Date: 4/11
Time: 3:30-5:15 p.m. (CDT)
Place: James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility
Practice attire: Shells (helmets and shoulder pads)
Offensive Player of the Day: Cade Sutherland, R-Fr., WR, College Park, Ga.
-Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield on Sutherland: "Today was a good day, we put in some two-minute stuff and worked on some install; we worked on a couple of different things we hadn't done. One thing I saw today, a guy who kind of goes unnoticed most of the time but always busts his tail is Cade. He had a great day today, and has done that the whole spring."
Defensive Player of the Day: Devin Rockette, So., CB, Oxford, Miss.
-Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart on Rockette: "Devin left and went up to Northwest Mississippi C.C., he has come back a different guy with a mission. I think he is going to be a big-time factor for our team defensively in the fall."
Play of the Day: Jalen Thompson ended the first two-minute drill run by the Jaguar offense with a diving interception on third down. Other candidates for the honor came during 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills including a one-handed grab on the sideline by Jalen Tolbert and a diving pick by Marquese Manual at the goal line.
Team period highlights: The first team period featured the first and second offensive units running three two-minute drills, while practice ended with a 10-minute period during which the offense faced first- and second-down situations.
Miscellaneous Notes
-The Jaguars worked on individual skill drills for 20 minutes during the opening half hour of the practice.
-There were three separate special teams periods, with the first two lasting five minutes each concentrating on extra points and field goals as well as covering punts; the final one worked on kickoff returns for 10 minutes.
-Jag quarterbacks completed seven of their first eight attempts during skeleton passing drills, closing the segment of practice with a pair of Cephus Johnson touchdown throws to Khameron Taylor and Kawaan Baker.
-Manuel intercepted two passes during the period, while DJ Daniels followed the first pick by the redshirt freshman with one of his own.
-Taylor also caught a pass — this one from Tylan Morton — in the final team period of the day.
-A.J. DeShazor and Roy Yancey were credited with stops behind the line of scrimmage in the last team period, with Jalon Sheffield posting a sack and tackle for loss on back-to-back snaps on two of the final three plays of the afternoon.
Head coach Steve Campbell
-On practice Thursday: "It was a good day today, it's been a pretty physical spring where we've been able to get a lot of work done. Today we worked on some situations, we hit the two-minute drill; we hadn't done yet, we were better at it the second go round. I thought Desmond [Trotter] did a great job in the two-minute drill and Cephus got better on his second drive. That's something we will hit again tomorrow and hopefully the opportunity will arise on Saturday, you can practice it against air all you want but until you get out and simulate it in a real game situation it's hard. We're still trying to throw some new stuff at them."
-On what he wants to see in the spring game: "I'd like to see clean execution, I want to see us protect the football — I don't want to see turnovers — and defensively don't give up explosive plays."
Junior S DJ Daniels
-On the improvement shown by the program in the spring: "I can truly say both sides of the ball are clicking, we are definitely not a 3-9 team the way we were last year. As long as we keep progressing, we can only go up from here."
-On what he would like to see at Saturday's spring game: "On Saturday I don't want to see any mental busts, I'd like to see the offense get the ball out fast and completing passes. On defense we need to tackle well and get into our correct drops."
Redshirt Freshman QB Cephus Johnson
-On the progress made by Jaguar QBs this spring: "I think all of our quarterbacks have gotten better as the spring has gone on, everybody is much more comfortable with everything in this offense."
-On the Red-Blue Game Saturday: "It's a big day, it's game day Saturday. Everybody wants to go out, play their 'A' game and do the best they can. I want to go through my progressions better, improve my footwork and complete the deep ball."
-On if the team has improved during the spring season: "From the beginning of this year to this point now, this is a totally different team. It's a much better team."
Up next: The Jags will do a walk through in helmets Friday at 3:30 p.m. (CDT) in preparation for the annual iHeartRadio Red-Blue Game the following day.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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