Date: 8/1
Time: 9-11 a.m. (CDT)
Place: James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility
Practice attire: Shells (helmets and shoulder pads)
Offensive Player of the Day: Jamarius Way, Jr., WR, Belle Glade, Fla.
-Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent on Way: "This was day three of [Jamarius] ever really playing in our offense. He comes out with an attitude every day, but today he came out with the mind-set to dominate and that's what we saw every play. He never takes a play off and plays the position with an attitude. He came today and made a ton of plays."
Defensive Player of the Day: Neiko Robinson, Sr., S, Century, Fla.
-Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack on Robinson: "Neiko was our player of the day today. He and Jeremy Reaves both have a lot of experience and they continue to show up early on in camp. They've prepared their bodies the right way and that's paying off big time for them. They just have a great knowledge and understanding for what an offense is giving them and how to execute our defense at a high level right now."
Play of the Day: Way's 80-yard catch for a touchdown on a pass from Cole Garvin late in the second of three team periods; Garvin also hit Maaseiah Francis over the shoulder to complete a 20-yard scoring pass during 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills.
Team period highlights: In the opening 15 minutes of practice the Jaguars had a 10-minute situation period in the red zone, and they closed the day with another 10-minute situation period running third down plays; in between there was a 15-minute period focusing on run and play-action pass calls.
Miscellaneous Notes
-At a team meeting Monday night it was announced by head coach Joey Jones that junior safety Malcolm Buggs will wear the No. 5 jersey in the fall. It is worn in memory of Anthony Mostella, a running back who was No. 5 during the Jaguars' 2009 season but passed away following a motorcycle accident on June 13, 2010.
-South had an early special teams period covering kickoff returns and another late going over punt returns, with both lasting just over five minutes.
-Garvin connected with Way again two plays later in the same team period for another long gain, finishing 4-of-5 passing during that segment of practice.
-The Jag defense recorded four sacks in that period — two of those came from Jeremiah Littles — with Darrell Songy adding a tackle for loss and Jeremy Reaves contributing a pass defensed.
-USA's offense converted on each of its first six third-down plays in the final team period of the morning, with Garvin completing all four pass attempts during that stretch while adding a fifth on his last snap of the day.
-The Jaguars' defensive unit responded by stopping its counterparts short of the line to gain on each of the last five plays of the period.
-During the 10-minute skeleton passing drills period Garvin found Way, Tra Minter and Francis for touchdown passes while completing 4-of-6 attempts. In that segment of practice, Dallas Davis added a touchdown pass to Andrew Reinkemeyer while Nigel Lawrence led the defense with a pair of passes broken up.
Head coach Joey Jones
-On Malcolm Buggs receiving the No. 5 jersey: "This award isn't about the kind of player you are — although Malcolm is a really good football player — but about the character and attitude and all the things that Mo [Anthony Mostella] portrayed in those days. It [winning the award as a junior] shows that he is a very good character guy, and that it really doesn't matter if you're a sophomore, junior or senior; it's just about the guy who portrays that kind of attitude. You can tell with the other players it's a big honor to be able to get that, I congratulate Malcolm."
-On Dallas Davis: "I think Dallas is looking really good, he's probably about 90 percent if you had to throw a number out there. He's throwing the ball well and is so smart throwing it, he knows where to go with the ball. We need to get him in there slowly but surely, but after another week we need to have him 100 percent. I want everybody to be a starter, I'm not pulling for any one person but for guys who want to fight and win the job. It could be Dallas, it could be Cole, it could be Evan; I don't know, but I'm pulling for the best guy to go out there and lead us."
-On Bobby Flott: "He told me he feels 100 percent and that he is ready to go. They are being cautious because he is really ahead of schedule — they don't want to get him out there too fast — but he is ready to go and we need him out there at corner, he's a great one. He's come back way faster than anyone we've ever had with an ACL injury, congratulations to the doctors and all the people working with him through the rehab process."
-On the opening team period of the morning: "The red zone went really well. I thought the offense had some good throws as the defense hadn't seen some of the stuff the offense has put in, it fooled them a little bit early. But they started to adapt and adjust — I really liked that they adjusted on the run — so it was a good period. It was the first time we've done that [this fall]."
Malcolm Buggs
-On if being chosen to wear No. 5 was a surprise: "Honestly, yesterday was very emotional for me when I received the jersey. I thought about everything I have been through since I have been here, it was so shocking but a big honor. I've been around some great people — Jeremé Jones, Terrance Timmons and Roman Buchanan — who are high-character guys who brought their lunch pail to work every day, they never complained about their situations. They came out here and had fun being with this program and their teammates."
-On what he knows about Anthony Mostella: "I got a brief overview before practice, I talked to Coach [Ellis] Hill, he is one of our strength and conditioning coaches now who used to play with Anthony Mostella. He just told me how high character he [Anthony] was, and how he was just so helpful. Those are the characteristics that I try to display throughout my daily life."
Dallas Davis
-On if he expected to be back this soon after surgery: "I didn't, it was supposed to be a nine-to-ten month recovery and I ended up making it in about six-and-a-half months. I'm thankful for my trainers and my physical therapy people, they were on me hard while I did therapy every day."
-On his expectations for the upcoming season: "First of all, to stay healthy throughout the season if I can. And hopefully to lead the guys to a conference championship."
-On how the team has helped him in coming back: "They are being positive, it's good to have your teammates do that for you. You have to feed the positivity back."
Up next: USA next workout is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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—USA—
