The Illini practiced from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Monday and were in full pads.
Some notes on what we were able to find out from Saturday. It was a closed scrimmage at Memorial Stadium. According to OC Rod Smith, the offense took a step back that night and he wasn't happy with their showing. Wouldn't give any details to why. HC Lovie Smith thought it was good scrimmage, so that might give you a hint to the defense out-performing the offense.
People out for today's practice included DT Jamal Milan, who was walking around in a large brace on his left leg. DB Dylan Wyatt was out once again. He started out the practice with ice taped around his knee, then was walking around in pads for the rest of it. LB Khalan Tolson didn't practice, must've been a rest day for him. LB James Knight, DB P.C. Daniels and OL Robert Unije were all in no-contact jerseys.
Safety Bennett Williams went down in practice today. My not-so-professional medical evaluation concluded that it looked like he suffered a stinger to the back of the neck. He iced it for awhile and was up and walking the rest of practice.
DB Nick Walker was back in full pads today, didn't notice him out on the field so he may not be fully ready to go yet.
Offense didn't look close to what it did on Friday, but Rod said they looked better today than Saturday.
Offense
No explosive plays today like on Friday. Only completed passes were no longer than 10-yards for the most part. All the quarterbacks were shaky at times. Tried running the two-minute drill today, and that was an utter trainwreck. Wide receivers not running the right routes, quarterbacks making bad reads and the offensive line struggling to get set and handle their assignments. Rod was not a happy camper.
A.J. Bush had a solid day overall. You can tell how much more comfortable he is getting with the offense. He's very composed in the pocket and actually going through his progression instead of panicking and trying to make something happen with his feet. Thought he was efficient and chose the right opportunities to take off on the ground.
Cam Thomas and Matt Robinson were atrocious today. Thomas barely completed any passes and seems to struggle with making the right reads in the option. Rod got on him really hard after Thomas kept it and proceeded to get swallowed up on the edge. Just hasn't made anything out of his opportunities and has hardly any accuracy.
Robinson had a bad day, but it wasn't a bad day in a way where this will be a common theme. Just was off with his throws today. A lot of the short-to-intermediate throws he had been so good with earlier on in camp, were going in the dirt. He did once again connect with WR Carmoni Green down the field, this was probably his best long ball all of camp. During the two-minute drill, Robinson threw a ball into double coverage down the field and safety Michael Marchese picked it off. Rod got on him for not looking the safety off.
M.J. Rivers had a nice day, possibly his best day of camp so far. He just made the right throws when he needed to and took off on the ground at the right times. I think things are starting to click for him now. Coran Taylor, not so much.
WR Justice Williams seems to be improving every day at his new position. Seems like he is making one nice catch each day of camp. Green continues to impress me with his ability to get separation at the line of scimmage. When he connected with Robinson today, he burnt CB Nate Hobbs off the line and blew past him. First time Hobbs really got beat that badly here in camp. WR Sam Mays has shown he's got inconsistent hands. His issue is taking his eye off the ball before he's secured it. Mays has caught every ball that he's kept his eye on.
Got a change in the first team offensive line today. OT Jake Cerny got first team reps today instead of Verdian Lowe. Nothing to panic about, just probably getting Cerny first team reps in case someone goes down. Cerny is a perfect example of the lack of depth this offensive line has. He got destroyed by just about everyone in the 1-on-1 line drills, and didn't perform well in the 11-on-11 segments either. Larry Boyd looked really good, just a shame you can't see him get first team reps because of his probable suspension this fall.
O&D lines did a lot of 1-on-1 today. Some people that stood out defensively were DE Isaiah Gay and Bobby Roundtree. Those two are going to be a force on the edge this year. DL Lere Oladipo had his way with RG Nick Alligretti. Oladipo beat Alligretti three straight times. OL coach Luke Butkus was loving it, "Keep kicking his ass, Lere."
That's okay because Alligretti was getting love from Butkus during the first segment of 1-on-1. Alligretti handled DT Tymir Oliver multiple times, which led to Oliver wanting to fight Alligretti. Butkus wasn't surprised by this, saying, "I'd want to fight you too after getting my ass kicked like that."
DT Verdis Brown was also impressive during 1-on-1. He ran through just about everyone, then when they were expecting him to bull rush again, he ducked right around the guard and beat him that way.
Defense
The front six controlled the line of scrimmage today. The D-line swallowed up anything trying to come up the middle, and anytime the run was getting kicked to the outside, LBs Jake Hansen and Del'Shawn Phillips were in perfect position to make the tackle. Today was the first day those two really stood out to me. I thought they controlled the pace of the game during first team 11-on-11 play. Phillips sacked Bush after not biting on the option. Really liking how those two are shaping up at LB so far here in camp.
DT Calvin Avery sacked Robinson today. He must've had a hefty Sunday night or something, because he was gasping for air today. Avery still looked good during 11-on-11, however. DEs Ayo Shogbonyo and Owen Carney Jr. recorded back-to-back sacks during the two-minute drill, which had DL coach Austin Clark hyped up and Butkus and Rod just a "little" flustered.
Secondary created three turnovers today. Hobbs bullied Williams out on a slant route and picked off Taylor for what would've been six points. Already mentioned the Marchese pick, and S Stanley Green ripped the ball away from WR Dominic Stampley on a curl route. Defense recovered the fumble and took it to the house. CB Cameron Watkins would've picked off Bush on a jump ball down the field with Mays, but because he has a club on his hand (injured hand last week), he could only bat the ball away. This group continues to make plays everyday.
That's it for Day 8 of camp. Defense looked strong, offense not so much, but apparently better than Saturday. Still got a whole week of camp to go.
Questions and Thoughts?
Some notes on what we were able to find out from Saturday. It was a closed scrimmage at Memorial Stadium. According to OC Rod Smith, the offense took a step back that night and he wasn't happy with their showing. Wouldn't give any details to why. HC Lovie Smith thought it was good scrimmage, so that might give you a hint to the defense out-performing the offense.
People out for today's practice included DT Jamal Milan, who was walking around in a large brace on his left leg. DB Dylan Wyatt was out once again. He started out the practice with ice taped around his knee, then was walking around in pads for the rest of it. LB Khalan Tolson didn't practice, must've been a rest day for him. LB James Knight, DB P.C. Daniels and OL Robert Unije were all in no-contact jerseys.
Safety Bennett Williams went down in practice today. My not-so-professional medical evaluation concluded that it looked like he suffered a stinger to the back of the neck. He iced it for awhile and was up and walking the rest of practice.
DB Nick Walker was back in full pads today, didn't notice him out on the field so he may not be fully ready to go yet.
Offense didn't look close to what it did on Friday, but Rod said they looked better today than Saturday.
Offense
No explosive plays today like on Friday. Only completed passes were no longer than 10-yards for the most part. All the quarterbacks were shaky at times. Tried running the two-minute drill today, and that was an utter trainwreck. Wide receivers not running the right routes, quarterbacks making bad reads and the offensive line struggling to get set and handle their assignments. Rod was not a happy camper.
A.J. Bush had a solid day overall. You can tell how much more comfortable he is getting with the offense. He's very composed in the pocket and actually going through his progression instead of panicking and trying to make something happen with his feet. Thought he was efficient and chose the right opportunities to take off on the ground.
Cam Thomas and Matt Robinson were atrocious today. Thomas barely completed any passes and seems to struggle with making the right reads in the option. Rod got on him really hard after Thomas kept it and proceeded to get swallowed up on the edge. Just hasn't made anything out of his opportunities and has hardly any accuracy.
Robinson had a bad day, but it wasn't a bad day in a way where this will be a common theme. Just was off with his throws today. A lot of the short-to-intermediate throws he had been so good with earlier on in camp, were going in the dirt. He did once again connect with WR Carmoni Green down the field, this was probably his best long ball all of camp. During the two-minute drill, Robinson threw a ball into double coverage down the field and safety Michael Marchese picked it off. Rod got on him for not looking the safety off.
M.J. Rivers had a nice day, possibly his best day of camp so far. He just made the right throws when he needed to and took off on the ground at the right times. I think things are starting to click for him now. Coran Taylor, not so much.
WR Justice Williams seems to be improving every day at his new position. Seems like he is making one nice catch each day of camp. Green continues to impress me with his ability to get separation at the line of scimmage. When he connected with Robinson today, he burnt CB Nate Hobbs off the line and blew past him. First time Hobbs really got beat that badly here in camp. WR Sam Mays has shown he's got inconsistent hands. His issue is taking his eye off the ball before he's secured it. Mays has caught every ball that he's kept his eye on.
Got a change in the first team offensive line today. OT Jake Cerny got first team reps today instead of Verdian Lowe. Nothing to panic about, just probably getting Cerny first team reps in case someone goes down. Cerny is a perfect example of the lack of depth this offensive line has. He got destroyed by just about everyone in the 1-on-1 line drills, and didn't perform well in the 11-on-11 segments either. Larry Boyd looked really good, just a shame you can't see him get first team reps because of his probable suspension this fall.
O&D lines did a lot of 1-on-1 today. Some people that stood out defensively were DE Isaiah Gay and Bobby Roundtree. Those two are going to be a force on the edge this year. DL Lere Oladipo had his way with RG Nick Alligretti. Oladipo beat Alligretti three straight times. OL coach Luke Butkus was loving it, "Keep kicking his ass, Lere."
That's okay because Alligretti was getting love from Butkus during the first segment of 1-on-1. Alligretti handled DT Tymir Oliver multiple times, which led to Oliver wanting to fight Alligretti. Butkus wasn't surprised by this, saying, "I'd want to fight you too after getting my ass kicked like that."
DT Verdis Brown was also impressive during 1-on-1. He ran through just about everyone, then when they were expecting him to bull rush again, he ducked right around the guard and beat him that way.
Defense
The front six controlled the line of scrimmage today. The D-line swallowed up anything trying to come up the middle, and anytime the run was getting kicked to the outside, LBs Jake Hansen and Del'Shawn Phillips were in perfect position to make the tackle. Today was the first day those two really stood out to me. I thought they controlled the pace of the game during first team 11-on-11 play. Phillips sacked Bush after not biting on the option. Really liking how those two are shaping up at LB so far here in camp.
DT Calvin Avery sacked Robinson today. He must've had a hefty Sunday night or something, because he was gasping for air today. Avery still looked good during 11-on-11, however. DEs Ayo Shogbonyo and Owen Carney Jr. recorded back-to-back sacks during the two-minute drill, which had DL coach Austin Clark hyped up and Butkus and Rod just a "little" flustered.
Secondary created three turnovers today. Hobbs bullied Williams out on a slant route and picked off Taylor for what would've been six points. Already mentioned the Marchese pick, and S Stanley Green ripped the ball away from WR Dominic Stampley on a curl route. Defense recovered the fumble and took it to the house. CB Cameron Watkins would've picked off Bush on a jump ball down the field with Mays, but because he has a club on his hand (injured hand last week), he could only bat the ball away. This group continues to make plays everyday.
That's it for Day 8 of camp. Defense looked strong, offense not so much, but apparently better than Saturday. Still got a whole week of camp to go.
Questions and Thoughts?
