Spring practice day 10: Tight ends stand out

Fullback Cameron Griffin runs the ball during practice. Photo by Brad Graverson // Daily Breeze

Fullback Cameron Griffin runs the ball during practice. Photo by Brad Graverson // Daily Breeze

Here is a notebook for the day about Kenny Walker‘s progression this spring and how he wants to emulate Jordan Payton both on and off the field.

Here are video interviews with Walker, Alex Van Dyke and Kolton Miller.

Here are notes/observations from the day 10 of practice

— Thursday was a pretty uneventful practice, in all honesty. The team didn’t wear pads, so it’s a little difficult to evaluate too specifically how the offense and defense did in the team periods.

— The linebackers seemed to have a good day in nine-on-sevens. The drill is focused completely on stopping the run while there was no hitting, the positioning was right for the linebackers. Linebackers coach Scott White was very pleased with the way his players fit into the gaps on the line of scrimmage, and ended the session by saying, “That’s a heck of a period!”

— The tight ends had a standout day catching the ball. Austin Roberts caught two touchdown passes (one from each quarterback) during the team periods and Nate Iese also caught one from Josh Rosen. Iese caught another from Rosen during seven-on-sevens.

DeChaun Holiday had an interception on Rosen and forced fumble when he pried the ball loose from Iese during seven-on-sevens. The interception came on what I presume was a miscommunication between quarterback and receiver because there was no receiver in the area.

Ishmael Adams and Theo Howard each caught a touchdown from Rosen in the last team period.

Jordan Lasley got a leaping catch on a nice pass from Matt Lynch during seven-on-sevens.

— Fullback Cameron Griffin had a great day in one-on-ones against the linebackers as he had a one-handed catch against Christian Pankey and a leaping catch over Lokeni Toailoa. He also beat Kenny Young with a mean cut back on an inside route to create space for an open pass.

Randall Goforth returned to the field during team periods after battling a severe contusion about his knee for the past couple of days. He assumed a starting corner position during 11-on-11 periods.

JJ Molson hit 4-of-8 field goals at the end of practice, but the final three were from about 50 or more yards. Andrew Strauch hit three of his eight.