Day Three: Spring Practice

For the first time this spring the Seminole football team put on pads. The team practiced for 28 periods once again but Wednesday they put on shoulder pads and began to hit. FSU football will practice two more times this week. The team goes back to the field this Friday and will scrimmage Saturday.

HIGHLIGHTS & NOTES:

• It was a day of firsts for the Seminoles. The team not only put on pads but they worked on special teams for the first time and referees were also on the field.

• The offense and defense did scout team work to begin the practice.

• The lines worked on individual blocking while the receivers and defensive backs went up against one another. Christian Ponder and Greg Carr connected and Preston Parker hauled in a ball along the sideline that he skied to catch.

• In run drills Marcus Sims had two big gainers, Jamaal Edwards broke a tackle and turned in a couple big runs, Pat Davis had a big gainer as did Russell Ball. Xavier Lee broke the pocket for a nice scramble as well. Defensively Neefy Moffett had a tackle behind the line.

• In pass skel Tony Carter broke up three passes and Michael Ray Garvin, Patrick Robinson and Jamie Robinson had pass break ups as well. Roger Williams hauled in the lone interception. Drew Weatherford hooked up with De'Cody Fagg and he also hit Joslin Shaw deep.

• In 11-on-11 Moffett had another tackle for loss. Myron Rolle recovered a fumble and had two of the biggest hits, Everette Brown had a tackle for loss and Jamie Robinson had a big tackle at the line of scrimmage. For the offense, Antone Smith had a nice run he busted up the middle and then broke off another long run after breaking a tackle at the line. Weatherford connected with tight end Charlie Graham who turned a short pass into a long gainer after he shed a tackle. Sims turned in another nice run as well.

QUOTES

Head Coach Bobby Bowden

"We got shoulder pads and helmets on today and got a little contact. We had some pretty good contact drills. The kids got after it pretty good. They looked like they hustled pretty good. The intensity was a little bit better but I guess that was because they had the pads on."

on the progress of the quarterbacks

"They are making progress but they still got a long way to go, no doubt about it. I think the new system is getting them thinking a little bit more than normally you would want them to. You want them to know what they're doing instead of think what they are doing. I think it is because of the new system."

Defensive lineman Andre Fluellen

on his impressions of the offensive line so far

"The intensity they have is way more serious than they had last year. I think a lot of it has to do with the conditioning they have been doing, a lot more conditioning. Just dropping body fat."

Rover Myron Rolle

on the secondary leading the defense in 2007

"I think so. We have everybody coming back so everybody in the secondary has game experience. Coach (Mickey) Andrews is looking for us to make more turnovers this year. That is what we are emphasizing this spring."

on the expectations for himself as a sophomore

"I expect to make more plays out there. I expect to be more aggressive. That's the type of player I am. That's the type of player they recruited here at Florida State. I expect to make a lot more big plays."

on being back in pads

"It feels real good to be back in the pads. It was physical with our pads off, now we have a license to hit people. It was a very good practice today. Very tough."

Linebacker Geno Hayes

on all the attention being focused on the offense so far

"We have something to prove but you know they got all the new coaches over there. Everyone is expecting them to do big things. They can have all the pub they want but when it is time for us to show up we're going to show up."