Practice Wrap - 8/11

Some thoughts from Saturday’s session, which included lots of scrimmaging:

Who stood out: A bunch of players. As will be documented in Sunday’s Gazette, freshman corner Reggie Rembert, senior corner Carson Bird, wide receiver Sean Quintana and all the tight ends made big plays. In addition, senior Chad Hall continued to look comfortable at the Falcons’ “Z” wide receiver position. Hall broke free for a gain of about 60 yards on a reverse and also made a leaping catch along the sideline.

Lasting image: Senior guard Caleb Morris getting penalized for excessive celebration after the first-team offense scored a touchdown.

After tight end Keith Madsen hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Shaun Carney, Morris ripped off his helmet and jumped into Madsen’s arms. But taking off one’s helmet results in a 15-yard penalty. The refs who worked practice immediately tossed flags in Morris' direction.

“Our o-line coach (Clay Hendrix) said in the locker room he wants us to get really excited (when we score),” Morris said. “I either forgot about the rule or I never heard it.”

If nothing else, Carney got a kick out of it.

“An offensive lineman getting an excessive celebration?” Carney said as he walked off the field. “I love it.”

Offensive linemen are the best for comedy, though. I asked Morris after practice what the 2007 offensive line’s t-shirt would read this year (as reported in an earlier blog post, last year’s was – “There may be no ‘I’ in ‘team,’ but there are three in ‘Chili Cheese Fries.’”).

“I think we’re gong to do ‘Fat Kids Are Hard to Kidnap,’” he said. “But we haven’t figured it out yet.”

Coach’s quote: “Defensively we’ve got too many assignment busts, we’ve got to clean it up. And offensively, we’ve got to be a little more ornery group, we’ve got to be a little more disciplined when it comes to penalties, when it comes to holding onto the ball. That’s mental toughness.” – coach Troy Calhoun on what the Falcons must improve.