Arizona opened up spring practice today and it went about as you would expect with a new staff in place on defense. Here are some quick notes to hold you over until I am put together a more detailed write up.
* The new staff was getting acclimated to its players on the first day but the intensity was up as you would expect. I will say having the younger staff is already making practice look different. Guys like Addae and Williams are able to physically show the guys what they want during certain situations and that is very different from before. It's helping already.
* The staff is not going to give up much during the open portions of practice but it is going to be a different look. The front is going to change but for the most part you can expect a lot of safeties on the field and linebackers being very aggressive and playing close to the line of scrimmage. There were times when it was that 4-2-5 look though.
* Anu Solomon looked the most comfortable during 1v1 drills and was making some passes the other guys just weren't. Khalil Tate had the look of a freshman on his first practice at times but overall he was way more comfortable than you would expect with a player in his position. He was making some throws I haven't seen him make before he just has to be more consistent with them.
* Anthony Mariscal was running with the first unit at safety as was Kwesi Mashack. Arizona was using Paul Magloire as a linebacker at times and moving him around a bit. In individual drills he was with the linebacker group.
* It was not all good however as right before the media was let out of practice Brion Anduze had a horrific leg injury. Rich Rodriguez decided not to comment on the injury but it did not look good. He was going up for a pass along the sideline when it happened.
* The new staff was getting acclimated to its players on the first day but the intensity was up as you would expect. I will say having the younger staff is already making practice look different. Guys like Addae and Williams are able to physically show the guys what they want during certain situations and that is very different from before. It's helping already.
* The staff is not going to give up much during the open portions of practice but it is going to be a different look. The front is going to change but for the most part you can expect a lot of safeties on the field and linebackers being very aggressive and playing close to the line of scrimmage. There were times when it was that 4-2-5 look though.
* Anu Solomon looked the most comfortable during 1v1 drills and was making some passes the other guys just weren't. Khalil Tate had the look of a freshman on his first practice at times but overall he was way more comfortable than you would expect with a player in his position. He was making some throws I haven't seen him make before he just has to be more consistent with them.
* Anthony Mariscal was running with the first unit at safety as was Kwesi Mashack. Arizona was using Paul Magloire as a linebacker at times and moving him around a bit. In individual drills he was with the linebacker group.
* It was not all good however as right before the media was let out of practice Brion Anduze had a horrific leg injury. Rich Rodriguez decided not to comment on the injury but it did not look good. He was going up for a pass along the sideline when it happened.
