Wednesdays practice notes

[spinseeker]

Stopped by for some of the practice today hoping to see Gaines. No luck. Tunei looked good though, great hands and good ability to break away from the defenders. Maehl is limping around, still ran great routes and had little trouble getting open AND making the catches. He looked good, but he went down on a play because of his knee. Came back for some 7 on 7, though. Overall the receivers looked good. I don't know how practice looked last year, but it seems like the dropsies won't be an issue this year.

Bo Lokombo is a beast. Didn't see him play, but he was standing in front of me and he does not look like a freshman.

Masoli is making great passes with good timing. Costa looks pretty good. made some scrambles. Seems a little tentative running, but more comfortable when he gets going. I thought Masoli threw a little better ball. Thomas is still a little erratic.

Thurmond looked good, especially in red zone coverage. He traps the receivers well off the line.

Thought it was interesting each qb ran some 11 on 11 from under center. Each were pretty successful too. Maybe they will fall back on that if we start having snap problems.

[GoDucksIn09]

I went to todays pracitce. It was the first time I have ever gone to a practice. I spent part of the day wondering who some were as was a lot of players wearing black jerseys with no numbers. Jeff Maehl looked pretty good for the most part made a lot of catches and looked pretty solid although noticed him limping some. I did not see Jamere Holland play that much so am curious where he was or maybe I just missed him. Diante Jackson who is day to day left practice field early as it appeared could not play today.

Both Masoli and Costas looked good playing quarterback although think Masoli has an edge and seems to be playing better. Saw Dion Jordan.. guy very tall if he gets to where catches ball consistently would be a HUGE threat over the middle considering he is 6'7.

Hit of the day had to go to Tj Ward.. who flat leveled a receiver.. could really hear the pads pop on the hit. I forget who receiver was but they hopped right up so was not hurt.

I hope Jamere is ok and I just missed him playing. Not sure what is bothering Jackson.

[goyellowgreen]

Jamere...quad, Diante...knee

we saw Diante ever so slightly limping to the field, asked how he was doing, there was that big 'ol smile and "i'm doin alright, i'm gettin there!" i like him.

[VinnyKnuckles]

Thanks for the updates. Hopefully we have some receivers that can actually run at full speed the entire game by the time the season rolls around.

[freedjr]

How is the offensive line looking? Are they going full speed against the D-line, and if so, are they holding their own OK?

[GoDucksIn09]

For me.. it was really hard to tell as it is just practice. Maybe because of my ineperience in watching a practice. I felt the Ofeensive line was sporadic. Times it did well other times the D line dominated them. There was bad snaps.. something we desperately need to avoid given the inexperience of our O line. To me it is matter of how you look at it. If you say the O line did not play well.. does that mean the D line needs to improve.. If you say the D line played well does that mean the O line needs to improve. From my perspective and limited experience I think the O line needs to improve and take care of the bad snaps. I was with my dad who played football many many years ago and played on the O line as well as D line. His perspective was the same in a practice it is really hard to tell because the QB's and RB's mostly as soon as they touched are ruled down. I wish could be of more help. I think the O line is a legitmate concern though.

[MacDuck]

Always keep in mind that the D typically has the adv in practice situations because they are far more familiar with our offense than any opponent would be. It would be a big concern for me if I was reading that our O was routinely dominating our D.

As for the offensive line, look for them to bounce back today as Greatwood challenged them after yesterday's 2nd practice as he was none too pleased. With 3 new starters, Thran still not 100%, and their overall chemistry still wks away from gelling, it's best to figure they're going to be inconsistent for a while. Just as important as how the lst 5 perform is finding the next 3 or so guys that can be counted on to provide depth. Those 3 are far from being identified, but many feel that Weems & Cody are likely to be in that group.

As for WRs, this is starting to become an issue with so many guys missing time. Jackson being a true FR doesn't concern me as much, but was counting on Gaines to be a big factor in pushing for a starting spot. He really needs to get on the field by no later than Monday to give him 2 plus wks to get into the flow of things. My guess would be if we were playing a game tomorrow that Maehl, Holland & Cavaille would be starters, with Tuinei & Davis being the first guys off the bench. Sure would be nice to add a healthy Gaines & Jackson to that mix.

[dd10snoop28]

Thanks a lot guys.


Much better analysis then you could find anywhere else.

[ducksrock]

Excellent ground roots coverage....Lookin at the practice in a manner that most of us view the actual games...
Wish I could get down there to watch a practice or better yet a couple of practices, but work just seems to get in the way....GOOOOO DUCKS....