Tag: scrimmage

Oregon’s offense makes significant strides in second fall scrimmage

Oregon’s second scrimmage of the fall camp went a lot more smoothly in all areas as the offense made significant strides.

One could say that the Oregon Ducks fall camp is going just how you would expect it to.

In the first scrimmage last week, the Ducks defense got the better of the offense and there were some penalty issues. But a week later, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and his group took a significant step towards where they want to be.

“(It was a) night and day difference, for sure. It feels like that first scrimmage the defense had their way for most of it, and early on in this one the offense came out and they came out fast and strong,” Mario Cristobal said. “They finished drives. The first series was a 3-and-out, but after that, they got going and got the momentum.”

Cristobal said that the second scrimmage, which wasn’t open to the public or the media, lasted about 150 plays and that everything went as smoothly as possible, including a couple of overtime situations.

All in all, just very efficient, operating really well. They eliminated penalties, especially pre-snap penalties, which was a big issue in scrimmage one. Played cleaner, played faster, and finished. All in all, today was a better day for the offense, and with the defense, we saw some positive progress on both sides.

It’s good to hear that Oregon’s preparation for the season is going all according to plan. With the Ducks’ depth in nearly every position, Oregon has a lot of questions that need to be answered personnel-wise, but that’s a good problem to have.

There are only 14 days until the 2021 season begins and Fresno State comes into Autzen Stadium Sept. 4 for an 11 a.m. kickoff. The Bulldogs actually start their season a week earlier by hosting UConn.

 

 

Raiders starters energized, ‘ready for season’ after physicality of scrimmages with Rams

Raiders starters energized, ‘ready for season’ after physicality of scrimmages with Rams

The past two days of scrimmages with the Rams were dubbed as being the best preparation the team’s starters will have prior to the start of the season. And they were as advertised. The Raiders went toe-to-toe with a high-powered Rams team and came out of it all the better for it.

“It was fun,” said Josh Jacobs. “Because normally I don’t even strap on my helmet for practice. We thud, but we don’t hit hard enough, so we came out there and we got a little physical. It just made it fun for me. It felt like a game. And it really brought the energy and the juice to practice that we needed. It’s been fun. I can’t really wait until the season starts. I don’t know how this preseason will go, if I’m going to play or not, but I’m ready for the season to start for sure.”

Not having his helmet strapped properly on day one of the scrimmage nearly started the first dustup. His helmet came off after a hit from cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Foster Moreau immediately came to his defense. But Jacobs said it was no harm, no foul. And he was even smiling when it happened.

“I know that he didn’t do a malicious shot. Or it would’ve been a different reaction,” said Jacobs. “It wasn’t even like that. He didn’t even hit me hard, it’s just that I didn’t really have my helmet strapped up, so that was on me. I went up to him right after and I’m like ‘you good’ you know what I’m saying? I didn’t want him to be labeled as a dirty player because I knew it wasn’t like that.”

Jacobs didn’t see any action in the first preseason game and that figures to be the case again on Saturday against the Rams. But he did have an eventful couple days of scrimmage.

Day two saw him get nailed in the junk hard enough that he was still walking gingerly a half hour later.

“Yeah, I got hit in my boys. You feel me?” Jacobs said, with all of us thankful we were not feeling it. “So, yeah. Man, I was down there trying to breathe, I couldn’t breathe for a second.”

Running backs get hit, often several times, every play they are on the field, whether they’re carrying the ball or not. And the opposite is true throughout training camp where defenders let up and are forbidden from taking them to the ground.

The Rams are under no obligation to take anything off their hits, so it can shake a player into regular season mode. No one means more to this offense than tight end Darren Waller. The Pro Bowl tight end just got back this week after being out two weeks with an undisclosed injury. Nothing like a good scrimmage to shake the rust off.

“It gets the natural nerves flowing just to kind of get out there and just play football and compete,” said Waller. “So, I’m all about it. All about the process, whatever they want it to look like for us. Whether we play or we don’t, it’s good to get that live action and get someone to come up and thump you a little bit and get into the flow of moving the ball. So, I enjoy it.”

Waller looked like he was enjoying himself. And if he was rusty, it didn’t show. Check out the move he put on safety Jordan Fuller in one-on-ones Thursday.

Let’s not forget about the defense. No one was looking forward to this than them and they are feeling pretty good with the reps they got the past couple days. Even if some of them got a little overzealous cough-Maxx-Crosby-cough-cough.

“It’s a tricky deal,” said Crosby after Wednesday’s practice. “Obviously we only got three preseason games, they want to see a lot of the younger guys and see them get real live reps. And for us not being able to play really, it is what it is. We’re getting after it in practice, these two days you really get to go out there, ones vs ones and get after it, so it’s special. We got close to 50 reps out there today. You can’t take anything for granted, you just got to go out there, get after it, and get ready for week one.”

Crosby got after it, all right. So much so that on day two a big brawl which he played a major role in reigniting a couple times, ended practice early. I supposed we shouldv’e seen it coming after he said this was when players could throw punches and get away with it. So, yeah, he was really enjoying getting physical.

It wasn’t all primal, though. Sometimes it’s about testing your abilities against guys you haven’t seen every day.

“You get a lot of good work because it kind of breaks the monotony,” said DT Quinton Jefferson. “You’re going up against the same guy every day and sometimes you might not know ‘does this move really work?’ because I go against the same guy every day. So, it’s different to go against a guy who gives you a different look and a guy that might set you different.”

Head coach Jon Gruden told the players to treat this practice like a game. Because many of the veteran starters are unlikely to see game action this week, and perhaps not at all this preseason. In that regard, the past couple days were a rousing success. Now to hope they can sustain that juice for the next three weeks until they take the field for an actual game that counts.

Big fight has Jon Gruden end Raiders practice early, Chucky not happy about ‘child’s play’

Big fight ends Raiders practice early, Chucky not happy about ‘child’s play’

A lot of trash talking and heated exchanges over two days of Raiders and Rams scrimmaging came to a hilt today. With still what was supposed to be a good 45 minutes of practice, a huge fight broke out. One that lasted a good five minutes with several waves.

After the fight finally began to disperse, head coach Jon Gruden had seen enough and ended practice abruptly.

“I thought we had great work today until the end of the special teams period,” Gruden said, speaking of the fight. “I have no idea what that was, but that’s enough of that crap. It’s not good for football, it’s not good for anything, so that was the end of that practice session.”

It was difficult to tell exactly what went down that sparked the brawl, but it caused Yannick Ngakoue and Maxx Crosby in particular to run out onto the field and come after Rams players to defend their teammates.

Neither were letting it go easily and other Raiders players were trying to hold them back. Crosby was really furious and it appeared as if his unwillingness to walk away and his choice words for some Rams players is what caused the fight to pick up again after it seemed like it might dissipate.

After Wednesday’s practice, which had quite a few squabbles as well, Crosby gave a pretty strong indication he was gonna be that dude.

“This is when you can get your punches out,” said Crosby. “You get away with a little bit extra. You know, tempers get flaring and it is what it is. It’s the first day going against somebody else, so things like that happen sometimes.”

Crosby was in good spirits after practice, even going over and giving GM Mike Mayock a big hug. His head coach was not nearly as happy.

“There’s no message, they know. They know better. Everybody knows better. And, again, it wasn’t everybody fighting, you’ll see it on TV, everybody’s screaming and yelling, but it was two guys in a special teams period and then it was a lot of trash talking that escalated. It’s just sickening really. It’s just stupidity. I’m done with that. It’s just child’s play to me.”

“Child’s play” is an interesting choice of words for the man they call ‘Chucky’.

It is a shame, though, because that ‘child’s play’ disrupted what was otherwise some good work being put in between starters for both teams.

“Emotions get a little bit higher when you introduce another team. But we got to try to overcome that,” said Kolton Miller. “Definitely we have each other’s backs, but it’s something we don’t want to get in the way of practice, you know, you want to be able to finish practice. So, obviously we could’ve ended better.”

The fights along the way and the big one that ended it not withstanding, there was a lot of good work put in. The starters got more reps in a full go session the past couple days than they will get all the rest of camp and preseason.

Next up is one of those preseason games this Saturday against these same Rams. Though with the officials on hand and the cameras on, the players should be a bit better behaved.

Things get heated at Raiders scrimmage with Rams

Things get heated at Raiders scrimmage with Rams

Josh Jacobs took the handoff from Derek Carr and found a seam up the middle to get to the second level. Once he was a few yards downfield, here comes Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey, flying over to rip Jacobs’s helmet off. Raiders tight end Foster Moreau was right there to get in Ramsey’s face and defend his teammate. Ramsey continues jawing with Moreau until several other Rams and Raiders players converge to break it up.

Ramsey had been physical since the first time he lined up against Raiders players in one-on-ones, clearly seeing the scrimmage a bit differently than most of the other players on the field.

Don’t get it twisted, though, that dust-up was the first of several scraps in practice today, the first of two scrimmage practices with the Rams at their Thousand Oaks facility. That wasn’t even nearly the worst of them.

There were a couple on special teams, including one that formed a pile on the field as a couple of players rolled around on the ground and the two teams converged.

It seemed like the pushing and shoving occurred just about every play, though it usually didn’t amount to much more than that. It’s clear some of these guys were itching to see some action against another team after just practicing against their teammates for months.

“It’s all fun,” said Maxx Crosby. “This is when you can get your punches out, the preseason. You get away with a little bit extra. You know, tempers get flaring and it is what it is. It’s the first day going against somebody else, so things like that happen sometimes.”

It wasn’t just relegated to the players either. The coaches were on another level too, led by Jon Gruden who could be heard yelling and cursing even more than usual.

“I feel like everybody was [extra juiced],” said Crosby of Gruden and the coaches. “At one point (laughs), it was during the special teams, and there was like seven, eight coaches screaming at one time and I was like ‘everybody just relax’, But it’s all good. That’s just how it is. You get this intrasquad thing going and people are just yelling for no reason.”

While Gruden may have had cause for some choice words for the offense, the defensive coaches shouldn’t have had much to yell about. At least not in a negative way. The defense was on point, picking off passes left and right.

Tre’von Moehrig had an interception on Matt Stafford on the second play of team sessions. Then Rasul Douglas picked him off as well. Later Cory Littleton got into the act, picking off Stafford as well. There were a couple of passes that were nearly picked off as well.

The Raiders’ offense wasn’t free from turnovers. Marcus Mariota threw an interception to LB Robert Rochel.

All in all, it was the kind of scrimmage you might expect with starters facing an opposing team for the first time in like eight months combined with young hopefuls trying to fight their way onto a roster and up the depth chart.

And we have one more day of this. Should be fun.

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WATCH: Highlights from the Longhorns first scrimmage of fall camp

Take a peek at bits and pieces of the scrimmage on Saturday.

The first game against the fighting Billy Napier’s (Louisiana) is just 19 days away, and the Longhorns still have a few I’s to dot and T’s to cross.

One of the unknowns as of right now, is who will be the starting quarterback. The battle is ongoing between young gunslinger Hudson Card, and experienced Casey Thompson who has waited his turn behind Sam Ehlinger.

The two squared off in Texas’ first scrimmage of fall camp that took place on Saturday, and while head coach Steve Sarkisian was hopeful that a quarterback and a couple receivers would step up, he was not content with the offense’s performance.

There were bright spots, as Sarkisian expressed how pleased he was with the running backs and tight ends, but he still wants the offense to take the next step.

Sarkisian also mentioned that he grades the quarterback position the toughest, but as of now, no one has taken the job and supplanted themselves atop the depth chart.

On the opposite side of the ball, Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense was making plays all day, getting sacks on both quarterbacks, and picking off Casey Thompson a couple times.

Let’s take a peek at bits and pieces of the scrimmage on Saturday.

Sarkisian told the media that he expected the defense to be as good as they were, but he would still like to see more from the offense. This next week of training camp will likely decide some very important position battles, and by this time the following week, we may know who will taking reps with the the first team offense.

The ‘All Gas, No Brakes’ era is upon us, and this second week of training camp will be a major factor as to how the team starts off the season.

Defensive line meets expectations in Clemson’s first scrimmage

As Myles Murphy assessed how Clemson’s defensive line performed Saturday, the Tigers’ defensive end rattled off a long list of players that impressed him. Once he was done, nearly every first- and second-teamer had been mentioned. “Everybody stood …

As Myles Murphy assessed how Clemson’s defensive line performed Saturday, the Tigers’ defensive end rattled off a long list of players that impressed him. Once he was done, nearly every first- and second-teamer had been mentioned.

“Everybody stood out today,” said Murphy, a freshman All-American a season ago. “Got in the backfield, kind of just retraced the entire offensive line into the backfield and got pressure on the quarterback.”

It seemed fitting given just how interchangeable the Tigers are becoming at one of the deepest and most talented positions on their roster.

Clemson returns every starter along the defensive line, seven linemen in all who have started at least one game and five ends that Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he considers starters, so it’s no secret the Tigers expect to have one of the nation’s most formidable defensive fronts this fall.

The group got its first live reps over the weekend during the Tigers’ first scrimmage of fall camp, one in which the defense got the better of the offense inside Clemson’s indoor practice facility. Regardless of which personnel groupings it had on the field, the line set the tone for the defense’s performance as expected, Swinney said.

“I was super, super impressed with those guys (Saturday),” Swinney said. “What I was hoping I would see is no dropoff, and it didn’t matter really how I ran the scrimmage as far as the groups, I didn’t see any dropoff. I thought those guys really all played well.

“We created some pressure. Some (tackles for loss). Some sacks. I thought both groups played to the standard that we talked about. That’s fun to see defensively.”

With Xavier Thomas and Justin Foster back in the fold — both seniors opted to return to Clemson for another season — the Tigers can go two- and sometimes three-deep with experience at defensive end and have rotated accordingly throughout camp. Thomas, Foster, Murphy, Justin Mascoll and K.J. Henry have bounced back and forth between the ones and twos and continued to do so in the scrimmage.

Senior Tyler Davis and sophomore Bryan Bresee, another freshman All-American, are entrenched as the top interior linemen. Swinney also mentioned fellow defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro for his performance in the scrimmage, noting Orhoro, who’s spent most of camp getting second-team reps, is at a point in his development where “he shows up” every time he’s on the field.

Clemson seems to be building more depth on the inside even with some defensive tackles unavailable for the time being. Redshirt freshman DeMonte Capehart and sophomore Etinosa Reuben were held out of the scrimmage with undisclosed injuries, but Tre Williams and Darnell Jeffries made their presence felt in the scrimmage while true freshman Payton Page also got some reps.

Orhorhoro and Williams are both healthy again after injuries derailed their seasons early a year ago. Swinney referred to Williams’ performance Saturday as “awesome.”

“It was good to see Tre get in there and make some plays,” Swinney said. “Darnell had a nice play.”

Clemson will need to solidify more of that depth on the interior, but the weekend scrimmage went a long way in confirming the Tigers don’t have too many concerns when it comes to their defensive line.

“We’ve got a lot of talented guys there,” Swinney said, “and I like the chemistry I’m seeing from that group.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Defense holds upper hand in Clemson’s first scrimmage

Some good. Some bad. That’s the way Clemson coach Dabo Swinney described what he saw from his team Saturday. In other words, things went about as expected for the Tigers during their first scrimmage of fall camp. Rain in the area moved the scrimmage …

Some good. Some bad.

That’s the way Clemson coach Dabo Swinney described what he saw from his team Saturday. In other words, things went about as expected for the Tigers during their first scrimmage of fall camp.

Rain in the area moved the scrimmage into Clemson’s indoor practice facility, where the defense held the upper hand. Not only did the unit come up with a pair of fourth-down stops and a turnover created by some of the reserves, it was also the cleaner side of the ball.

The defense didn’t commit a single penalty, something Swinney said he couldn’t remember happening in a scrimmage while he’s been the head coach.

Swinney attributed some of that to the group’s experience. With 20 defensive players that have started a game, including seven defensive linemen, expectations are high for the unit. Swinney said the defense performed how he hoped it would.

“Just consistency I thought all day long,” Swinney said. “And we didn’t do things on defense that beat yourself.”

Swinney gave the offense some props as well, particularly with some of its top receivers out. Justyn Ross, who practiced for the first time Friday, is going through a five-day acclimatizaion period and is only practicing in shorts for the time being. Joseph Ngata (undisclosed) and freshman Beaux Collins (shoulder) were also held out, though Swinney said Collins is close to returning.

Sophomore Ajou Ajou and freshman Dacari Collins flashed their playmaking ability with those wideouts unavailable, Swinney said, but he added there were “way too many penalties” on offense. There were also a handful of muffed snaps as Clemson continues to divvy up first-team reps at center among Mason Trotter, Hunter Rayburn and Matt Bockhorst.

“We started well moving the ball. We just didn’t finish drives,” offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “We had some critical drops and too many self-inflicted wounds with penalties. False starts by receivers, by the offensive line.

“We’ve got to control the controllables, and we didn’t do a great job there.”

As for first-team reps at running back, Lyn-J Dixon, Kobe Pace and freshman Will Shipley shared those, Swinney said. But with D.J. Uiagalelei preparing for his first season as Clemson’s full-timer, the emphasis offensively was on testing the sophomore quarterback, so Swinney acknowledged the Tigers didn’t work on the running game nearly as much as they normally would in a typical scrimmage.

There were a couple of throws Uiagalelei probably wishes he had back, Swinney said, but the Tigers’ signal caller played a turnover-free scrimmage. Overall, Swinney said he was happy with Uiagalelei’s performance considering everything defensive coordinator Brent Venables threw at him.

“These dudes we’ve got coming off this (defensive) front, the blitzes that we’ve got and the tight coverage that you see, I just wanted to see him with command of the offense,” Swinney said. “Again, it’s not always going to be perfect, but just manage the offense. Stay within the system. How is he going to respond to a negative play? How is he going to handle momentum? You know there’s going to be some momentum changes in the scrimmage. How’s he going to respond to that? I thought he was solid.”

Uiagalelei’s backup, Taisun Phommachanh, did not participate as he continues to work his way back from the Achilles injury he suffered in the spring. That gave the other quarterbacks on the roster a chance for more game-like reps, including sophomore Hunter Helms, who’s been getting second-team reps whenever Phommachanh is held out.

Swinney said he was generally pleased with the performances of all his signal callers, adding the group has a good mental grasp of what the Tigers are trying to do offensively.

“We’re evaluating these guys not off their stats,” Swinney said. “We’re evaluating these guys on where they are with their fundamentals, their technique, their knowledge and their functionality. Those guys have done a great job.”

With exactly three weeks left before Clemson’s opener against Georgia on Sept. 4, Swinney isn’t going to waste time reviewing film of the scrimmage. He said that would happen Saturday night before the Tigers resume practice Monday. Their second scrimmage is scheduled for Thursday.

“Three weeks from right now, it won’t be a preseason game,” Swinney said. “But I’m proud of the effort and proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish in camp to this point.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Texas Football: Everything Steve Sarkisian said after Saturday’s scrimmage

Steve Sarkisian wasn’t too thrilled with how the offense performed today.

Texas suited up and played the closest thing to a real game on Saturday, as they held their first scrimmage of fall camp.

We saw the team perform after limited practices in the spring, and although there were bright spots, 15 practices was not nearly enough time for the playbook to be implemented at full capacity.

Now that the team has had a bit more time to become familiar with the new coaching staff, Saturday was the first time that they got to go full force against one another. Reporters interviewed first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian shortly after the scrimmage to gauge his thoughts on how the team performed, and it’s clear that there is still quite a bit to work on.

The quarterback competition does not sound resolved after the scrimmage, and the wide receivers are still looking for someone outside of Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, and the currently injured Joshua Moore to step up and solidify themselves.

Now to be fair, no great coach is ever fully content after anything in sports whether it be practice, games, or even how players dress, so take every constructive comment with a grain of salt.

Let’s take a look at what Steve Sarkisian had to say about the team’s first scrimmage.

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Seahawks rookie cornerback Tre Brown has been aggressive on the field

Seattle Seahawks rookie cornerback Tre Brown has been aggressive on the field throughout the team’s mock game and training camp this summer.

The Seattle Seahawks selected cornerback Tre Brown in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft out of Oklahoma and he’s already in the mix to compete. Seattle is still looking to finalize its cornerback situation, letting the battle for the starters play out in training camp this summer.

Brown got his chance to show his stuff in the Seahawks’ mock game on Sunday and coach Pete Carroll was asked about his performance after the scrimmage.

“He hasn’t had enough turns yet, just opportunities to show the tough situations that he can get in and all that,” Carroll told reporters. “We’re trying to create those as much as possible. We have a number of corners that we’re looking at, so the opportunities have been spread over a number of guys, so I don’t have good enough information yet; it’s going to take a little bit on that evaluation.”

Brown already plans to play with a chip on his shoulder his rookie year, coming in at one of the shortest corners at 5-foot-10. And even though Carroll seems to have an affinity for the taller players at the position, he’s keeping a close eye on Brown.

“But how I’m doing it, I’m looking all of his plays, which I keep adding to the plays that he’s had, as well as all the guys, are there’s plays in there that are bad plays, misreads?” Carroll continued. “He doesn’t have that. He’s a smart football player. He’s been aggressive.”

Brown and the rest of the Seahawks return to practice Tuesday after an off day Monday.

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