Jags Return From Spring Break
Akeem Appleton looks the ball in for a catch during a spring scrimmage.
After a week off for spring break, the Jaguars returned for their final week of practice leading up to Saturdays annual Red-Blue spring football game.
After a week off, the Jaguars came with plenty of effort, but were lacking in execution.
They began practice with special teams working on punting. Next the offense and defense worked against each other by position. They then broke off into work with position coaches for about 40 minutes. Later they would come back together for another offense versus defense segment as they worked on inside plays. They also worked on skeleton passing drills and play-action passing drills.
In the final session, the team again worked on game-like situations by simulating two-minute drills. The defense kept the first and second team offense off of the scoreboard.
The first-team offense moved the ball into the red zone after C.J. Bennett threw completions to Jereme Jones and Bryant Lavender for a first down at the 19 yard line. Bennett would stop the clock by spiking the ball on first down but would not be able to score after three consecutive incompletions ended their drive.
Trey Fetner led the second-team offense by scrambling twice to pick up a first down and stopping the clock on the second by finding the sideline to step out of bounds. However the defense was not to be out done. Back to back sacks and a broken-up pass by Terrell Brigham would end the possession.
After practice coach Jones commented on what he saw. “Offensively, we came out and had a few missed assignments, we jumped offsides a couple of times. We were not quite as in sync as we were. It wasn’t a lack of effort or want to, it was just making some mental mistakes. Defensively, I thought we came out and had a pretty good practice today.”
“We are going to do a few fundamental things the first part of practice, then at the end we’re going to split them into their teams,” Jones continued. “Coaches have started talking smack to each other, and the players have here and there also. It will be a fun time, the culmination of spring practice, so we’ll give them the last 30 minutes to do that and get ready for the game on Saturday.”
They will practice once more on Thursday beginning at 6:30am at the Jaguar practice facility. The Red & Blue game at 2pm on Saturday, March 24 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and will be free and open to the public with the Gumbo-Chili cook off during the morning.
Three Sun Belt Schools Talking With MWC/CUSA While SBC Considers Expansion
Earlier this week, it was made known that three Sun Belt schools were talking with the new Mountain West/C-USA Alliance. University of North Texas, Florida Atlantic and Florida International as well as pretty much every WAC school are talking with them about possible membership.
Also it was made known by Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports that UNC-Charlotte and UT-San Antonio could possibly join the Sun Belt as soon as the 2013-2014 season. However nothing has yet been decided.
Louisana Tech has made it known somewhat, that they would not mind joining the Sun Belt. But they may be holding out hope of joining the MWC/C-USA conglomeration.
Other schools that have been mentioned as possible expansion talks are Appalachian State, Texas State, UT-Arlington, Lamar, Georgia Southern and Georgia State.
Georgia Southern looks good as a potential candidate being located in the Atlanta-Savannah area and right in the thick of the Sun Belt’s eastern conference schools. It has a strong fan base and a successful athletics program. However feasibilty reports done by the school shows that they would be able to move up from FCS to FBS successfully on the athletic level. But, it showed that the financial risks would be high as alumni and boosters are not eager to back the idea as much as the student body is willing to.
However according to Russel Wright of Collegiate Consulting, Georgia State could be ready to move up to the FBS level. According to him they have the finances and a good location in Atlanta to make the move. He said that the martket drives it more than their on-field product. They have an enrollment similar to North Texas and Florida International and of the $22 Million the school receives in revenues each year, about $16 Million comes from the students.
Appalachian State has made the decision to look into moving up to FBS. They have positive results from their feasibilty report completed recently and have a nationally recognized brand after the upset of then #5 ranked Michigan as they won a 3rd consecutive national title in 2007. But they are also in the eyes of the MWC/CUSA group.
UNC-Charlotte has had a successful basketball program and have appeared in the final four. They have previously been in the Sun Belt Conference and Conference-USA. They will begin playing football in the 2013 season though. But they could also be courted by the Big East since they are in Charlotte.
South Alabama knows Lamar pretty well as they completed a home-and-home series against them last season. Lamar has been pretty aggressive about trying to move up to the FBS level. They have a nice campus and a newly renovated stadium for their return to football with a huge video screen. Their addition to the Sun Belt could help North Texas to not feel left out in the wilds of Texas alone.
Texas State, UT-San Antonio and Arlington could all decide to stay in the WAC. Which would give Lamar more of a consideration by the Sun Belt.
However, the fall of the WAC was under Commissioner Benson’s watch and his rather sudden move from there to the Sun Belt has raised a few questions. But many doubt that the same will happen to the Sun Belt once he gets going fully as commissioner. But the question remains, will he be able to keep the conference going in the right direction.
In the mean time, South Alabama’s Dr. Joel Erdmann said that the school is trying to work out a deal that will have a video screen to show replays at Ladd-Peebles Stadium this season. It was not mentioned if it was going to replace an old scoreboard or if they were going the same route that the GoDaddy.com Bowl (formerly the GMAC Bowl) has done and bring in a portable screen. I believe the portable screen is the most likely of the two.
Also he mentioned they are trying to get more speakers at the stadium. Those fans who sit on the West stands know quite well how loud those speakers. Since the East side does not have speakers, they are turned up very loud so the students and fans can hear the announcers as well.
Defense Stands Out In Second Scrimmage
Offensive Coordinator Robert Matthews calling plays during a spring scrimmage.
South Alabama hit the practice field for their second scrimmage of the spring on Thursday morning. Jake Johnson was able to participate after sitting out the first scrimmage with a fever and illness, but he was back to his usual form on Thursday.
The first score of the game came on the third series, the first by the second-team offense, starting at their own 2-yard line. Deonte McDuffy picked off a deflected pass and ran it back the 12 yards for the touchdown. Charles Watson picked off a pass in the second half. Then two plays later Maleki Harris picked off a pass and returned it 54 yards for the touchdown.
C.J. Bennett led the first scoring drive by the offense on the fifth possession of the scrimmage and the third overall for the first-team offense. Bennett would find freshman walk-on Terrance Timmons in the flat for a seven yard gain then Timmons would rush for another six yards for the first down. Demetre Baker then gained another first down after a pair of five yard rushes. On third-and-one, Timmons would come through with a nine yard run to move the chains again. Chapuseaux’s 45 yard field goal would cap off the 11-play 47 yard drive by the first team.
A couple drives later the first team offense returned to the field. Bennett would find Corey Besteda, for the longest play of the scrimmage, on a third-and-eight from their own 42 yard line for a 30 yard gain. Then two plays later he could complete a 20 yard pass to Corey Waldon to move the ball to the 2 yard line. On third down from the 3 yard line, Baker would punch the ball in for a touchdown.
Later in the scrimmage, Logan Rogers added a 3 yard touchdown pass later in the day. Also, Trey Fetner lead the second-team offense to two touchdowns on red zone drives at the end of the scrimmage. The first was to Waldon for 20 yards, then he ran a quarterback draw for 8 yards to score.
Deonte McDuffy and Maleki Harris returned interceptions for touchdowns. Charles Watson also picked off a pass on the day. Also defensively, they only allowed 142 yards on 69 carries for an average of just over 2 yards per attempt. Johnson lead the defense with seven tackles while Jesse Kelley added six and Terrell Brigham, Cordivido Grice and Davin Hawkings all added five each. Additionally Kelley racked up 3.5 tackles for loss. Jake Johnson and Ceasare Johnson both made two TFL’s while Pat Moore added 1.5 TFL’s.
On the offensive side of the ball, six Jaguar quarterbacks combined to go 18-of-27 for 180 yards while finishing with 322 yards in total offense in the scrimmage. First team quarterback C.J. Bennett lead the group by going 7-of-10 for 81 yards. Myles Gibbon went 3-of-3 for 56 yards and Logan Rogers went 4-of-4 for another 56 yards.
Corey Waldon lead the receivers with three catches for 44 yards. Akeem Appleton had one for 34 yards and Bryant Lavender also caught one for 14 yards.
Demetre Baker lead the rushing game with 32 yards followed by Terrance Timmons with 30 yards and J.J. Keels with 25 yards. Additionally Michel Chapuseaux made kicks from 45 and 37 yards in the first half of the scrimmage.
Coach Jones spoke after the scrimmage. “It was very similar to the last scrimmage,” he said. “When you look at the ones on offense and the ones on defense, they both look pretty good. They went back and forth a good bit. Offensively when you start getting down to the twos and threes, they didn’t move the ball very well. We just have to find more players. Once you get to the point where you’ve got two groups of guys who can move it you’re in good shape, but right now depth is an issue offensively, especially at the lineman position.”
“Discipline was one of the things we have focused on this spring,” Jones continued. “They ran a couple of sprints after practice for a turnover or two. We preach that if we stay away from mistakes, we have a chance to win ball games. But they have to learn to practice like that every day, and I think they are getting it a little bit. Concentration on that in the offseason will pay dividends this fall.”
Discipline was definitely visible on the practice field with only one flag on on the day – a false start late in the scrimmage.
“We’ve progressed,” Jones stated. “I’m proud of the players, they have really worked hard. The biggest thing is that they are watching film on their own, they are meeting on their own. That’s when you know you’ve got a team. We’re doing all those things right, so it is just a matter of sharpening things up on the field. We can always get better on the field, there is nobody who plays at a 100-percent level all the time. The challenge is to keep getting just a little bit better as we progress.”
As for Spring break, Coach Jones stated, “It’s a perfect time for a break. We’re a little banged up right now and they were a little tired this morning, but they came out ready to go. My challenge to them is to make sure that we don’t waste any time when we get back, we have to work those last three days and get something out of it.”
The Jags will return to the practice field on Tuesday, March 20 at 6:30 AM as the Jags will have a week off for spring break. When they return they will begin preparation for the Spring Game on Saturday, March 24.
Paul Bennett Participating In Troy University’s Pro Day
Paul Bennett dives into the end zone for a Jaguar Touchdown in 2010.
Former Jaguar Paul Bennett will be participating in Pro Day at Troy University on Friday March 9, 2012.
According to South Alabama’s records, Bennett only missed one game during his Jaguar career, in 2010. He ended his career with 18 catches for 226 yards and two touchdowns. However, his presence was felt by the opponents. His blocking was exceptional with several crushing blocks to seal off the perimeter for Jaguar running backs.
Bennett was chosen by his teammates to wear the honorary number 5 jersey in memory of Anthony Mostella who died after a motorcycle accident in June of 2010. The jersey is given to a graduating senior to works hard both on and off the field and, as Head Coach Joey Jones stated, “earns it.”
Jags Unveil Goal Line Offense In Tuesday Practice
Offensive lineman Drew Dearman signals pre-snap as the Jaguars work in Spring drills.
South Alabama hit the practice field at 6:30 AM on Tuesday morning for a workout in full pads. This was their last practice before their scrimmage set for Thursday at the Jaguar Practice Facility.
During part of the practice session, the players went through individual workouts and drills with position coaches. The linebackers worked with the defensive line against the offensive line and running backs. The linebackers worked on angle tackles and covering running backs out of the backfield. While they were working the receivers and defensive backs worked against each other on pass routes and skeleton passing drills.
During the team portion of the practice, the offense worked on first down plays, third-and-long situations and for the first time this spring, they used their goal line package.
Both the first and second team offenses ran four plays inside the red zone and four more on the goal line. This was during a 15-minute session during the team session of the practice.
Brendt Bedsole said mentioned two players who have caught his and Head Coach Joey Jones’ eye this spring as big surprises. The first he mentioned was Terrance Timmons, a walk-on from Davidson High School. Timmons was not highly recruited out of high school, possbily because of this size. He is only listed as being 5’7″ and weighing 175-lbs, but this works well at running back.
Bedsole said that Coach Riley from Davidson High School has lots of praise for Timmons’ work ethic and ability. He actually told the coaches that he would not be surprised if Timmons worked his way up to being a captain before he leaves the program. Bedsole mentioned that Timmons could see lots of playing time.
Another player mentioned was Chris May at left tackle, but was not able to go as much in depth about him as Timmons. May is listed as being 6’4″, 280-lb freshman.
Bedsole did mention that C.J. Bennett did well as did Trey Fetner at quarterback. He also mentioned that they have some big targets at tight end in JUCO transfer Wes Saxton and Greg Hollinger, who has moved from wide receiver to tight end this season. Saxton and Hollinger will create tough match-ups on linebackers this season.
“The kids came to work today,” said Coach Jones. “I thought we got better as a team. My challenge to them is, is everybody on the team getting better? You can certainly watch the film and find several guys that didn’t, but as a unit I thought we improved and that it was a good, spirited practice. We have to beat people on our schedule right now, we can’t wait until August to do it. We have to take advantage of every minute that we can to get better, and I think they did that today.”
“I don’t really care who won or lost, it’s just a matter of the physical part of it,” Coach Jones continued. “lining up two yards out from the goal line and seeing who is going to knock who back. That’s really what it boils down to on the goal line, it’s about attitude at that point when you get down there. We just ran some base plays offensively because we wanted to see who would step in there and get their nose bloody.”
As mentioned above, the Jaguars will have a scrimmage on Thursday morning before the players have a week off for spring break. The scrimmage will get underway around 6:45 AM and will run through around 8:30 AM. It will be around 120 to 140 play scrimmage and will not be controlled as much as a fall scrimmage. But it will have situational plays as well.
“It will be very similar to the first one really, except we’re going to infuse special teams into the scrimmage, instead of going for a while and then running a certain special team, if it’s fourth down we’re going to punt or kick a field goal,” Coach Jones said previewing the Thursday scrimmage. “As they score, we will kick off after that. We want to get them thinking it’s like a game. It’s not going to be exact game situations, but as we progress we’re trying to do that more.”
Karl Benson Interview Outlines Two SBC Divisions In Future
Karl Benson was interviewed during halftime of the South Alabama vs Troy first round match-up at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
He indicated that the Sun Belt may move up the date he begins to take over to March 15 rather than April 1.
When Benson was asked what prompted the move from the WAC to the Sun Belt, he said that it took strong decision making and analysis before making his final decision. But he though the Sun Belt was more stable than the WAC. Also, after 18 years as commissioner of the WAC and his age, he asked himself where he would want to end his career. The Sun Belt was the best opportunity.
Benson’s goal is to hit at least 12 teams for a conference championship, but also for greater scheduling alliances. He said the Sun Belt needs to get to two divisions so they can reduce some travel, not only in football, but also in the other sports. They want to maintain current membership and grow new members.
When asked about membership changes as a couple teams have been mentioned as possible invitees to the new conference being formed by the merger of Conference-USA and the Mountain West Conference. Benson said that they will have to accept membership changes if they come. The Sun Belt is very stable and they have several schools lined up on their list in case any team leaves.
When asked about possible BCS changes, since he was part of the BCS meetings, he said he thinks that the BCS will eventually go to a four team playoff. He does not know if it will be part of the bowls or seperate from it.
Finally he was asked if he anticipated a merger of the Sun Belt with any other conference, Benson said he does not anticipate that.
Recap Of South Alabama’s First Scrimmage
Head coach Joey Jones working with the field goal unit during South Alabama's Scrimmage on Saturday, March 3, 2012.
South Alabama held it’s first scrimmage on Saturday in front of some 200-plus visitors. The visitors were high school Juniors who are on the Jaguars recruiting radar for the upcoming class. This was their opporutinity to see campus, tour the facilities and also see the Jaguars in action.
In the scrimmage, Demetre Baker scores two of the four touchdowns on the day while leading the runningbacks with nine carries for 42 yards. On the first scoring drive, C.J. Bennett was 3-of-4, all three completions went to Bryant Lavender for gains of 14, 6 and 25 yards respectively. Lavender’s last reception of the drive moved the Jags inside the 10 yard line and setting Baker up for his touchdown. Terrance Timmons also had a 14-yard rush on the drive.
The second scoring drive saw Bennett connect with Anthony Ingram for an 11-yard catch to begin the drive. On third down and needing one yard to move the chains, Bennett would find Kennedy Helms for a 30-yard completion which would set Baker up for his second touchdown.
C.J. Bennett would end the day going 11-of-17 for 114 yards while adding two runs for nine yards. Trey Fetner would end the day 4-of-7 for 60 yards while working with both the first and second team guys. He would lead the second-team on a 11-play 55-yard drive. He completed two passes to Saxton to move within the ball inside the 30-yard line. Baker would run four consecutive times to get the ball down to the two yard line. A false start penalty would back them up, but Fetner would find Jereme Jones just inside the endzone on the right side for the touchdown. Fetner commented after the scrimmage saying, “Actually, that wasn’t part of my progression. I saw a hole real quick, and I tried to get it in there. It was a mistake, but a good one, so we’ll take it. I did a decent job today, but the line and receivers did a great job. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, though.”
Other scores on the day was a 45-yard field goal by Michel Chapuseaux and a one-yard touchdown run near the end of the scrimmage by Julien Valentin. His touchdown would cap off an 11-play 40-yard drive by the third team offensive unit.
The Jaguar defense gave up 306 yards on 109 plays, which was an average of less than three yards per play. Ben Giles ended the scrimmage with nine total tackles and a pass break-up which was nearly an interception. Charles Harris and Desomnd LaVelle both added six tackles of their own and Randon Carnathan had five tackles. Will Thompson posted five-and-a-half tackles for loss and three sacks while Pat Moore totalled four-and-a-half tackles for loss and four sacks. Ceasare Johnson added five tackles and one-and-a-half sacks. Eddy Cabrera had the only takeaway by recovering a fumble late in the scrimmage.
Bryant Lavender lead the wide receivers with five receptions for 57 yards. While Ingram catching two passes for 39 yards and Wes Saxton also catching two for 25 yards.
“I’m excited about the new offense,” said Demetre Baker after the scrimmage. “I think I’ve still got a lot of things to work on, definitely some reads now that we are not running a lot of power-I. I never will be pleased, though, because I think that every day I can come out here and get a little bit better, run a little harder, make better cuts and read my blocks better.”
Coach Jones commented after the scrimmage by saying, “I thought Demetre had a good day running the ball. He ran real powerful today, he didn’t have any extremely long runs, but he had a lot of five- and 10-yard runs, fighting for tough yards.”
“I believe we are much further along than I thought we would be at this point with the operation of the offense, because the kids have bought in and the staff has done a tremendous job coaching it,” continued Jones. “When they go out on the field they understand what it going on, but it is going so fast they make a mistake or two. But I’m real pleased, because it puts a lot of pressure on the defense when you snap the ball extremely fast.”
Speaking about the depth on both sides of the ball, coach Jones had this following quote. “With the ones on both sides of the ball it was a back-and-forth slugfest. What I see when I look at the offense and defense is a lot more depth on defense. When you put the twos out there there is not a lot of change, but when you put the twos out on offense there is. One of the things we have to work on is our depth offensively.”
Defensive Coordinator Bill Clark commented about the defense after the scrimmage was over. “We saw a lot of good things, and we saw some things we have to get better at,” he said. “sometimes that tempo really shows you some things. A lot of guys did a lot of good things, although you won’t know that exactly until you see the film, but we had some guys on the twos who really looked good. That depth chart may be changing next week.”
New offensive coordinator Robert Matthews commented on what he saw from the offense during the scrimmage. “I saw some good things, though I thought we made too many pre-snap penalty mistakes,” he said. “We had some false starts that are unacceptable. We are getting a lot of guys reps, we had seven quarterbacks take snaps today, which makes it hard sometimes with continuance but at the same time its good for our evaluations.”
The most resounding statement by Coach Jones was, “Today was a very big day regarding our depth chart where those guys could prove themselves. After this Thursday, the bulk of spring training will be over.”
South Alabama only has three more practices prior to spring break with the first being at 4pm on Sunday. The Jags are scheduled to work out in just shorts. Following that, they will return to the field on Tuesday in shells then in full pads on Thursday for their next scrimmage.
Post Scrimmage Videos
Head Coach Joey Jones talks about the scrimmage.
Defensive Coordinator Bill Clark post scrimmage remarks.
Offensive Coordinator Robert Matthews post scrimmage remarks.
AD Erdmann Interviewed On WNSP
University of South Alabama Athletic Director Dr. Joel Erdmann was on the Morning Sports Drive on WNSP with Lee Shirvanian and Mark Heim on Friday. Joel and Lee were both in Hot Springs, Arkansas for the Sun Belt Conference tournament that gets underway on Saturday.
Lee immediately spoke about the football schedule that was released the day before, on Thursday. Lee asked if Joel requested Troy as the Jaguars first Sun Belt game. Joel said that he did not and it’s not really up to the school to request such things. He did say that the schools do know who they will be playing and where they will be playing for the next four to six years. However the dates are not set and the schools can can “suggest” open dates to the conference, who actually sets the conference schedules.
Back to the schedule itself, Dr. Erdmann said that the schedule is very well paced with rotating home-away games. It’s good for the team and good for the fans. It has a greath rhythm to it.
Lee followed up asking if they were all going to be Saturday games, as they are currently scheduled, or if there were any possibilities of Jaguar games being picked up by the Sun Belt Network for television. Dr. Erdmann said that they are all scheduled for Saturday’s and that the times are still TBA. It is doubtful that the Jags will get a SBC televised game since South Alabama will not be eligible for the championship or post-season play.
Lee then transitioned over to the new Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson and said that he was scheduled to have a press conference tomorrow in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Since Benson’s announcement as the new Sun Belt commissioner, there have been wide discussion for the conference to move to 12 football schools. Dr. Erdmann said it would be good if the conference can find good matches in schools for the conference within the region and that they want it to be discussed.
Back to the Jags schedule, Joel said that three of the four home Sun Belt games will be against teams who played in a bowl game over the last two seasons.
Lee asked about scheduling Nebraska, asking if it was for money or if it was because of their name. Erdmann stated that it was more because of the game; it helps with recruiting. But it is also depends if the date works for both schools and other factors.
Rounding out the interview, Lee asked if South Alabama is looking to schedule more teams to home-and-away series or 2-for-1’s. Erdmann said that they are looking to schedule more series and try to get some big name schools to visit Mobile like they have scheduled with Oklahoma State, Mississippi State and N.C. State.
Jags Hit Halfway Point In Spring Practice
Wide receiver Bryant Lavender hauls in a pass that he will take in for a touchdown in the Jags "mini-Scrimmage" on Saturday, February 25, 2012.
On Thursday, South Alabama hit the practice field for their seventh practice of spring practice. The Jaguars used the first half of practice to work on individual skill drills. But the highlight of the practice was the continued offense-vs-defense workouts as the new offensive coordinator Robert Matthews continues to install his new offense.
During a period that lasted around 20-minutes, the offense faced third-and-medium distance situations against the defense. The first and second team offensive units each faced the defense in a red-zone situation. The second team would score a touchdown as Trey Fetner would find a crossing Greg Hollinger at the back of the end zone.
Later, C.J. Bennett would run the first-team offense on a two-minute drill. The situation was set as they were trailing by two points with just over a minute to go with only one time out remaining. Bennett found Jereme Jones for a completion followed by a long run by Demetre Baker. This set up Michel Chapuseaux to convert a long field goal attempt.
As the Jags are about halfway through spring practice, Coach Matthews would estimate that he is about halfway through installing the offense as well. “Right now I would say we are probably halfway done,” said Coach Matthews. “We are really focusing on the fundamentals, which was an emphasis that coach Jones wanted to address in the spring. What we’ve been working on is the tempo, the base protections and base runs, and trying to make sure that we get guys into the right spot. The nice thing about going early like we do is that we’ll have a lot of time after we finish from the end of March until August 1 for guys to work on their own, and really study and understand what we are trying to get out of them so that when fall camp gets here they’ll be a lot further ahead.”
When asked about how the change in offensive scheme is going, Coach Matthews answered, “I think the kids are fully in, they are really trying to do what we are asking them to do, and they have been displaying a great attitude. That’s a reflection of what has gone on here before. They have embraced the change, and are working to get better every day, so I am happy with the progress. We have a long way to go, we are not a finished product by any means and we make mistakes every day, but you just work to try and correct those and push forward.”
Coach Matthews said that the first half of the practice schedule was to focus on fundamentals, from this point forward to the annual Spring Game they will focus on game-like situations. “We did a little bit of it today,” Matthews said. “As you get further along teaching the base offense, it’s going through situational practices. Today we got some red zone situations in and got to work on the two-minute drill. Understandinging how to play the game is just as important as knowing what to do in certain plays. I think as we move further along we can get some more situational work in, short yardage and goal line, red zone, two-minute and four-minute situations. You feel like you’re getting batter at your fundamentals, now you want to make sure that you can handle these situations that come up in games. The teams that are prepared the best are the ones that usually end up executing, and we want to make sure that we are giving our kids a chance.”
When asked about if anyone is having an easier time than others at picking up the new offense, Coach Matthews answered ““I don’t know if anyone is having an easier time picking it up or not, but there are certainly guys who have started to stand out this spring. Bryant Lavender is having a really nice spring, I don’t know if coach has mentioned him or not, but from a wide receiver standpoint I think he has done a great job. He’s just a guy that has embraced a leadership role, he’s working hard and learning to play several different wide receiver positions. I hope the rest of the guys follow his lead.”
The Jags will return to the practice field for a scheduled scrimmage at 2:45pm on Saturday which is open to the public.