Well, Arizona went back to work today and it was a warm one as the Wildcats had an afternoon practice. UA held its Wildcat Olympics so things went a little longer than expected, but the mood seemed to be really in a better place than I can remember early on. Here are some quick notes after having a chance to talk with Rich Rodriguez and players earlier tonight.
* Rodriguez purposely moved today's practice to the middle of the afternoon so that it would be warmer and as he expected things were not quite as strong as they could have been. He said it felt like some guys were still half in spring break. His point was that he wanted the players to feel what it was like to have a practice while unconditioned since he had a feeling most didn't do a ton during the break.
* Asked about his concerns along the offensive line Rodriguez differed with where Jim Michalczik is at when it comes depth. The UA offensive line coach said he feels the depth is better than it has been while Rodriguez was not so nice. He said he appreciates Michalczik saying that but he doesn't believe the depth is good enough right now. He mentioned that Gerhard de Beer hasn't even practiced yet and cited that other injuries with that group as well.
"I probably worry more than he does," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad he said that. Gerhard hasn't practiced all spring and a couple other guys haven't done much. So, I think we need to get deeper there but if we keep seven or eight guys healthy we'll be OK."
* Brandon Dawkins said he worked out with former Cal wide receiver and now Philadelphia Eagles receiver Bryce Treggs and other NFL receivers over spring break and he was able to take some things from that experience and bring it back to Tucson with him. He said the most noticeable thing was the timing and how much faster those players are than what he has seen. There were some things with timing that he was able to pick up on that he's planning to use to help Arizona's receivers get on the same page with him about. He thinks some of those tweaks will help the passing game.
Speaking of the passing game I asked him in his opinion how it improves this season and rather than Xs and Os or talk of timing Dawkins said it is about staying healthy. Both for the quarterbacks but also the running backs in particular. He said losing the trio of senior receivers won't feel as impactful if all the running backs are able to stay healthy. He sees the passing game issues as more of a health thing than anything else.
* Arizona is still dealing with injuries and someone I was actually excited to see what he looked like this spring continues to sit out for the most part. Jalen Cochran is still in a yellow jersey although he was dressed out today in full pads. The yellow means he's not able to participate fully in practice and that means not a lot of opportunity to get better or more familiar with the scheme. UA has high hopes for the redshirt freshman defensive end but he'll have to get on the field again to continue that progress from last season when he sat out. The exact injury is still unclear at this point.
* I spoke with tight end Trevor Wood today after practice and asked what he anticipates about this season and he said he's hopeful it presents more opportunities for him to catch passes and he does believe this is the best group of pass-catching tight ends the team has had since he's been here. However, he also said it's all about doing what the coaches ask. If that just means blocking it's what he'll do. I asked if he gets frustrated and he said all the things his coaches would like to hear, but there was a sense that he would want to see the ball come his way more.
* Rodriguez purposely moved today's practice to the middle of the afternoon so that it would be warmer and as he expected things were not quite as strong as they could have been. He said it felt like some guys were still half in spring break. His point was that he wanted the players to feel what it was like to have a practice while unconditioned since he had a feeling most didn't do a ton during the break.
* Asked about his concerns along the offensive line Rodriguez differed with where Jim Michalczik is at when it comes depth. The UA offensive line coach said he feels the depth is better than it has been while Rodriguez was not so nice. He said he appreciates Michalczik saying that but he doesn't believe the depth is good enough right now. He mentioned that Gerhard de Beer hasn't even practiced yet and cited that other injuries with that group as well.
"I probably worry more than he does," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad he said that. Gerhard hasn't practiced all spring and a couple other guys haven't done much. So, I think we need to get deeper there but if we keep seven or eight guys healthy we'll be OK."
* Brandon Dawkins said he worked out with former Cal wide receiver and now Philadelphia Eagles receiver Bryce Treggs and other NFL receivers over spring break and he was able to take some things from that experience and bring it back to Tucson with him. He said the most noticeable thing was the timing and how much faster those players are than what he has seen. There were some things with timing that he was able to pick up on that he's planning to use to help Arizona's receivers get on the same page with him about. He thinks some of those tweaks will help the passing game.
Speaking of the passing game I asked him in his opinion how it improves this season and rather than Xs and Os or talk of timing Dawkins said it is about staying healthy. Both for the quarterbacks but also the running backs in particular. He said losing the trio of senior receivers won't feel as impactful if all the running backs are able to stay healthy. He sees the passing game issues as more of a health thing than anything else.
* Arizona is still dealing with injuries and someone I was actually excited to see what he looked like this spring continues to sit out for the most part. Jalen Cochran is still in a yellow jersey although he was dressed out today in full pads. The yellow means he's not able to participate fully in practice and that means not a lot of opportunity to get better or more familiar with the scheme. UA has high hopes for the redshirt freshman defensive end but he'll have to get on the field again to continue that progress from last season when he sat out. The exact injury is still unclear at this point.
* I spoke with tight end Trevor Wood today after practice and asked what he anticipates about this season and he said he's hopeful it presents more opportunities for him to catch passes and he does believe this is the best group of pass-catching tight ends the team has had since he's been here. However, he also said it's all about doing what the coaches ask. If that just means blocking it's what he'll do. I asked if he gets frustrated and he said all the things his coaches would like to hear, but there was a sense that he would want to see the ball come his way more.
