Football Practice Report - Tuesday, April 8

April 8, 2003

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – The Miami Hurricanes football team began its final week of spring practice Tuesday afternoon with a two-hour practice in shorts at the Greentree Practice Field on the University of Miami campus. The practice took place in hot, muggy conditions and focused on group drills centering on fundamentals. A 20-play team scrimmaging session ended the workout.

“We’re starting to come together as a team,” said head coach Larry Coker. “Sometimes, after a long scrimmage like we had on Saturday, Mondays can be sloppy but we were focused and ready to work today. I thought our effort was good. We have two practices left this spring and I’m expecting them to be good ones.”

Coker announced at the end of practice that freshman defensive end John Wood has been suspended from the team for the duration of spring practice due to a violation of team rules.

In injury news, tailback Frank Gore returned to full action after missing Saturday’s CanesFest scrimmage with a sore shoulder. Defensive back Brandon Meriweather (ankle sprain) will be out the remainder of the spring while receiver Akieem Jolla (strained quad) continued his return from injury.

Tuesday’s practice was the 13th of 15 sessions that will conclude this Friday. The Hurricanes will continue practice on Wednesday before taking Thursday off before the spring’s final practice on Friday afternoon. All practices are closed to the public.

The Hurricanes start the 2003 season on Saturday, August 30 against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Shreveport, La. Miami’s home schedule begins Saturday, September 6, against the Florida Gators at the Orange Bowl. For information on Miami football tickets, call 1-800-GO-CANES.