It was back to work for Arizona Tuesday with what would normally be its Wednesday practice. Because of the short week Rich Rodriguez said the team lost what is essentially its Tuesday practice meaning the lone heavy work day was today. The team went a little long trying to get everything in that it needs this week and tomorrow's practice will be a normal Thursday practice which means essentially a more glorified walk-through.
We have plenty to get to for today so here are the quick post-practice notes after Tuesday morning's practice.
* We'll start with the quarterback and Brandon Dawkins was not brought into the media room after Saturday's loss to Houston so that meant today was the first time he was able to talk. When it comes to the errors and mistakes the redshirt junior had in the loss he said his mechanics were lost because he was trying to overcompensate for an injured hand and leg in the game. He took the loss on himself and is trying to work at being better this week against UTEP.
* Rodriguez said to get the team ready and make up for the lost day the team will use the bus ride down to El Paso as a bit of a film session and meeting time to "talk ball" so they can be fully prepared for what the Miners will bring Friday night. The UA head coach also said today was used more for scout team work since it was the only day the team will be able to have a full practice this week.
* As far as today's practice goes Rodriguez said he thought the attitude was right but that hasn't been an issue with this team. Last year it was clear when players were no longer engaged by the team and truly stopped caring. That hasn't been a problem with this group and Rodriguez liked how it went out there today. He was asked about the quarterbacks and he said the group threw the ball well in today's practice, which coming off Saturday's game is a positive.
"We've been throwing a lot in practice and we had a few drops and a few missed throws, but I thought they saw the field well in practice."
* Arizona had some drops and it was guys who normally are pretty good about holding onto the ball including Shun Brown. Shawn Poindexter had a couple chances to score a touchdown and couldn't come up with passes at the back of the end zone. Rodriguez said through two games the receiver group hasn't had its best game yet.
"I think we've competed hard and they're practicing hard," he said. "It's a close group, and they're a pretty intelligent group. A lot of those guys can play multiple positions, but we had a couple drops and a couple things they normally wouldn't have."
Rodriguez added that Poindexter has made some phenomenal catches in practice so he has confidence that the senior will make the plays he couldn't Saturday as the season moves along.
For UA receivers coach Theron Aych the thing he is preaching to his group this week is finishing. He wants to see the receivers finish plays and he thought that is what was missing Saturday night.
"Sometimes you're just pressing," he said of the drops the receivers had. "You're trying to make a play when the game is on the line feeling like they gotta be that guy instead of just letting things happen. Obviously, Shun Brown and Shawn Poindexter those guys are competitors and are gonna bounce back. They had a good day today and they'll be ready to go Saturday."
I asked Aych what he has to tell his players when they are open but simply get missed by the quarterbacks since it looked like there were a couple frustrated players at times. He sort of half-smirked before giving his response.
"Stay patient, stay the course," Aych said of his message to the receivers. "That's it. We've gotta do our job he's (Dawkins) gotta do his and the O-line has to do theirs. We can control only what we can control. That's the mentality we've had since day one and that's what we practiced today and how we're going to play again on Friday."
* JJ Taylor said he was happy to be able to get a full game of action under his belt Saturday coming off the injury last year. It's something that helped him get more into the flow of things and he was happy he was able to contribute more against Houston. Taylor said hands down the best thing the running backs are good at is running between the tackles so the play calling is never going to stray too far from what the group does best.
It wasn't necessarily the play calling in his mind that limited the running attack but rather what Houston was showing defensively.
"Their defensive scheme was a lot different than what we saw on film," he said. "They had a lot of powerful defensive linemen who were getting in the backfield, so it made it hard for us to get proper reads and stuff like that. So I would say that was probably the most difficult part."
* The vibe right now around the team today is that Nick Wilson should be able to return this week, but we'll see how things sound tomorrow. Meanwhile, tight end Trevor Wood is out of his boot and at least getting closer to making it back on the field.
We have plenty to get to for today so here are the quick post-practice notes after Tuesday morning's practice.
* We'll start with the quarterback and Brandon Dawkins was not brought into the media room after Saturday's loss to Houston so that meant today was the first time he was able to talk. When it comes to the errors and mistakes the redshirt junior had in the loss he said his mechanics were lost because he was trying to overcompensate for an injured hand and leg in the game. He took the loss on himself and is trying to work at being better this week against UTEP.
* Rodriguez said to get the team ready and make up for the lost day the team will use the bus ride down to El Paso as a bit of a film session and meeting time to "talk ball" so they can be fully prepared for what the Miners will bring Friday night. The UA head coach also said today was used more for scout team work since it was the only day the team will be able to have a full practice this week.
* As far as today's practice goes Rodriguez said he thought the attitude was right but that hasn't been an issue with this team. Last year it was clear when players were no longer engaged by the team and truly stopped caring. That hasn't been a problem with this group and Rodriguez liked how it went out there today. He was asked about the quarterbacks and he said the group threw the ball well in today's practice, which coming off Saturday's game is a positive.
"We've been throwing a lot in practice and we had a few drops and a few missed throws, but I thought they saw the field well in practice."
* Arizona had some drops and it was guys who normally are pretty good about holding onto the ball including Shun Brown. Shawn Poindexter had a couple chances to score a touchdown and couldn't come up with passes at the back of the end zone. Rodriguez said through two games the receiver group hasn't had its best game yet.
"I think we've competed hard and they're practicing hard," he said. "It's a close group, and they're a pretty intelligent group. A lot of those guys can play multiple positions, but we had a couple drops and a couple things they normally wouldn't have."
Rodriguez added that Poindexter has made some phenomenal catches in practice so he has confidence that the senior will make the plays he couldn't Saturday as the season moves along.
For UA receivers coach Theron Aych the thing he is preaching to his group this week is finishing. He wants to see the receivers finish plays and he thought that is what was missing Saturday night.
"Sometimes you're just pressing," he said of the drops the receivers had. "You're trying to make a play when the game is on the line feeling like they gotta be that guy instead of just letting things happen. Obviously, Shun Brown and Shawn Poindexter those guys are competitors and are gonna bounce back. They had a good day today and they'll be ready to go Saturday."
I asked Aych what he has to tell his players when they are open but simply get missed by the quarterbacks since it looked like there were a couple frustrated players at times. He sort of half-smirked before giving his response.
"Stay patient, stay the course," Aych said of his message to the receivers. "That's it. We've gotta do our job he's (Dawkins) gotta do his and the O-line has to do theirs. We can control only what we can control. That's the mentality we've had since day one and that's what we practiced today and how we're going to play again on Friday."
* JJ Taylor said he was happy to be able to get a full game of action under his belt Saturday coming off the injury last year. It's something that helped him get more into the flow of things and he was happy he was able to contribute more against Houston. Taylor said hands down the best thing the running backs are good at is running between the tackles so the play calling is never going to stray too far from what the group does best.
It wasn't necessarily the play calling in his mind that limited the running attack but rather what Houston was showing defensively.
"Their defensive scheme was a lot different than what we saw on film," he said. "They had a lot of powerful defensive linemen who were getting in the backfield, so it made it hard for us to get proper reads and stuff like that. So I would say that was probably the most difficult part."
* The vibe right now around the team today is that Nick Wilson should be able to return this week, but we'll see how things sound tomorrow. Meanwhile, tight end Trevor Wood is out of his boot and at least getting closer to making it back on the field.
