Notes and Observations from Louisville's Second Open Spring Practice of 2025

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Spring ball is in full swing for the Louisville football program. The Cardinals are into their first week of their month-long spring practice, with two of their 15 sessions already in the books.

Their second practice, which took place on Tuesday, was the second of six practices that were open to both the fans and media. Like we were for practice No. 1, Louisville Cardinals On SI was there for it all to watch the second open practice of spring ball.

Below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the afternoon:

For this practice, I spent a lot of it watching the defensive back after paying most of my attention to the offensive skill positions during the first practice. Or at least a tried to. The arrangement for practices sometimes isn't great if you want to watch defensive guys.
A quick injury update before I get too deep into this. Both Stanquan Clark and Austin Collins were present at the start, but had no pads or helmets. After warmups, they walked straight to the training room. Blake Ruffin participated in day one, but spent day two on the sideline. During the 11-on-11 with no helmets on day one, Brohm told me it didn't pan out the way he wanted, and that also someone wound up needing stitches. He never gave me a name, but my guess is Pete Nygra considering he didn't have a helmet with him at all.
As far as the rotations go, it was largely what it was on day one. It's still Miller Moss then Deuce Adams at QB, though I'd go as far to say that Mason Mims is already QB3 with how awful Brady Allen has looked. Antonio Meeks appears to be WR3 behind Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy, although Kris Hughes is getting a lot of run with the ones as well. Nate Kurisky and Jaleel Skinner are the top options at tight end, but I'm going to continue keeping an eye on Hamilton Atkins. With Nygra limited, Michael Flores got most first reps at center, with Carter Guillame as his backup. The front seven was the same as day one. At corner, Jabari Mack, Rodney Johnson, Rae'mon Mosby and Antonio Harris seem to be the top three.
The first drill I watched Involved both the cornerbacks and select wide receivers, and was used to help corners with their mirror technique - specifically matching the foot movement/speed of the wideouts. Then they also worked some on there hand placement when pressing at the line. I wish I could say someone stood out here more than others, but this was obviously a drill meant to help establish a baseline. Remember - this early in spring ball is mainly installs, so no one is going to really be a huge standout in these position drills until later practices.
Then, it broke off into a portion where it was QB/RB/WR on one field, and then everyone else on the other. Here, the defensive backs were working with tackling dummies from their knees to work on strike timing/angle, as well downfield press blocking drills. The offensive linemen and tight end worked on various downfield and outside blocking drills. What stood out during this separation was that there was a segment where the starting defense got together in what I can only describe as "defense on air," like when receivers run routes on air. This was mainly to get the defense used to their proper alignment, communication as well as post-snap movement.
After that was our first 7-on-7 segment of the day, although it was a bit of a short one. That being said, there were still a handful of noteworthy plays, which pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. Chris Bell made a great inside break and Miller Moss fit a ball into a tight window, Justin Agu had a good PBU, Daeh McCullough made an impressive tip drill pick after the receiver hit the ground and the ball bounced up, Antonio Harris had a rep where he pressed Bell straight into the ground, and Mason Mims made a couple really good throws. Some walk-ons also made some great plays, as defensive backs Jaden Minkins and Anderson Mitchell both had great plays in coverage, while tight end Harrison Atkins built on his big day one from yesterday.
During the first 11-on-11 segment, I started to notice some dividends from the "defense on air" segment, as they were extremely vocal - at least more so than I can recall previously spring balls at this stage. The defensive line even got a ton of early pressure, especially against the second team offensive line, with guys like Jerry Lawson, Dillon Smith and others standing out. That being said, I still think the offense looked better here. There was a lot of running back work during this segment, especially up the middle. Of course, Isaac Brown and Duke Watson still look great, but Keyjuan Brown seems to have slimmed down some. There was even a Deuce Adams/Jamarice Wilder option play. In the passing game, Meeks had a great sideline catch, Lacy continued to thrive on quick inside routes, while Kurisky continued to take steps forward with plays up the middle. Though still continue to be puzzled by the fact that Rene Konga and Clev Lubin are running with the second team defensive line.
For the special teams work, Carter Schwartz seems to be the odds on favorite to be the starting punter, as he had the most booming kicks. Though A.J. Vinatieri got some good hang time on his. At punt returner, it was still Lacy leading the way, but Meeks, Bobby Golden and and Wilder got in on the action as well.
After that was an incredibly long 7-on-7 period that had to be around 30 plays. As you can guess, a lot of plays were made here. Offensively, there seemed to be a lot of tight end work here, and Jaleel Skinner certainly made the most of it - although Kurisky and Dylan Mesman both looked good here too. There were a couple drops from receivers, but Shaun Boykins Jr. rebounded from one for a good catch that required a lot of concentration, T.J. McWilliams started to pick up steam with his consistency here, Bell found a hole in the zone for a deep catch, Kris Hughes showcased his vertical on one catch, and Lacy ran an angle route out of the backfield. During all this, while Moss had the best throws, Adams was the most consistent. Over on the defensive side of things, Ron English got on the defense multiple times for their alignment, with Darius Thomas particularly catching his ire. Still, there were a couple nice plays, ad both McCullough and Minkins had picks, and Mosby showed really good closing speed on a check down.
Practice ended with a shorter than normal 11-on-11 that featured a two-minute drill segment towards the end. My biggest takeaway here was that the offensive line performed a lot better here than they did earlier in practice, although a couple guys like Adonijah Green and Eric Hazzard still made good plays at the LOS. I also noticed a lot of short route work during this segment, with Moss regularly displaying zero hesitation on getting these ball out quick. Lacy ran a nice wheel route, Hughes and Kurisky got a lot of inside work, Bell beat several defenders deep in zone coverage. I even saw a play that I can only describe as a fake pitch to WR screen. There weren't a ton of plays made on the back end here, although Harris and Mack both snagged picks.

(Photo via Matthew McGavic - Louisville Cardinals On SI)

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