Mack, can you just kinda start us off
with your assessment of the scrimmage today?
Yeah, I thought the energy was better.
Body language was really good.
I thought there was a competitive spirit
out there that went back and forth.
The offense had a couple good runs early.
Scottie had couple good runs early.
I thought the defense bounced back,
played well toward the end of the scrimmage.
So I thought it was good competition.
And, you know, it was a big improvement
from the first scrimmage in my eyes, for sure.
How'd y'all come out, injury-wise?
Pretty good, actually.
I think Jalen Julius kinda rolled his ankle over,
but I think he'll be back tomorrow.
I think he was limited today.
But it's nothing serious.
I thought Hamilton Hall had kind of a higher ankle sprain.
He may be four or five more days.
But other than that I thought we came out pretty healthy.
You said a big improvement over the first scrimmage.
What are some of the things
that you think he did better in this one?
Yeah, all the things.
Just the body language and the competitive spirit.
And I just thought the back and forth was good,
and the competition.
And the energy level, I just thought it was better.
You're obviously 12 days away now.
Are you starting to get to that place
where you kinda get away from camp
and more into game week prep a little bit?
Yeah, you know, still with a young team,
I think it's important to get the speed of the game.
But what we did have, kinda half and half today
where we're introducing Memphis
but still getting the speed of the game.
Just to try to get ahead
cause we do got a little bit of extra time.
Matt, we see in a number of positions
a lot of players moving in and out.
I know y'all are trying to build depth,
but is that also an emphasis on the heat
in the opener playing-- That will be important,
the depth obviously.
But what we have right now,
a lot of positions is competition.
And it's making them all better.
So the more that they compete and try to get ready to go,
the more people we'll have ready to go on the opener.
How many offensive linemen do you think
y'all will play against Memphis?
I would say between seven, eight.
Might have to play more than that.
But I feel very comfortable with
about seven or eight right now.
We've seen Alex moving around a little bit.
Do you have an update on him?
Is he getting closer--
He's doin' more football-specific stuff,
like just trying to build that base
so when he does come back and can start contact,
he's not starting from zero.
He'll have a base built,
and he's starting to do more,
working his legs more.
And, you know, he's looked pretty good.
So we're all anxious to get him back out there,
and he's moving closer.
We have to be smart and progress him,
but I think he's on track.
And we'll get the final word Monday of next week.
I was gonna ask,
is there a point where he has to be back out there
to realistically be ready? Yeah, you know,
I think I worry more about his conditioning
than anything else.
I think he's played enough football
and will integrate pretty quickly to that part of it.
It's just having that base where he can go
out there and function at full speed.
Along the same line of questioning,
we saw Qaadir out there with the kind of club
like Momo finished like year with.
What's his update?
Yeah, he'll be out there.
I mean, just, he'll be out there
with a club just to protect his hand.
He had surgery on it.
He's coming back, and he'll be ready to go.
Is there any change with Darius Thomas?
His situation.
It'll be more mid-September before we know anything.
I think that four-game rule kinda gives us hope
that he may be able to come back
and maybe play toward the end of the year
cause you can use him anywhere you want.
But I'm hopeful.
That's why we brought him into camp,
so he could stay on track, keep learning the offense.
He's doing everything he can do right now.
And then when he gets the,
when we get the update from the doctors,
hopefully we'll be able to get him in there, get him going.
What'd you see from the passing attack
during the scrimmage?
You mentioned there was a couple good runs.
But how were the-- It was good.
I thought we had one or two big plays down the field.
We had a couple of good, two-minute drives,
so I was pleased.
Can you update on Montrell Custis
and maybe what his situation is?
And if you don't have him,
what is that spot looking like?
You know I think with Montrell still being
not full speed right now,
it's just takin' him a little bit.
He's probably four to five weeks behind Jaylon,
just from when the injuries occurred.
It just makes those freshmen very important.
And, you know, Stanley and Finley
and all the, you know, Tay Standifer,
and all those guys are getting a bunch of reps.
It was good to see Jonathan Haynes back today.
And obviously Jalen Julius has kinda been nicked up.
So it's given those freshman a bunch of reps
to kinda get those guys ready to go.
I know it's just kind of a drill sorta thing,
but it look like Finley was getting a few reps
with the ones.
I don't know whether he did in team or what not.
What have you seen from him?
I mean he's a smart, conscientious kid.
And he's really, really made a big push here lately.
So, I've been impressed with him, what he's been able to do.
I know, Matt, the last couple of years
there's been an emphasis on trying
to improve the defense against the run, rushing defense.
What have you seen there in scrimmage?
Good.
I think we did good job early on,
starting with some bigger personnel.
Some two tight ends, 22 personnel.
Just doin' middle drills everyday,
and just constantly doing it over and over and over again.
And we've continued that throughout camp.
And just the repetition.
I think some of the bigger bodies, you know, inside help.
Obviously Qaadir and Sam Williams,
when they're out there, that helps.
And I've been impressed with our inside backers.
We've got some big physical inside backers.
Lakia has shown some natural ability
to kinda weave his way,
just get in those spots and make plays.
I've been impressed with him.
Momo's been good.
Jacquez Jones had a good scrimmage.
He made a couple of big hits.
Willie continues to come on and get better.
So I think there is some competition there,
maybe more so than any other position.
People are pushing each other right there.
Does it help these guys that there are four
on the field now, and they're required to cover less space,
those inside backers?
Yeah.
And, again, there's two separate positions.
So outside backer is totally different.
So we've got some defensive ends
that are now playing outside linebacker.
So it's not like we took linebackers, just spread em out.
You know, there's two
totally separate positions. Yeah.
If that makes sense.
But yeah, I think the attention to detail
by Coach Koonz only coaching two of them,
and then Coach Nix coaching two of them.
I think the attention to detail was helping.