Gators spring practice news and notes – 03/29

By Adam Silverstein
March 30, 2010

With the Florida Gators 2010 spring practice now in full swing, there is plenty of newsworthy information around the program. Rather than publishing it all in long form, OGGOA thought it would be best to lay it out piece-by-piece. We continue this series with a look at a team scrimmage from Mon., March 29.

Absences/Injuries:
» Redshirt senior wide receiver Carl Moore no-showed practice Monday. Either the staff is keeping the reason for his absence secret, or they really did not know at the time (see quotes section below). The Gainesville Sun reports that Moore was “seen leaving the field after practice [on Saturday] visibly upset.”

» Redshirt sophomore cornerback Adrian Bushell returned to practice Monday but did not wear pads. Head coach Urban Meyer suspended him from team activities for two weeks for grades and other off-the-field issues. He will also not be given pads at Wednesday’s practice but should return to full activity on Friday.

» Redshirt senior running back Emmanuel Moody remained out of practice with an injured ankle. There is not an official date for a return.

Check out many more practice, notes and interesting quotes…after the break!

Scrimmage happenings:
» Quarterbacks: Redshirt junior John Brantley took a bunch of snaps from the I-formation as redshirt freshman tight end Jordan Reed felt back at home in the backfield taking Wildcat snaps.

» Speaking to Reed, he has been nothing but impressive and has received plenty of praise for his work. Coaches are hoping for a Cornelius Ingram-like transition to TE.

» Two speedsters, freshmen WRs Solomon Patton and Robert Clark, got some work in the backfield now that redshirt junior Chris Rainey is officially on the outside.

» Sophomore RB Mike Gillislee continues to run with the first team while Moody sits. He is doing well, by all accounts, and hopes to steal some more carries this year.

» Redshirt freshman WR Andre Debose is getting some work – but not a lot. The staff is obviously being cautious with him. Do not expect him to play in the Orange & Blue Debut (which is in 11 days).

» Freshman CB Jaylen Watkins has yet to have a bad day in practice and is proving his value each time he steps on the field.

Other notes:
» One of Meyer’s favorite all-time players, Jemalle Cornelius, who is the new head coach at Fort Meade High School, visited practice.

» Also in attendance was former Gators safety Major Wright, who is in the middle of individual workouts with NFL teams.

Interesting quotes:
» Wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni on Moore’s absence: “When I find out some more information, I’ll let you know.”

» Azzanni on redshirt freshman WR Frankie Hammond, Jr.: “I can’t say enough about him. What a tough kid, he knows all the positions, he can play anything we want. He shuts his mouth, works his tail off. He’s the kind of guys that we like around here. He’s going to be a big, big part of this offense.”

» Azzanni on Patton’s work in the backfield: “He’s a fast guy. We have to use that speed. We wanted to get him on the edge and see what he could do. It’s a whole different deal when you’re carrying that ball out there with the [defensive] speed around here and we wanted to find out if he could do that.”

» Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Stan Drayton on Patton and Clark: “They showed some good sight, some good bursts, some good flashes of some good things. You never know, I may have two more running backs when it’s all said and done.”

» Drayton on Moody’s ankle: “When the doctors say he’s good to go, he’ll be out there.”

» Drayton on the Wildcat: “I love it. Defenses haven’t quite figured out how to stop it yet. When you have guys that can do it, which we have a few on this football team that can do it, it’s a definite weapon for us. It’s a great change of pace for us. We’re definitely going to be into that.”

» Quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler on Reed’s work in the Wildcat: “We decided to come out today and have Jordan run that package. We were a little limited on numbers today. He did a great job with it. We’ll see where that package goes from here. He did a nice job [throwing] today. We’ll see. It’s kind of an experimental project. We’ll see where we’re going to end up with that package. […] It was a completely sporadic, experimental deal today.”

» Loeffler on freshman QB Trey Burton: “He’s done a very nice job. He’s got a lot to learn, just like any freshman. He brings toughness to the table, he brings intelligence. We’re going to work with his fundamentals throwing the football. He’s one of those kids who is going to progress and do everything in his power to try and help our team and get better. The normal progression is to work from the bottom up. You start with footwork, mind and then slowly but surely move into the fundamentals throwing the football. That will slowly, surely progress as we move forward.”

» Defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach Teryl Austin on Bushell’s return: “He’s behind right now. [He] doesn’t fit in anywhere.”

» Austin on his brand of defense: “We’re going to run, we’re going to give you great effort, we’re going to be a physical defense and we’re going to get after you.”

» Junior safety Will Hill on Austin: “He’s very laid back. He has high expectations for us. He tells us what we have to do. He expects us to do it. He’s just very calm and relaxed. It’s very easy for us to relate to him.”

» Hill on Austin: “He’s kind of a quiet guy, but when you watch him he’s doing everything 100 miles per hour and that’s good to see.”

» Hill on changes between last year and this year: “Last year, I took a lot of plays off. [Now] everybody looks up to me to teach them new things, new schemes. I’m very comfortable.”

» Senior punter Chas Henry on being the team’s emergency quarterback: “If we have two guys go down, what do we do if we’re on the road at LSU or Georgia?”

Special thanks to The Gainesville Sun and the Orlando Sentinel for the above quotes.

4 Comments

  1. ReptilesRule says:

    Reed at wildcat is a great idea since we only have 2 other QBs. Carl Moore needs to get it together if he is to have a football future beyond college…and no more plays off for Will Hill. I was wondering where he was last yr. How can you play in the SEC for the Florida Gators and take plays off?? He’d better not do that THIS year or Elam will have his job.

  2. Wingtee says:

    This Reed in the wildcat is about asmuch bullpoop as Joe Haden in the wildcat last year. If you believe anything coming out of this coaching staff’s mouth you are way behind and very naive. You getwhat you on Saturday’s, and that’s it. Everything else
    is conjecture. I do love
    winning so it is not a big deal to me , but I don’t put any stock in coaches and kids being recruited . They all lie

  3. npgator says:

    The difference between Reed and Haden playing in the Wildcat is that Reed actually played QB at UF whereas Joe never did.

  4. Really npgator?

    Haden set Maryland high school records with 7,371 passing yards and 80 touchdown passes at Friendly High School in Fort Washington. Better HS QB than Reed.

Leave a Reply to npgator Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux