By Rob Patrick
The Bryant Hornets football team takes a significant step forward in its preparation for the start of[more] the 2012 season when they don the pads and get into some full contact drills and scrimmaging. The Hornets were limited to helmets and short at the start of fall practice early last week, then worked in helmets and shoulder pads later in the week. On Monday, they added the pads in their girdles with full-pad work set to get underway on Tuesday.
The team is practicing each morning from 7 to 10.
“Last week was supposed to be subdued and very light,” noted Hornets head coach Paul Calley. “It was somewhat subdued but it wasn’t very — we tried to go together a couple of times and we’re knocking each other to the ground and pushing people around so we had to scrap all that and go back to just the install.
“It really doesn’t make any difference to our guys. They’re going to go hard regardless,” he added. “Tomorrow, I guess it gives them more of a green light.”
In assessing today’s work, Calley commented, “I thought towards the end, after the second hour of practice, we got some good work done for about a period and a half, which is about seven minutes. For last seven minutes, we were kind of sucking air. We’ve got a ways to go conditioning-wise. But we’ll get adjusted to it.
“I’ve been pleased with the first groups on both sides of the ball,” he noted. “We’ve still got to develop depth, of course. That’s always a problem and we’re looking for some people to step to the front and make the most of opportunities when they get them. We’re not getting that right now.
“We did some ones-versus-ones today and got some good work on our inside drill and pass skel,” the coach concluded. “But we’ve got a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. I liked the effort. The guys we’ve got sticking it out I think are going to be pretty good.”
