**Saturday night will be the second and final scrimmage of fall camp, so these next few days of practice hold more weight than usual, according to Head Coach Al Golden.
“Today and tomorrow are moving day. Thursday is basically a walk-through and Friday is a game simulation for 40 minutes…This time and tomorrow, it’s time to move because when we wake up Sunday, we’re setting a team,” said Golden.
**Golden was asked about the depth at linebacker and mentioned a freshman LB as someone who has stepped up.
“James King has been a real bright spot for us. Physical, he’s gotten his weight up, he’s fast. He’s 4.7 as a freshman so him going into the mix has helped a lot,” said Golden.
**Golden on the job that DL coach Randy Melvin has done thus far: “Jethro (Franklin) did a really good job for us. Randy is different, they have different styles. Randy is doing a great job connecting with them and he’s doing a great job with being a technician. Randy’s got a lot of depth right now and having Kendrick and RJ pushing the way they have been getting in the mix…They both came in shape and are very bright, so that helps change the whole dynamic. Courtel can play the 3-technique because he’s a lot leaner than he was a year ago. Jelani can play 3 and end, Kamalu can play 3 or end, Chad can play the end, and we have more combinations on the speed.”
**Golden on the progress of the defensive backs group: I don’t know what the final combination is going to be…we’ve got a long way to go before that is settled there. Quan Johnson is back healthy, Jenks is really mature and looks good – his core strength and flexibility is awesome. He’s so much lighter than he was too. He got heavy when he hurt his back, so he’s different. Jamal is having a great camp. Jamal on the GPS is working, him and Darrion Owens are on another planet in terms of how they are working.
--Golden has been extremely pleased with Jamal Carter.
“He’s a bulldog. He’s a hard-worker, he’s relentless…He’s always had a physical presence, but now he’s settled in to playing and executing at a higher level,” added Golden.
**Golden jokingly said that he told Mike Badgley to “bring his golf clubs like the NFL guys” so that he doesn’t hurt himself kicking. Golden added, “He knows I’d whip his ***” at golf.
**Golden mentioned Joe Brown as a player on the offensive line who has made strides during camp. Brown attributes it to being in better shape than a year ago.
“I think I’m doing a lot better. I had to get my weight down because I had issues with it when I first got here and in the spring. I got in the books and the upperclassmen helped me a lot with that. It’s not just me alone doing it by myself,” explained Brown
**Corn Elder told me that he expects to play both nickel corner and outside. He said he feels equally as comfortable in each role.
--Elder on how JaQuan Johnson has looked since returning from his minor injury: “He’s picking up where he left off. He’s out there hitting and doing his best. “
--Jamal Carter has lofty expectations for the freshman Johnson…
“JaQuan has been great. I told him already that he can be the next Ed Reed…his instincts, the way he breaks on the ball, everything about him,” said Carter.
--Tyriq McCord chimed in on Johnson as well…
“He reminds me of a freshman Deon.”
**Some nuggets from a chat that I had with backup QB Malik Rosier…
--On Lawrence Cager: “He’s actually really agile. We’ve had some big guys here who are stiff, but Cager runs really good routes even though he’s young. I think he’ll have some impact on our offense this year.”
--On David Njoku: “Sometimes you might see him at the H, which is a big mismatch if they don’t bring a safety down. If they try to put an outside linebacker on him in the slot, it’s like taking candy from a baby.”
--Rosier loves the versatility of the tight ends, which he believes can help the offense mask a lot of their looks.
“We can use that two tight end set as power since they’re really big, but we can also use it as speed too. We can decide according to the game plan which personnel set we want to use,” said Rosier.
