One dropped pass and the gloves come off. Literally.
That’s the deal that new wide receivers coach Eric Scott made with his players at spring practice.
“He’s tough on us,” senior Marcus Everett said. “We drop one ball ““ we gotta take our gloves off.”
Only four days into practice, the spring has presented a host of new, tough challenges for the wide receivers to handle. The players are learning a new offense, learning new plays, and getting used to a system that leaves main receivers in the game for a much longer period of time.
Whereas last year receivers were subbed in and out more often, this year’s offense will stress more merit-based reps with the hopes of having the best players on the field at the most important times.
“The ones are taking a lot more reps than we did last year,” Everett said. “That’s going to be a big factor for us because we’re not going to be rotating out of games during the season, so we have to get in shape and be used to being in there four or five plays at a time.”
The result in the early going is a lot of tired wide outs, but they are confident that the extra conditioning will pay off in the long run and that the new plan should help the offense.
With the new system, receivers will be able to get into a rhythm, instead of subbing in and out of the game constantly. In practice, it helps the team’s key receivers pick up the offense quicker.
“I kept the first group in and let them go four plays straight,” Scott said. “I don’t believe in rotating a guy every one play; the receivers have to get into a rhythm in the running game and the passing game. They have to be able to go in there and rep it out. They gotta be able to suck it up.”
Scott has demanded a lot from the wide receiving corps, highlighting consistency as the most important part of the game to focus on. Working with a corps of guys in seniors Everett, Brandon Breazell and Joe Cowan, who have all been in the program since they were freshmen, the new coach has not let up one bit.
“He’s pushing us the way we need to be pushed,” Breazell said.
With a lot to learn with the new offense, the Bruin offense has not had an easy go of it. While the less frequent rotations should help receivers learn the plays quicker, there is no sidestepping the growing pains that come with a new system.
“We knew it was going to be a struggle coming into spring trying to learn the system and the new plays,” Everett said.
Still, Scott is not cutting his players any slack while they learn the new system.
“No balls on the ground, it’s a great day,” Scott said. “One ball on the ground, we had a terrible day in my opinion.”
INJURY REPORT: Senior Chris Joseph, slated to replace Robert Chai at center, had swelling in his surgically repaired knee and did not practice. Also not practicing were defensive end Nikola Dragovic after tweaking his hamstring in Saturday’s practice, and guard Shannon Tevaga with back pain.
Quarterback Ben Olson was limited in practice, and quarterback Pat Cowan tweaked his hamstring near the end of practice and sat out the rest of the afternoon.
“All those (injuries) aren’t significant,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “We’re just trying to not make them significant. Give them some rest time and bring them back some time in the week.”