The media were allowed to watch the first 40 minutes or so of today's practice. Included was the full-pad Paw Drill, so that was cool to see (more on that in a moment).
-- Dabo Swinney was not present today, nor was his brother Tracy. As you all know, Dabo lost his father Saturday and is in Alabama.
-- Paw Drill featured quite a bit of feistiness from both sides. Couple of scuffles broke out, and it was intense. Overall, it was quite difficult for the running backs to find any holes. The defensive line and linebackers controlled things.
-- Well it didn't take long for Christian Wilkins to develop a swagger. Less than a week into August camp and he was clearly jacked up for this Paw Drill, pumping his fists and basically telling the guys across the line of scrimmage that he would not be blocked. And he wasn't. Matched up against Taylor Hearn, he demonstrated the rule that low man wins. He got penetration on three straight plays, and he was quite enthused after each time.
-- Well hello, Clelin Ferrell. The guy wearing No. 99 introduced himself in a most eye-opening fashion, matched up against Milan Richard. Richard is a strong dude, but he couldn't withstand Ferrell. It was impressive watching Ferrell disrupt. Was using his hands so well.
-- Austin Bryant also looked good to me during the Paw Drill. Big-time penetration.
-- Albert Huggins tweaked his knee Saturday during the Paw Drill and sat out the rest of practice. He was fine today, wearing white and going against William Cockerill. The walk-on was able to get enough push for C.J. Fuller to go right up the middle for a score. Noah Green also seemed to battle Huggins to at least a draw.
-- Speaking of Fuller, he's been kind of overshadowed by the other backs but if he stays disciplined and does the right things off the field he can very much be a factor in this running back rotation.
-- One of the scuffles was between Shaq Lawson and C.J. Davidson, who both played at Daniel High. They were jawing quite a bit after being separated. Mitch Hyatt mixed it up with Dane Rogers, and Sterling Johnson was getting after it with a linemen that I couldn't identify.
-- Alex Spencer and Greg Huegel were solid on their field goals. Christian Groomes missed one wide left from medium range.
-- Punting was a bit of an adventure as they tried the rugby-style thing today. This might have been just something to give a different look to the punt returners.
-- Speaking of those returners: It was Artavis Scott, Germone Hopper and Ray-Ray McCloud.
-- Stanton Seckinger was in yellow and seemed to be favoring his left knee (same one that required ACL surgery).
-- Ryan Norton and Marcus Edmond have been upgraded to green and are participating on a limited basis. Zac Brooks is back to full go.
Plenty more coming after practice, so stay tuned...
-- Dabo Swinney was not present today, nor was his brother Tracy. As you all know, Dabo lost his father Saturday and is in Alabama.
-- Paw Drill featured quite a bit of feistiness from both sides. Couple of scuffles broke out, and it was intense. Overall, it was quite difficult for the running backs to find any holes. The defensive line and linebackers controlled things.
-- Well it didn't take long for Christian Wilkins to develop a swagger. Less than a week into August camp and he was clearly jacked up for this Paw Drill, pumping his fists and basically telling the guys across the line of scrimmage that he would not be blocked. And he wasn't. Matched up against Taylor Hearn, he demonstrated the rule that low man wins. He got penetration on three straight plays, and he was quite enthused after each time.
-- Well hello, Clelin Ferrell. The guy wearing No. 99 introduced himself in a most eye-opening fashion, matched up against Milan Richard. Richard is a strong dude, but he couldn't withstand Ferrell. It was impressive watching Ferrell disrupt. Was using his hands so well.
-- Austin Bryant also looked good to me during the Paw Drill. Big-time penetration.
-- Albert Huggins tweaked his knee Saturday during the Paw Drill and sat out the rest of practice. He was fine today, wearing white and going against William Cockerill. The walk-on was able to get enough push for C.J. Fuller to go right up the middle for a score. Noah Green also seemed to battle Huggins to at least a draw.
-- Speaking of Fuller, he's been kind of overshadowed by the other backs but if he stays disciplined and does the right things off the field he can very much be a factor in this running back rotation.
-- One of the scuffles was between Shaq Lawson and C.J. Davidson, who both played at Daniel High. They were jawing quite a bit after being separated. Mitch Hyatt mixed it up with Dane Rogers, and Sterling Johnson was getting after it with a linemen that I couldn't identify.
-- Alex Spencer and Greg Huegel were solid on their field goals. Christian Groomes missed one wide left from medium range.
-- Punting was a bit of an adventure as they tried the rugby-style thing today. This might have been just something to give a different look to the punt returners.
-- Speaking of those returners: It was Artavis Scott, Germone Hopper and Ray-Ray McCloud.
-- Stanton Seckinger was in yellow and seemed to be favoring his left knee (same one that required ACL surgery).
-- Ryan Norton and Marcus Edmond have been upgraded to green and are participating on a limited basis. Zac Brooks is back to full go.
Plenty more coming after practice, so stay tuned...
