LB Sean WeatherspoonLB Sean Weatherspoon
Football

Tigers' Day Shortened To One Practice

Aug. 13, 2009

MULTIMEDIA:

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Members of the Missouri Tiger football team had themselves braced for two practices Thursday as the 2009 training camp continued in Columbia. But they only had one practice in the end, as Head Coach Gary Pinkel liked what he saw enough from a physical performance from the defense in the morning, and the afternoon session was scrapped in order to take the team to the movies.

The morning practice was held in full pads on Faurot Field, and the defense showed early that it had come to play, as it won virtually every drill, and in the end, every period on the way to a 5-0 sweep of their offensive counterparts. The offense certainly made some plays during the 2 1/2-hour practice, but the defense was looking to get their first practice victory of the camp, and they did so with solid play from start to finish. Here were some highlights from the day…

  • Early on, the defense set the tone when, during inside run drills, redshirt freshman DL Brad Madison got into the backfield and forced a fumble of a ball carrier. The ball bounced backward into the endzone, where it was scooped up for a touchdown by junior S Jasper Simmons…
  • During 6-on-6 passing drills, the defense was again making the big plays. Junior DB Kevin Rutland continued his solid camp as he was seen forcing two straight incompletions due to tight coverage against receivers. Sophomore DB Trey Hobson and freshman LB Donovan Bonner both had big hits to break up potential pass completions, and that was soon followed by sophomore FS Kenji Jackson, who intercepted a pass in the endzone. Jackson returned to take limited snaps while still wearing the red injury bib, as he's not quite 100% from the strained calf injury he sustained on Tuesday. Freshman LB Andrew Wilson knocked a pass down late in the drills to keep the defense on top. On one play, Simmons launched himself at a receiver to break up another pass, but the ball deflected in the air, and freshman WR L'Damian Washington dove to make a catch for a nice highlight play…
  • When it came to 11-on-11 scrimmaging, it was more of the same as DL Dominique Hamilton got loose for a touch sack of QB Blaine Gabbert after the secondary gave him nowhere to throw. LB Sean Weatherspoon was also in on the play, forcing Gabbert to step up in the pocket, which led to the sack by Hamilton. Gabbert tried to connect with WR Danario Alexander on the next play, but S Del Howard broke up the play. On the next play, an attempt over the middle was deflected and picked off by LB Luke Lambert. Weatherspoon later made a nice break on a sideline route to break up a pass, as well. The offense did manage a couple of good plays, as Gabbert connected with TE Andrew Jones for a gain of 10 yards on a 3rd-and-3 situation, and TB Derrick Washington went off tackle for about 15 yards on a 3rd-and-1 snap…
  • Junior CB Carl Gettis had an impressive series late in the day, when he had tight coverage to deny a pass completion by the #2 offense, and then on the next play, he stopped an outlet pass in the right flat for a loss of about three yards…
  • After the team went through their regular set of morning and afternoon meetings, the good news was spread that they weren't holding afternoon practice. The team was bussed to the local movie theater where they had a choice of several movies. Word had it that a majority of the guys went to see G.I. Joe…

On the injury front, senior DL Jaron Baston did not practice due to an injured groin he suffered Wednesday. His status will be day-to-day, but he's not expected to miss much time going forward, while both FS Kenji Jackson (calf) and WR T.J. Moe (foot) both returned to practice in limited fashion, but were held out of full contact situations. Freshman LB Zaviar Gooden was also held out for his sore foot, and hopes to be back as soon as possible. Freshman LB Tavon Bolden tweaked a hamstring late in the day, but isn't expected to miss much time at this point. Coach Pinkel said that freshman DL Marvin Foster will have surgery on Monday to repair his injured knee.

Coach Pinkel announced the recipients of the team's Spring Academic Achivement goals. Each player who reached their goals was awarded a special t-shirt commemorating his accomplishment. The winners of the award included:

The Tigers will hold a single practice Friday morning, with that being the final practice prior to the first scrimmage of the fall on Saturday. Stay tuned to mutigers.com for all of the details.