MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama football practiced in shells for the first time this preseason Friday morning, and the added equipment brought a noticeable rise in intensity, though coaches kept players short of full contact.
Practice Structure
The Jaguars opened, as usual, with special teams work on the kicking game before moving into individual and group drills. The staff ran double-team work for offensive linemen, while tight ends and receivers ran routes for the quarterbacks.
The offense then worked against the defense on the inside and outside running game as well as play-action passing. Following a break from the heat, the two units spent about 30 minutes on packages and situational scenarios. Later in the team period, the offense concentrated on blitz pickup.
Practice closed with quarterbacks working on ball security and special teams covering punts. Special teams play is an area where many young players will try to earn spots on the road travel roster before working into the regular rotation.
Jones Likes the Attitude
Head coach Joey Jones said the jump in intensity is typical of the first day in pads.
“When you put the pads on for the first day, it’s always that way,” Jones said. “We have a bunch of competitive young men. They love the game and love to be physical. My job a lot of the time is pulling them back, which is good. You don’t want to have to push them forward; you want to pull them back. That’s the kind of kids we have. If we can learn to practice every day and practice with that great effort, we can be a really good football team. I like our attitude.”
Jones said he has seen progress on both sides of the ball.
“I’ve noticed that defensively we’re getting off of blocks and running to the football very well. Offensively, we’re picking up blitzes better,” he said. “The last couple of years, it seemed like every time we ran blitz period we were just getting killed on offense. Our offensive line is doing a much better job of picking that up so far. But we’re improved on both sides of the ball right now.”
Newcomers Stand Out
Jones singled out two newcomers after practice, B.J. Scott and Georgia transfer Demetre Baker. Baker is moving back to running back after converting to linebacker at Georgia.
“B.J. looked really good out there. He has a knack for getting to the football. He has a great feel for the game,” Jones said. “And I thought Demetre Baker looked good running the ball today. He looked a little better to me today than he did in the spring. He’s a powerful back and his vision is getting better.”
Up Next
Preseason camp continues Saturday with another 6:15 a.m. practice.
