Obviously, the focus yesterday was on the tour of the Fitz Carlton. But we also got to interview a select number of players yesterday (veterans) as well as Fitz. I worked on the photo gallery yesterday so I haven't dived into my audio yet. There wasn't much "real" news -- there rarely is on Media Day -- but here are a few things I found out:
- Jared Thomas is running with the 1s at center and he looks like the most likely starter at this point.
- It sounds like Earnest Brown has been making big strides. Joe Gaziano says that Earnest is "breathing down my neck." Expect to see a lot of him on passing downs and in the normal rotation at DE. Gaz also mentioned that Alex Miller had a phenomenal offseason at DT.
- This is looking like the last year for Camp Kenosha, which opens on Monday and runs next week. The new facility will likely render it unnecessary in the future.
- As expected, Fitz didn't say anything substantive about the QB situation. Thorson has looked very good and is aiming to start vs. Purdue on Aug. 30. He's optimistic that he'll be out there. The other three guys have been rotating on a regular basis and Fitz says he'd be comfortable starting any of them in the opener. He's just getting to know Whittaker and Johnson.
- Fitz has been making changes to the practice plan to get off to a faster start this year. He's done a lot of research with the medical team and strength staff and pulled a lot of analytical numbers. He feels he pushed the team too hard, too early in past camps. Players also talked a lot about the mental side of starting fast. I'm going to write a story about this.
- Bennet Skowronek has lost six pounds of body fat and is looking slimmer. You'll remember that he cut his long hair last year. This year, he's buzzed it down to about a quarter-inch. It's about Fitz length. He joked that it has made him faster.
- Fitz likes the talent at safety replacing Igwebuike and Queiro, they just don't have a lot of experience. He talked about the learning curve in spring ball with a new DB coach in MacPherson. But in terms of replacing those two guys, they're just sticking to their plan, rolling the ball out and letting competition decide who plays. (I expect McGee and Pace to be the starters.)
- Jared Thomas is running with the 1s at center and he looks like the most likely starter at this point.
- It sounds like Earnest Brown has been making big strides. Joe Gaziano says that Earnest is "breathing down my neck." Expect to see a lot of him on passing downs and in the normal rotation at DE. Gaz also mentioned that Alex Miller had a phenomenal offseason at DT.
- This is looking like the last year for Camp Kenosha, which opens on Monday and runs next week. The new facility will likely render it unnecessary in the future.
- As expected, Fitz didn't say anything substantive about the QB situation. Thorson has looked very good and is aiming to start vs. Purdue on Aug. 30. He's optimistic that he'll be out there. The other three guys have been rotating on a regular basis and Fitz says he'd be comfortable starting any of them in the opener. He's just getting to know Whittaker and Johnson.
- Fitz has been making changes to the practice plan to get off to a faster start this year. He's done a lot of research with the medical team and strength staff and pulled a lot of analytical numbers. He feels he pushed the team too hard, too early in past camps. Players also talked a lot about the mental side of starting fast. I'm going to write a story about this.
- Bennet Skowronek has lost six pounds of body fat and is looking slimmer. You'll remember that he cut his long hair last year. This year, he's buzzed it down to about a quarter-inch. It's about Fitz length. He joked that it has made him faster.
- Fitz likes the talent at safety replacing Igwebuike and Queiro, they just don't have a lot of experience. He talked about the learning curve in spring ball with a new DB coach in MacPherson. But in terms of replacing those two guys, they're just sticking to their plan, rolling the ball out and letting competition decide who plays. (I expect McGee and Pace to be the starters.)
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