MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama opened preseason football camp Thursday night with a session of nearly three hours at the Jaguar Practice Facility behind the Football Fieldhouse, beginning preparations for the Aug. 30 season opener against UTSA.
Players practiced in shorts and helmets. The workout included individual position drills, one-on-one drills, several 7-on-7 skeleton passing periods, group position work and about 10 minutes of 11-on-11 offense-versus-defense work covering roughly 30 plays.
Practice Breakdown
After warm-ups, the Jaguars spent about 30 minutes on individual skill drills before the first skeleton passing period, which lasted about 15 minutes. The first- and second-team units combined for about 24 snaps, and the third team ran 15 or more plays.
The team returned to skeleton passing more than an hour later. The first and second teams ran about 16 plays each, and the third team added at least 10 snaps.
Jones Wants Continued Improvement
Head coach Joey Jones said he was pleased with the session but told players they have a long way to go.
“It was a long practice and it was hot out here,” Jones said. “They came out with great effort and intensity, but we did have a few guys cramp up. They were mentally sharp, but what I challenged them with is to work on everything individually to make our team better. If they can do that and we are better on August 30 than we are now, then we will be achieving our goals. We can’t rest, we need to keep pushing.”
Jones said a similar distribution of repetitions will continue next week leading up to the first of three preseason scrimmages. After that scrimmage, the staff will begin focusing on potential starters and building a depth chart.
“For a week and a half, I would say that we will give equal reps at least through the threes,” he said. “After that, we’ll have to start to make some decisions.”
Quarterbacks Draw Praise
Jones credited the quarterbacks and receivers for their work in voluntary summer workouts.
“I thought our quarterbacks distributed the ball very well,” he said. “You could tell that they have been working through the summer. They knew where to go with the football, and they placed the ball in some good spots. I was pleased with that.”
Wide receiver J.J. Keels and linebacker Logan Bennett were not on the camp roster. No reason was given for their absence.
Up Next
The Jaguars return to the practice facility Friday at 6:30 p.m., again in shorts and helmets. The 2012 season is South Alabama’s final year of transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision and its first as a member of the Sun Belt Conference for football.
