Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Completes First Practice in Full Pads Tuesday
4/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 1, 2008
The Wake Forest football team saw its first full-padded action of the spring when the Demon Deacons took the field Tuesday for two hours at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex on the Wake Forest campus.
"It was really sloppy. I told the players, `I'm glad we don't play Baylor tomorrow because we would be in a lot of trouble,'" Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said. "They were spirited and the guys like practicing. We just want to go out and work on fundamentals and try to get better."
Working on fundamentals with individual position coaches filled about half of the session Tuesday with some 11 on 11 and some passing scrimmage situations.
The quarterbacks and receivers went against the Deacon secondary in red zone situations then switched to work the long side of the field. Wide receiver Jordan Williams made a tough catch after a fade pattern took him down the left sideline to haul in a Riley Skinner pass for about 50 yards.
Coaches were adamant about players staying on their feet and no one being tackled to the ground but a few players were a little anxious to put someone on the turf. Safety Kevin Patterson knocked Devon Brown flat on his back but not before the receiver made a catch in traffic on a quick slant across the middle of the defense.
Coach Grobe on the offensive timing: "At times it's really good and at times it's not so good, about what you'd expect. Your key to being successful offensively is consistency. You need to be able to repeat plays time and time again, not just from a timing standpoint but from a mistake-free standpoint. We're certainly not close to doing that. But we're just trying to get everybody repetitions. That's not helping consistency, but that's what the spring is for."
Grobe pointed to defensive tackle Ted Randolph as someone who has been pleasing to watch so far, as well as Demir Boldin, who continues to impress.
The search for a long-snapper will continue but senior quarterback Ryan McManus appears to have an edge, according to Grobe.
"We've pulled him out of some of the quarterback drills right now to really give him a heavy dose of long-snapping," Grobe said. "We've got to come out of spring ball with a long-snapper and Ryan looks like the most promising right now. We've got two or three others that have some potential."
The Deacs will return to practice Wednesday evening in shoulder pads and will be back on the field Thursday in full pads in preparation for Saturday's 10:30 a.m. scrimmage at BB&T Field.
