Football Practice Report: April 27
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Venue: Outdoor practice fields
Format: Full pads
The Ducks kicked off their fifth and final week of spring drills Monday, a workout heavy on second-and-long situations and red-zone work.
In a change from the last couple weeks, the offense generally got the best of things throughout the day. Quarterbacks peppered the ball into the end zone during two 7-on-7 situations in the red zone, several running backs had long runs in team situations, and the offense scored in the late clutch period as well.
That said, even though the offense got the better of the defense at times, offensive players still found things to critique. “We should execute a little better,” quarterback Jeff Lockie said. “We want to score every time, and touchdowns, not just field goals. That’s something we improved upon last year and we want to be even better this year.”
Granted, improving any facet of the offense after losing a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback sounds like a tall order, and it may be. But that has to be the attitude players and coaches take as they move on without Marcus Mariota, and try to maximize the abilities of the current team.
In the first 7-on-7 period, there were touchdown passes from Morgan Mahalak to Bralon Addison, Ty Griffin to Darren Carrington and Travis Jonsen to Addison. The next time they went 7-on, Evan Baylis caught TD passes from Lockie and Griffin, and Dwayne Stanford caught one from Jonsen.
In the clutch period to end the day, with the offense needing a touchdown, Mahalak obliged with a scoring pass to Stanford and Griffin connected with Thomas Tyner. Again, the offensive coaches and players didn’t think they were particularly sharp this morning, but you sure wouldn’t have known it from watching them frequent the end zone over the course of practice.
Highlights: Carrington was a consistent standout. After his early touchdown, he had a catch in the next 7-on-7 period of a ball he bobbled three or four times before catching – all with one hand. He added a great catch in 11-on-11 despite having Ugo Amadi draped all over him, and Carrington even had a quality rep during the blocking-and-tackling circuit coaches installed this spring, meeting an opposing player with force and driving him back. … During a late team period focused on run plays, Thomas Tyner made a brilliant cut inside a cornerback who was setting the edge. Then, Tyner was off to the races. Lane Roseberry and Tony Brooks-James also had long runs during the period. …
Some defensive guys made the notebook during an earlier 11-on-11 period. Tyree Robinson had an interception, and Henry Mondeaux stopped a run play at the line of scrimmage. Mondeaux has taken some reps at nose tackle this spring, and seems to be getting comfortable there. Jalen Jelks also stood out for hustling well down the field after a running back, staying with the play through the whistle. … One of the first periods of the day was for kickoff coverage. Danny Mattingly and Khalil Oliver got to the ballcarrier first on successive reps, and a moment later it was the two of them converging on the return man at the same time.
Other observations: Later Monday, coaches planned to meet and designate the teams for Saturday’s spring game. … As for the spring game format, “We’re gonna try to play a game,” UO coach Mark Helfrich said. … Helfrich said his message to players Saturday will be, “Just compete and play. Go out there, get the coaches out of their ears … go out and play.”
