Spring Practice Report: Day 2
March 4, 2012
PHOTO OF THE DAY
The Hurricanes took to the field again today for the second spring practice on the Greentree Practice Fields. The weather was not as nice as the first day of practices, with spotty rain throughout the day and strong winds to make throwing the ball more difficult. Players broke up into positional groups for drills, and then competed in 7-on-7 and full team action.
Today was also “Fan Appreciation Day” at Greentree where more than 1,200 fans were on hand to watch practice. Thank you to those who came out and braved the elements.
The Weather Report: 83 degrees, mostly cloudy with 59% humidity and winds out of the SW at 20 mph gusting to 27 mph. In the middle of practice, a vast temperature change and downpour that lasted approximately 15 minutes.
The first set of position drills included defensive line drills to attack when opposing guards pull, linebackers tipping passes in zone coverage, tight ends running routes and catching passes from freshman quarterback Preston Dewey, blitz pickups by running backs and offensive linemen.
In 7-on-7 action, quarterback Ryan Williams was on point as he hit Dallas Crawford with a perfect pass over the linebacker on one of the first plays of the day. Running back Eduardo Clements caught several passes out of the backfield from quarterbacks Gray Grow and Preston Dewey and took them for good yardage. First-team defenders Eddie Johnson and Ray-Ray Armstrong positioned themselves well for big hits although these are non-contact drills. Armstrong had a nice pass breakup that had the first-team defense pumped up. Shortly after that, the second team defense answered right back with an interception by safety A.J. Highsmith on Crow.
In the second set of drills, coach Kehoe emphasized that his linemen keep their hands high, quarterbacks worked on pocket movement and footwork with Coach Fisch. Meanwhile, injured quarterback Stephen Morris was throwing short passes to wide receivers in a separate drill.
Highlight Reel:
Jimmy Gaines made a nice one-handed interception in red zone team defense.
Quotes of the Day:
Coach Carroll to his tight ends on throwing the ball back against the wind after completing a drill, “Don’t throw it. Run it back, we have plenty of balls”.
Coach Fisch to wide receivers, “You’ve got to get up field quick. I fell asleep watching you go!”
Jersey Colors Explained:
Offense: Orange, first team; White, second team
Defense: Black, first team; Green, second team
Yellow: Limited
Red: No Contact (Quarterbacks and medical)
Golden Nugget:
Coach Golden in the red zone defense drills – “Don’t Panic”
Cane Spotting:
Cane Jason Fox of the Detroit Lions was in attendance today, as were several signees from the 2012 recruiting class.
Play of the Day: Coach D’Onofrio ran to the crowd and chest-bumped a fan that braved the downpour.
HurricaneSports.com’s Amy Audibert (@amyaudibert) caught up with NFLer Jason Fox…
