The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Spring Practice: Day Three Coverage
2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
PHOTO GALLERY
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Putting on full pads for the first time this spring, the UAB Football team completed its third practice on Tuesday morning at the Southside facility.
THREE OBSERVATIONS:
- Physicality - The Blazers were waiting for today to be able to play at full speed. But despite there being a few big hits throughout practice, UAB did a good job of protecting each other to avoid unnecessary hits.
- Offensively, H-back Jonathan Haden was a standout being utilized all over the field. His speed and versatility was on display.
- The defensive line is a unit to keep an eye on. At the defensive tackle position, Bentley Easley and Garrett Marino have anchored the trenches along with the addition of Anthony Rush (6-5, 352). Teko Powell, Quindarius Thagard and Tyler Haddock are also in the mix. On the ends, Darryl Waters has had a nice start to his spring, while Noah Jones, Stacy Keely and Christian Robinson are others to keep an eye on.
COACH CLARK QUOTES:
On the first day of full pads:
"It was solid. Now we're talking about being on time. In terms of practice and organization now we're wanting to see results. I think there were some good things today. It was almost like our first day in shorts, we want to see a big jump to the next day. I told the guys we didn't put a hundred-pound weight on their back they just put on some pads. But there were a lot of good things; I'm going to go back and look at the film. I want to see a lot of improvement before the next practice."
On getting everyone to practice with the early morning time:
We are. I think one of the best things that happened was we've done so much of our training at this time that they have gotten used to it. Once you get used to it, it's so good because it's the first thing you do when you wake up and you're fresh. We get breakfast in them and then we get going."
On how you do special teams work with only having one field:
"It's a challenge right now. I think our kickers have run across the street to the soccer field to kick some. Like I said that was one of the things we talked about because we knew we were going to be in this boat."
On the differences between practicing at UAB and Legion Field:
"That's what we've compared it to. Usually at Legion Field that becomes a scrimmage day now. It's been tough because right now we don't have access to sleds. All of that O-Line and D-Line work where they're hitting sleds we won't be able to do that until this summer. We have one that we have hid but we're always worried about running into people and it becomes a safety issue."
On if there are any other limitations:
"I think that's it. We've done a good job organizationally, now granted I'll be glad when we can spread out. You just think about your deep throws because they can be challenging."
Practice #3 = full pads. It's time to find out. pic.twitter.com/qIal9AzLuu
SOCIAL TAKES:
-- UAB Football (@UAB_FB) February 28, 2017
Today, we hit 👊💪 pic.twitter.com/4Z1f8vbvGL
-- UAB Football (@UAB_FB) February 28, 2017
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