Will Muschamp met with the press for the first time since last Wednesday to update the media on how spring practice has been going.
During the press conference Muschamp talks about a number of topics including how the injury bug has hit the team and who has turned some heads so far this spring.
Let’s take a look now and what Muschamp had to say in this spring practice notebook.
Injuries
- Early enrollee freshman linebacker Alex Anzalone had shoulder surgery to fix his right labrum in his right shoulder. Anzalone hurt his shoulder during a tackling drill and was just hit the wrong way.
- Redshirt junior cornerback Cody Riggs is day to day dealing with a hamstring injury. Muschamp described the injury as just a tweak.
- Sophomore defensive end Jonathan Bullard is out a week due to a hamstring injury. Bullard should be ready to return to practice on Monday if everything goes as expected.
- Not all of the injury news is bad, as redshirt senior offensive lineman Jon Halapio was able to get in some work yesterday during individual drills as he recovers from a knee injury. Halapio has still not taken part in a full practice this spring and Muschamp said he isn’t ready for full eleven on eleven work at this point in time.
Offensive lineman
- Redshirt freshman Quinteze Williams, who just moved from the defensive line to the offensive line, received a lot of reps yesterday at tackle.
- Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Trip Thurman is considered the third center behind Jonotthan Harrison and Kyle Koehne.
- Muschamp praised sophomore DJ Humphries’ intelligence and also said that the added weight he has gained has helped Humphries become more of a physical player.
Receivers
- Junior defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy will have a role on offense in some way. The last couple practices the coaches have been teaching him the offensive schemes. He will not be a full time receiver though, he will remain a full time cornerback however.
- Muschamp said that Andre Debose’s biggest problem is being consistent in practice but he has had a good spring.
- Quinton Dunbar was a player that Muschamp singled out and praised for the way he has been practicing so far this spring.
Quarterback
- Jeff Driskel is getting better in the mental part of playing quarterback according to Muschamp.
- Muschamp said that Driskel has a better understanding of the protection and also what routes his receivers are running.
Extra Notes
- Antonio Morrison, Darius Cummings and Gideon Ajagbe were all praised by Muschamp for their play so far this spring.
- Both Austin Hardin and Brad Phillips need to get better in the kicking game.
- Muschamp liked the rule last year about hits above the head on defenseless receivers but thinks that it’s going to be tougher this year.
Stay tuned for more from today’s press conference as Nick and Alex will have much more content and the media will also get to talk to some players later this afternoon.