The House of Blue

10 days until the season opener. First day of morning practice with school in session and first real Louisville-centric practice. No reason to dilly-dally, to the notes:

+++Joker's opening statement and thoughts on how they start preparing for Louisville:

“I thought we were really sharp today,” Phillips said. “This was really the first day we swapped scouts where the down the line offensive guys give the defense a look and the down the line defensive guys give the offense a look. I thought we were better organized than we've ever been around here getting those switches and a lot of that has to do with out guys understanding how to practice. There was a lot of crisp routes, crisp passes, guys were competing on defense. Pleased with our first day of preparation for Louisville.

“You start with our base runs and passes. Same thing with Louisville, you start with their base runs and passes and expand from there. We've got a good start. We've got a lot more preparation to go but we've got time.”

+++The quarterback decision has been public for a few days so Joker was asked how Maxwell Smith has responded, or if it has been any different at all:

“Comfortable,” Phillips siad. “You know how it goes once it's announced, the starting guy feels a little bit more comfortable and the other guys feel more comfortable with him. You're able to lead a little bit better. He was a little more vocal because now he knows it's his.”

+++The Cats have a starter at running back, although you can pretty easily read between the lines that it'll be committee early in the year as it sorts itself out by performance. CoShik Williams returned to practice from a foot sprain and is your No. 1 guy heading into Louisville game:

“One thing about CoShik is he's a tough competitor,” Phillips said. “He's a quick healer also, some people are and some people aren't. CoShik is one of those really quick healers. I've been using this out here, we showed our kids Curtis Martin's (Hall of Fame) speech and one of the things Bill Parcells told him was you don't want to go out of the huddle because of who goes in the huddle. CoShik knows we have talent at the running back position and he when he was out for two days he saw them getting quality reps and doing some special things. You have no choice but to heal quick. He deserves to be the starter the way he finished last spring. He deserves to be the starting running back, plus his knowledge of our offense too.”

+++I finally had a chance to ask about the redshirt freshmen receivers, namely Bookie Cobbins and Rashad Cunningham. The verdict: Don't look for them to be on the field much with the offense early in the year. Instead, look for true freshmen DeMarcus Sweat and A.J. Legree:

“I don't know (if Cobbins and Cunningham will help) early on but I think they'll help us before the season is over,” Phillips said. “I think they'll both help us in the special teams area, that's their niche early. Those two freshmen (DeMarcus Sweat and A.J. Legree) are special guys. Bookie is still making the transition (to receiver) and remember he missed the whole spring. We're (now) getting guys who have played the position for a long time. Before we had to recruit an athlete and teach them position so (Sweat and Legree) understand the position and tare a little bit ahead of the redshirt guys.

+++I followed up with a question about redshirt freshman Daryl Collins and where he gits into the WR mix: “Daryl (Collins) has played both quarterback and receiver so he understands it a little bit better. Physically he's definitely fine, we just have to continue to grow him mentally in the position. He's not a guy who can play a lot of positions at wide receiver but he can definitely help us at the inside position.”

+++How has tight end looked in camp? Well, there have been a lot of minor injuries (Aumiller, T. Robinson, Kendrick), but Phillips still intends to incorporate them into the offense more in 2012:

“We'd like to get our tight end involved a little bit more,” Phillips said. “If you can remember I said Jacob Tamme would be our leading receiver one year and it came back to haunt me but I'd take Stevie Johnson catching for 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns, right? That's how it works. If you take away the inside there has got to be stuff down the field. Jacob still caught 50 balls. We'd like to get our tight ends more involved and start underneath and then go over the top.”

+++More to come later today in an additional VIP practice notes, including thoughts from Randy Sanders and wide receivers coach Pat Washington that dives deeper into the WR situation.