Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Football Practice Report - Aug. 23
8/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 23, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest football team held a morning workout on campus on Tuesday, practicing without pads while enjoying clear skies and mild temperatures.
Just nine days out from their Sept. 1 season opener at Syracuse, the Demon Deacons spent about two hours on the practice field doing a great deal of 7-on-7 work.
Wake Forest is preparing to hold its third and final intrasquad scrimmage of the preseason on Wednesday morning at BB&T Field. Wednesday's scrimmage is closed to the public.
Head coach Jim Grobe and his staff will use the final scrimmage to evaluate the team's depth before they begin to finalize a two-deep roster.
"I think the number one thing [for Wednesday] is try to get some of the down-the-line guys an opportunity to go against some of the good guys," said Grobe. "We've been going with a lot of good against good, and that's what we like. You want that to be competitive, but at the same time we have a group of about 5-10 kids that we think might be close to getting on the field. So it would be better for them, instead of going against younger guys all the time, to get a chance to go against the older guys a little bit and butt heads with them so we can see if we have anybody that we might have overlooked who ought to be in the two-deep."
One player who has stood out in the Deacons' first two scrimmages is sophomore linebacker Justin Jackson. The Rockingham, N.C., native registered five tackles, including a sack, in the team's first scrimmage on Aug. 15. Four days later, Jackson led the defense with 10 tackles, including four solo stops and 1.5 tackles for loss, in the second preseason scrimmage.
Jackson's preseason success is significant, as he has been working his way back from a knee injury that he suffered in last year's season opener. The injury sidelined him for the remainder of the 2010 season and all of spring practice in 2011.
"It's been tough, but I feel like I'm about 95 percent right now," said Jackson. "I'm feeling pretty good. I'm just trying to run around like I've been doing and get the plays down. I'm really hungry right now so I can't wait [to open the season]."
Jackson's efforts to get back on the field and his subsequent production have not gone unnoticed by the coaching staff.
"[Justin] is doing well. He's probably a little further along than we thought he'd be," said Grobe. "I think physically he's been fine for awhile, but your problem is when you've been out of football for as long as he has is you have to get used to just playing again. He's been very comfortable, and he's making a lot of plays. I think he understands what we want. He's just one of those guys who is getting better every day, and that is what you would expect because works really hard."
The Deacons will hold their final intrasquad scrimmage on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at BB&T Field. The scrimmage is closed to the public.
Wake Forest opens the 2011 season on Thursday, Sept. 1, at Syracuse on ESPN3.com. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET.
