The first day of training camp was a lighter one, but Thursday's practice picked up the intensity and was a little longer than Wednesday. Here's some quick hits from the day, and I'll have much more later.
• I thought the defense flashed a bit more today than yesterday during the team periods. There were a number of pass breakups throughout the various periods, and that carried over into the team portion of practice. Tyson McWilliams came up with a pair of pass breakups against Jordan King in the team period and Isaiah Young came up with one late in practice working against Taj Davis. Kaylin Moore nearly came up with an interception in the 7v7 portion of practice working against tight end J.T. Byrne. Nohl Williams came up with another interception as he jumped in front of a pass intended for Jeremiah Hunter during the one-on-one portion of practice.
• Matthew Littlejohn continues to have an impressive showing in practice, and he came up with an interception over the middle as Luke Bottari attempted to find Byrne. It appeared there was a bit of a miscommunication with the transfer quarterback, but Littlejohn still made a great play on the ball to secure the pick.
• The pass rush was more active today than yesterday, and overall the defense was more aggressive. Myles Jernigan opened the team period with a sack, and there was a good amount of pressure on the quarterbacks throughout the day. Ricky Correia did a nice job flushing the QB from the pocket early. David Reese came up with a sack beating Everett Johnson on the play.
• The quarterback play was a little inconsistent at times again Thursday. Each quarterback did have bright moments. One thing that looked different Thursday was the amount of time several quarterbacks worked with the first unit. In fact, this may have been the most that Fernando Mendoza has been able to work with the first unit the entire offseason in a practice. It happened in small spurts early in the spring, but he was the first quarterback on the field Thursday and continues to look like the most consistent player at the position.
Ben Finley also had an opportunity to work with the first unit for a time while Sam Jackson bounced back and forth between the second unit and the first. The plan is to get them used to working behind different offensive lines, according to Jake Spavital, but it also gets them used to some different receivers. Thursday, you could see some real confidence with Mendoza working with the first group.
• There were some really impressive plays during the 7v7 and 1v1 portions of practice on Thursday, but it was a freshman who made the best grab of the day. Nyziah Hunter ran a great route on a back shoulder throw and made an even better catch working against McWilliams during one-on-ones. Davis, another newcomer, also had an impressive grab working against Isaiah Young.
• The running back group continues to have to work shorthanded. Today, it was freshman Jaivian Thomas who was not able to give it a go just a day after making some impressive plays. It's unclear why Thomas wasn't on the field, but he was not working with the trainers and was mostly just watching from the sidelines on Day 2. Meanwhile, fellow running back Justin Williams-Thomas looked to be moving well as he continues to work with the trainers on the sideline. He went through a number of exercises and drills, which is an improvement over where he was back in the spring when he was limited to getting around on a mobility scooter with his foot in a walking boot.
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