Spring Practice report No. 3
March 28, 2009 | Football
And on the third day, they put on pads. After two days of helmets and shorts, the Badger football team practiced for 24 periods (a little more than two hours) in full pads on Saturday in the McClain Center.
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Head coach Bret Bielema meets with the media following practice (video)
mid=3267"> --> Highlights from practice (video)
The indoor practice field was crowded as more than 3,000 high school and college coaches were in town for the Wisconsin coaches' clinic which began on Thursday and ran through Saturday night. A number of them took in practice and some demonstrations that took place prior to the start of practice.
The sweet sounds of pads hitting pads filled the air as the Badgers went through a number of reps involving full contact at the point of attack but no tackling.
'I really thought they came out with good energy today,' head coach Bret Bielema said. 'Definitely a high-spirited practice and that's what we want.'
Position Spotlight: Defensive backs
One spot on defense that returns a ton of experience is defensive back. A number of players at both cornerback and safety have starting experience and the battles for positions are as intense as any other position.
Junior safety Jay Valai is still sitting out of practice due to an injury so seniors athid=5636&deptid=111"> --> Aubrey Pleasant and athid=6738&deptid=111"> --> Chris Maragos lined up with the first team for most reps. Senior athid=5569&deptid=111"> --> Shane Carter , who figures to be in the mix in a number of situations, teamed with freshman athid=7206&deptid=111"> --> Shelton Johnson with the twos.
At one corner, sophomore athid=6572&deptid=111"> --> Aaron Henry is returning after missing last season while recovering from knee surgery. Junior athid=6061&deptid=111"> --> Niles Brinkley was opposite Henry with the ones, with sophomore athid=7347&deptid=111"> --> Antonio Fenelus also taking reps. The No. 2 defense rotated Fenelus, Brinkley, sophomores athid=6732&deptid=111"> --> Otis Merrill and athid=7356&deptid=111"> --> Devin Smith and freshman athid=7350&deptid=111"> --> Marcus Cromartie .
Among the head-turning plays by the d-backs on Saturday was an interception by Smith in 7-on-7 drills, Merrill's pick in the team portion of practice, and a good read by Fenelus on a wide receiver screen to David Gilreath that would have halted the play behind the line of scrimmage (but there was no tackling in practice today).
Offensive Play of the Day
And the last shall be first. For the majority of practice, athid=6079&deptid=111"> --> Mickey Turner was in place to be featured in this space. He made two catches in about a three-minute span of 7-on-7 that turned heads. On the first he made a diving grab on an out. A couple plays later he went over the middle, made a leaping grab and held on while taking a hit. Then, in the team portion of practice, he made a nice grab on a flag route for a long gain.
However, on the last play of practice, freshman quarterback athid=7583&deptid=111"> --> Jon Budmayr dropped back and lofted a perfect pass to freshman athid=7360&deptid=111"> --> T.J. Williams , who was streaking down the field on a post pattern. Williams caught the ball in stride for what would have been a touchdown. The ball traveled about 35-40 yards in the air and ended practice on a good note (for the offense at least).
Defensive Play of the Day
With the pads finally on, it was a chance for both the offensive and defensive lines to go live and the first chance for observers to catch a glimpse of the new faces on both sides of the ball going at full speed. One of those faces, one that the coaches have talked about a lot, was sophomore athid=7368&deptid=111"> --> J.J. Watt . He wasted little time showing why the coaches are excited about him.
A portion of practice was reserved for 'inside drills,' basically offense vs. defense without wide receivers and defensive backs. It consists of both lines, linebackers and running backs and features exclusively running plays. On each of the first two plays, Watt came off his block to make the play either at or behind the line of scrimmage. Then, on the first play of full team drills (11-on-11), Watt again beat his blocker to make the stop on running back athid=6725&deptid=111"> --> John Clay behind the line of scrimmage.
Overheard
'Whose pocketbook is that'' ' overheard on the sideline. We said there were a number of high school and college football coaches in town for the coaches' clinic. Some of them must have brought their wives and children to practice as well. The purse in question was about four feet from the sideline and in the general vicinity of a Badger player as he ran out of bounds. It was picked up rather quickly.
Hit of the day
Even though there was no tackling in practice, with everyone in full pads and running at full speed, there were bound to be some hits that put people on the ground. One of those was delivered by linebacker athid=5632&deptid=111"> --> Jaevery McFadden on running back athid=6579&deptid=111"> --> Zach Brown . Brown broke through the line of scrimmage and was in the middle of a spin move when he slammed straight into McFadden. The result was the loudest 'smack' of the day.
Causing confusion
When you watch the highlight video from practice you will notice a quarterback wearing No. 19 throwing the ball around. No, Jim Sorgi has not returned and the Badgers have not added a walk-on QB. Freshman athid=6977&deptid=111"> --> Curt Phillips is the man behind the jersey as his original No. 10 jersey apparently has some size issues. I think Curt will be in No. 19 for practice for the foreseeable future but will remain No. 10 in the official roster and on gamedays.
Notes
UW has added a back-up kicker, freshman Pat Hughes, an in-state product ' an updated roster (including new heights and weights) is available sportid=111"> --> here ' linebacker athid=7358&deptid=111"> --> Mike Taylor sat out practice with a hamstring injury ' wide receiver athid=5642&deptid=111"> --> T.J. Theus also sat out with an ankle injury
Up next
The Badgers have off on Sunday and will practice again on Monday starting at 5:45 p.m.
Wisconsin Football 2009 Season Ticket Information
For the second consecutive year, there will not be a price increase on Wisconsin football season tickets.
Current season ticket holders can linkID=wisc&RSRC=&RDAT=&linkSource=SR&caller=appList&display=reg"> --> renew their tickets online .
For those without season tickets, learn how you can secure Wisconsin football season tickets with these step-by-step instructions .
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