Wake Forest Athletics
Thursday Football Practice Report
3/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 31, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Head coach Jim Grobe led Wake Forest through its seventh practice of the spring on Thursday afternoon at the Doc Martin Football Practice Complex. Grobe came away from practice more pleased with the effort of the squad than following Tuesday's session.
"We still have too many foo-foo injuries out here right now," said Grobe. "I thought the offense was a little better today, a little sharper. Not very good in two-minute (drills) but for most of the practice, when we went team, I thought the offense picked things up. We had some good plays, more consistency. I thought (quarterback) Tanner Price had a really good practice on Tuesday. We didn't realize it until Wednesday morning when we watched him on tape. He really didn't throw a bad ball the whole day."
Grobe was pleased with the effort of the offensive linemen on Thursday.
"Our offensive line, for a couple days now, has done some good things," said Grobe. "I've been pleased with the O-linemen. They've been coming out every day and going to work and that's been a pretty dependable group so far. We've got to get the tight ends and the running backs (going). I think our receiver group is starting to do some nice things right now. We're catching the ball pretty good. We're working hard and we need to continue to improve but I think the receiver group is starting to come together."
The defense continues to impress Grobe as the spring season nearly reaches the midway point.
"Defensively, I like the energy," said Grobe. "We're really flying around. We're making plays. Our defensive backs right now are getting their hands on more balls than we have in a long time. I really like that. The defensive backs, they have a little bit of a mentality that they can be receivers back there and that's a fun thing to watch, seeing them go after balls and trying to make interceptions. They're challenging the receivers as well as we have in a long time. We're still a little bit thin at linebacker with Kyle Jarrett out. Kyle's had some problems with injuries so hopefully we can get him healthy. I like what we're doing at the linebacker position. The outside linebackers are being aggressive. Still not playing great technique from time to time but I think they're doing some good things."
The defense has made one significant position change this spring.
"We bumped Tristan Dorty down to defensive end for a while," said Grobe. "We're thin at linebacker right now and with Tristan down at D-end that gives us another really good athletic guy that's hard to block and doing a good job of pressuring the quarterback. I like the energy and intensity we're playing with at all positions right now. We just need to get some of the guys who aren't practicing out here."
Wake Forest will hold the second of its four scheduled scrimmages on Saturday at 10 a.m. at BB&T Field.
"What I'd like to see and I don't know if it's possible, I'd like to see a little more consistency offensively," said Grobe. "Last Saturday at the stadium we killed ourselves with a couple silly penalties. We missed some blocks and dropped some balls and that kind of stuff. Of course, the defense is playing pretty good football right now so a dumb penalty, a dropped ball, a missed block, that can take you off the field pretty quick. I think the thing I'm looking for Saturday is more consistency out of the offense and I'd like to continue to see the enthusiasm and intensity that we've shown defensively. We've had seven practices under our belt and it's just really fun watching our guys on defense fly around there. They're having fun and they're playing with a lot of aggressiveness. It's been fun to watch so I'd like to see them continue that Saturday."
Wake Forest's annual spring scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at BB&T Field.
