Date: 4/2
Time: 3:30-5:30 p.m. (CDT)
Place: James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility
Practice attire: Full pads
Offensive Player of the Day: Tra Minter, Jr., RB, Ellaville, Ga.
-Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield on Minter: "We did some more install today and I thought the guys picked up well on it. One of the guys who has really showed up the last couple of days — especially today — was Tra. He did a good job in our empty sets, and if we continue to work with him he's going to get better and better."
Defensive Player of the Day: Nick Mobley, R-Fr., LB, Alabaster, Ala.
-Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart on Mobley: "Nick is a young guy who got snaps last year. I think he is doing a nice job of taking on a role not necessarily of a leader, but one in which people can look at him and know he is going to play hard and try to do the right thing on every snap. He's done some good things this spring and made some plays."
Play of the Day: On the opening play of the team's third-down period, Cephus Johnson was able to connect with Kawaan Baker for a long gain that not only resulted in a conversion but put the offense near the red zone.
Team period highlights: There were two 10-minute periods that saw the Jaguar offense work on first- and second-down calls, while the practice ended with a 10-minute segment focusing on third downs prior to a five-minute period during which the offense ran plays at a faster tempo.
Miscellaneous Notes
-Two-thirds of the opening 30 minutes of practice covered individual drills.
-There was a 10-minute period concentrating on extra points and field goals just prior to the midway point of the session.
-In advance of the first two team periods of the practice both the offense and defense split up for a pair of 10-minute installation periods.
-During 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills, Tylan Morton completed all four of his attempts while Cephus Johnson threw a pair of touchdowns to Davyn Flenord and Malik Stanley.
-Jalen Thompson intercepted a pass on the second play of the period for South's defense, with Marquese Manuel later adding a pass defensed for the unit.
-Mobley broke up a pass and A.J. DeShazor was credited with a tackle for loss in the first team period, which saw the offense pass just three times 16 snaps although the last was a 25-yard touchdown throw from Tanner McGee to Jalen Wayne.
-Carlos Davis had a pair of long runs in the next team period — using a spin move to break free on the first, and a stutter step to wait for the hole to open on the next — while Mobley added a sack and pressured the quarterback on another play to lead the defense.
-The Jag offense converted six of its first 10 tries on third down before the defense closed the period with six straight stops including sacks from Taji Stewart and Markel Johnson.
Head coach Steve Campbell
-On Tuesday's practice: "I thought we got a lot of good work in early but were a little tired toward the end. Our defensive guys rushed the quarterback well and did a good job of putting on some pressure."
-On what he saw from the first scrimmage after watching film: "I thought there was a lot of improvement. Tony Brown had some good runs, I was pleased to see that. Our safeties tackled well, and defensively our discipline was better; we didn't have an offside penalty from an older guy, that was a positive. We made a lot of improvement protecting the football. I was pleased with how we were able to move the ball coming off the goal line, we showed a little bit of physicality there."
-On the improvement he has seen thus far this spring: "We've got young quarterbacks and a young backfield — minus Tra Minter — and a lot of new faces in the receiving corps. The more we can play the better we're getting. I think we're getting better by chunks right now, that's good; every practice we're getting better at something, I'm fired up about that. We're making strides, I've been pleased with the progress that we've been able to make."
Up next: South's next practice session will begin on campus Thursday at 3:30 p.m. (CDT).
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