Day One of WVU Fall Camp is in the Books
The West Virginia University football team took to the practice field Monday morning for day one of 2020 fall camp and a visibly eager and excited head coach Neal Brown addressed the media following practice.
"Excited to actually practice football today," said Brown. "We've been able to have – I don't know what the oversight committee officially called them, I called them OTA's, we had OTA's leading into our first practice today but today was our first actual practice."
"We're going to gradually get back into it, added Brown. "Had helmets on today. Going to be smart on how we practice and prepare. This is not a normal camp situation for us. We're going to have more breaks built-in. It won't be as physical. We got guys that are getting into shape. We're not in shape as we normally would be going into a season. So, we're going in probably being more careful now than when we would have, and I'm just talking about from conditioning – what we're asking our guys to do."
The Mountaineers have competition at quarterback heading into the 2020 season with Jarret Doege and Austin Kendall. Brown has been pleased with how the quarterbacks attacked the offseason during these unprecedented times, and it appears it has paid off.
"I thought both quarterbacks looked sharp today, Kendall and Doege both. They're in two different groups, but I thought they looked sharp. Garrett Greene's a kid that can really move. I'm excited about him and his growth and what he is," said Brown.
Jarret Doege
Caleb Saunders/WVU Football
The receiving core is out to prove they are better than what the showed on the field last season. The group impressed in the early stages of spring practice before it was shut down due to the pandemic, and although it's early in fall camp, it seems they picked up where they have left off.
"I thought at the receiver position – we got talent there. Bryce Wheaton made some plays down the field, as did Sam James. Sam Brown is a young kid that has shown some flashes here early," said Brown.
Sam James
Caleb Saunders/WVU Football
Brown also added that "(running back Alec) Sinkfield is a guy that showed up at OTA's and had several bright moments in practice today,' before shifting his attention over to the defensive side of the ball."
"I thought defensively (linebacker) Josh Chandler ran around well. You can tell (linebacker Dylan) Tonkery is more comfortable as well. (linebacker) Jared Bartlett has had a really good offseason. Alonzo Addae, playing safety, I thought he was active around the ball a lot. (defensive back) Tae Mayo probably had one of his better practices that he's had since he's been here."
Dylan Tonkery
Caleb Saunders/WVU Football
Despite having what Neal Brown calls OTA's the past couple of weeks, players are physically a step behind, which is not uncommon for the first day of practice. Still, with the staff's ability to virtually be with their players during the pandemic, mentally they're well ahead of the curve.
"We're further ahead right now mentally than we've ever been," said Brown. "When I say 'we,' I'm talking about offensively or defensively – going back to when I was a coordinator all the way through – this is year six of being a head coach and a lot of that has to do with all the zoom meetings we had going back to April, but I think our coaches have done a really good job of teaching and teaching in unique settings and really growing as teachers. Where we have some room to grow is just on the reaction piece."
Brown also added, "Assignment wise, we're really sharp, but today we did it full speed for the first time, and our reactions just aren't there yet. It's been a long time since we've had had a full speed on March 12th."
Brown and his staff are taking the necessary precautions to combat the spread of COVID-19 and one way to ensure player safety is splitting the team up into two groups.
"We had a split-squad practice today. We've got our team broken down to Gold and Blue, and it's basically done with who guys live with or who they spend time with outside of football because what we want to do is we want to try to keep them contained in those Gold and Blue teams. We're going to do this for several days as we continue to learn how to go about practicing," said Brown.
When it comes to the Mountaineers on-field performance, Neal Brown does not mince words, and after day one, it appears West Virginia is off to a good start.
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