety Tyler Jones - who was sitting out the drill - was kneeling on the sideline. Without moving from his knee, Jones reached out and speared the wayward pass, got up and took off downfield, football in one hand and helmet still in his other hand.

• Getting settled? The first-team offensive line remained the same as it was at the end of Saturday's morning session: left tackle Kelvin Beacham, Jr., left guard Sean Lobo, center Mitch Enright, right guard Bryce Tennison and right tackle Vincent Chase; the second team had a new face, though: left tackle Kelly Turner, left guard Josh LeRibeus, center Andrew Robiskie, right guard Tommy Poynter and Zach Boyd working at right tackle.

• Matter of perspective: Offensive and defensive players often see plays differently (just ask referees, who seem to hear from one or the other on almost every play). On one early play Monday, safety De'Von Bailey drew howls of approval from teammates for knocking the ball free from receiver Bryce Lunday. But he ended up doing a few push-ups after the play, anyway - hard to say if it was because he didn't make the interception, or if it was for pass interference, as he ran over Lunday a few steps before the ball arrived.

• Going to be special: Think the new coaching staff doesn't place a premium on perfect execution on special teams? Guru Frank Gansz interrupted practice, as he normally does, for a few minutes of special teams work, and ran a drill to perfect the punt team's protection, making sure blockers were in the right place, moving at the right time, taking the right angles, etc. During the drill, seven coaches - Gansz, Dennis McKnight, Wes Suan, Derrick Odum, Bert Hill, Tim Hundley and Jeff Reinebold - were on the field at the same time, working to correct players' positioning and technique. SEVEN.

• The good hands people: Only three players took turns returning punts during Monday's drill: Emmanuel Sanders, Cole Beasley and B.J. Lee. Whether the reduced number of candidates is an indication that the coaches are narrowing the field of punt return candidates, or just a matter of saving time for today's drill was unclear. What was clear is that these guys can catch: despite the wet conditions, only one punt was dropped ... by Sanders.

• Defensive Serge: Senior nose tackle Serge Elizee returned to the field with his teammates after missing a couple of days last week. He worked with the first-team defensive line, rotating with Zac Thomas and Mickey Dollens. Another variation on the first-team defensive line came when Adrian Dizer and Youri Yenga rotated at the right defensive end spot with the first team.

• A taste of the limelight: Transfer linebacker Alex Odiari needed 48 hours last week to move from the third team to the second, and also slid inside to the middle linebacker spot. He worked Monday with the first-team defense at middle linebacker, but it does not appear he has earned the starting spot: Odiari filled in when sophomore Justin Smart took a break from some drills.

• No leader yet: Head coach June Jones reiterated that he has not made any decisions yet about a starting quarterback, and has not shared a pecking order at the position. But for what it's worth, Justin Willis spent much of the day working with the first-team offense, followed by Logan Turner.

• Ready or not, here it comes: If nothing else, Bo Levi Mitchell has a very strong arm. At one point Monday morning, he saw Emmanuel Sanders streaking across the field. But Alex Odiari and Bryan McCann also were closing in. Mitchell fired a blistering fastball between the outstretched hands of McCann and Odiari, only to watch Sanders - perhaps surprised that it got through the traffic - drop the pass.

• PRACTICE CLOSED: Tuesday's afternoon practice is closed to the public and to the media.

[Dooby]

Goes without saying: Awesome report as always.

[MrMustang1965]

PRACTICE CLOSED: Tuesday's afternoon practice is closed to the public and to the media.

Shhhhhh....the Mustangs will be practicing on their 'super secret weapon' play for the Rice game!

Once again, great reporting, PP!!!! Thanks!

[George S. Patton]

Hazard a guess that Tuesday is closed because the coaches will start putting in the gameplan for Rice.

[StallionsModelT]

I attended practice Saturday with my dad and we both came away impressed with what we saw. Granted not much can be taken from one practice, but there was far more enthusiasm and excitement from the kids and coaches. Really looking forward to the season getting underway. BTW, ordered my season tickets about a month ago and got some pretty good seats.

[PerunaPunch]

PRACTICE CLOSED: Tuesday's afternoon practice is closed to the public and to the media.

Maybe Pride could just post this again tomorrow under the headline of "TUESDAY PRACTICE notes". It might reduce the withdrawal symptoms.

[Cadillac]

Hazard a guess that Tuesday is closed because the coaches will start putting in the gameplan for Rice.

Shhh.

It's the swinging gate

-CoS

[bagice]

Nice to see that JW spent most of the day with the first team offense, hopefully a sign that June is getting more comfortable with him and will be close to naming a starter, with less than 3 weeks to go, its getting close to that time.

[GeorgiaMustang]

Are the coaches still implementing new plays, or are they starting to fine tune what they have already installed?

[Casey]

My favorite part:

• Going to be special: Think the new coaching staff doesn't place a premium on perfect execution on special teams? Guru Frank Gansz interrupted practice, as he normally does, for a few minutes of special teams work, and ran a drill to perfect the punt team's protection, making sure blockers were in the right place, moving at the right time, taking the right angles, etc. During the drill, seven coaches - Gansz, Dennis McKnight, Wes Suan, Derrick Odum, Bert Hill, Tim Hundley and Jeff Reinebold - were on the field at the same time, working to correct players' positioning and technique. SEVEN.

Holy smokes. I don't think the team has spent this much time on special teams since '89, and the times I've been in Dallas and watched practice, it was usually one or two coaches running special teams drills while the rest of the coaches were off talking to each other or their position players. Seven coaches working on one special teams drill (and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Coach Jones was paying close attention, too.) What a fantastic improvement from the past.

[Ponymon]

• Just add water:
• Aquaman? One player who seemed remarkably UNaffected by the damp turf was backup running back Chris Butler, who showed exceptional balance and cutting ability, to go along with his burst of speed. On several plays, Butler would start inside, bounce to the outside and then cut back and forth between defenders, as if his shoes allowed much better traction than those of the guys trying to tackle him.

Chris is from Louisiana. Nuff said!

[that's great raplh]

great stuff

[Pony4Life]

My favorite part:

• Going to be special: Think the new coaching staff doesn't place a premium on perfect execution on special teams? Guru Frank Gansz interrupted practice, as he normally does, for a few minutes of special teams work, and ran a drill to perfect the punt team's protection, making sure blockers were in the right place, moving at the right time, taking the right angles, etc. During the drill, seven coaches - Gansz, Dennis McKnight, Wes Suan, Derrick Odum, Bert Hill, Tim Hundley and Jeff Reinebold - were on the field at the same time, working to correct players' positioning and technique. SEVEN.

Holy smokes. I don't think the team has spent this much time on special teams since '89, and the times I've been in Dallas and watched practice, it was usually one or two coaches running special teams drills while the rest of the coaches were off talking to each other or their position players. Seven coaches working on one special teams drill (and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Coach Jones was paying close attention, too.) What a fantastic improvement from the past.

I agree with you, Casey. Special teams hasn't gotten this much attention in ... ever. With Morstead's cannon and improved coverage teams, it wouldn't surprise me if we're No. 1 in the country this year in net punting.

[Alaric]

My favorite part:

• Going to be special: Think the new coaching staff doesn't place a premium on perfect execution on special teams? Guru Frank Gansz interrupted practice, as he normally does, for a few minutes of special teams work, and ran a drill to perfect the punt team's protection, making sure blockers were in the right place, moving at the right time, taking the right angles, etc. During the drill, seven coaches - Gansz, Dennis McKnight, Wes Suan, Derrick Odum, Bert Hill, Tim Hundley and Jeff Reinebold - were on the field at the same time, working to correct players' positioning and technique. SEVEN.

Holy smokes. I don't think the team has spent this much time on special teams since '89, and the times I've been in Dallas and watched practice, it was usually one or two coaches running special teams drills while the rest of the coaches were off talking to each other or their position players. Seven coaches working on one special teams drill (and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Coach Jones was paying close attention, too.) What a fantastic improvement from the past.

I agree with you, Casey. Special teams hasn't gotten this much attention in ... ever. With Morstead's cannon and improved coverage teams, it wouldn't surprise me if we're No. 1 in the country this year in net punting.

You oughtta hear Gansz over the PA system talking about being no 1. He drills it - constantly. Not good but the best...exhorting the guys to not settle for anything but being the best at what they do. It's really hard not to get motivated by him

[MrMustang1965]

My favorite part:

• Going to be special: Think the new coaching staff doesn't place a premium on perfect execution on special teams? Guru Frank Gansz interrupted practice, as he normally does, for a few minutes of special teams work, and ran a drill to perfect the punt team's protection, making sure blockers were in the right place, moving at the right time, taking the right angles, etc. During the drill, seven coaches - Gansz, Dennis McKnight, Wes Suan, Derrick Odum, Bert Hill, Tim Hundley and Jeff Reinebold - were on the field at the same time, working to correct players' positioning and technique. SEVEN.

Holy smokes. I don't think the team has spent this much time on special teams since '89, and the times I've been in Dallas and watched practice, it was usually one or two coaches running special teams drills while the rest of the coaches were off talking to each other or their position players. Seven coaches working on one special teams drill (and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Coach Jones was paying close attention, too.) What a fantastic improvement from the past.

I agree with you, Casey. Special teams hasn't gotten this much attention in ... ever. With Morstead's cannon and improved coverage teams, it wouldn't surprise me if we're No. 1 in the country this year in net punting.

But....June Jones doesn't think about punting.