Fall Camp Practice Notes IV: First Two-A-Day Practice And Saturday Scrimmage

The Ags practiced for 2 hours 25 minutes in the morning outside, and then inside for 1 hour 35 minutes. With practice being broken up into 5 minute sessions, the team went 29 sessions in the morning and 19 sessions in the afternoon.

There were some minor bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries, which is always a plus:

Sitting out the afternoon session were junior running back Cyrus Gray (tweaked hamstring), sophomore cornerback Dustin Harris, junior strong safety Trent Hunter (sprained foot), freshman receiver/safety Malcome Kennedy and sophomore wide receiver Kenric McNeal (hip). They joined sophomore wide receiver Ryan Swope (quad) and sophomore free safety Steven Campbell (ankle) on the sidelines. Campbell ran Saturday and is expected back Monday. Swope, Harris and Kennedy should be back Tuesday or Wednesday.

Of bigger concern to me are our continued struggles on special teams.Our punt protection units seem to be having some real issues, and our punters don't seem to trust their protection.

Sophomore Ryan Epperson, junior transfer Jared Jaroszewski and junior Ken Wood struggled punting in the morning session going against a live rush for the first time. There were only a few well-struck balls.

"They've been punting it very good on their own, [but] without pressure," Sherman said. "But we put pressure on them today and they didn't handle it. They certainly all have the capability of being very good punters and kickers, but they have to be able to handle the mental aspect of it. People are going to rush you, and you have to trust your protection."

Special teams breakdowns cost us the Independence Bowl, and we really need to solidify this portion of the team.With our defense learning a new scheme, we can't afford to have two-thirds of our team struggling to show consistency when we begin the season.

The football team had a scrimmage this morning at 10:30 AM, and Sherman liked what he saw from the defense. 

"Overall, I thought it was a good job today and we made progress," Texas A&M head football coach Mike Sherman said. "After the first series, I thought the defense stepped up its play. They did a good job of getting the offense in third and long situations and then getting off of the field. This tape will give us plenty to work on and I expect the players to correct the mistakes made today."

Several defensive players made their presence known especially with pressure off of the edge from linebackers Von Miller and Jonathan Stewart.

Let concerned speculation about our offensive tackle performance commence now. I think this just means we're fairly well set at the WOLB (Joker) position, but those looking for a reason to worry will focus on the offensive tackle position.

The Ags will have two practices again tomorrow, one at 8:25 AM, one at 4 PM. How the team responds to the fatigue they'll be experiencing after yesterday and today as they go two practice again tomorrow will help determine what kind of a team we will be. Our players need to show mental toughness and focus and continue to give terrific effort as they fight through the fatigue.