Practice report (8-17-09)
The Sooners held their second and final open practice Monday afternoon. The best news of the day was Ben Habern, who looks to be a day or two away from being cleared all the way. Habern, who’s been out with an inflamed back, mixed it up during the morning portion of the two-a-day in some heavy contract drills with the defensive line. He did the same in the afternoon, though was held out of the team drill. That appeared to be more for precautionary reasons than anything else.
Also, backup center Brian Lepak was back in pads after recovering from a high-ankle sprain.
Other observations:
* Guard Tavaris Jeffries, safety Joseph Ibiloye, defensive ends David King and Pryce Macon and cornerbacks Jamell Fleming and Desmond Jackson (academic issues) did not participate in Monday’s practice. Jeffries is a new one, but the other five have been out for some time now.
* At the moment, the first-team defense looks like this:
DL: Jeremy Beal, Adrian Taylor, GK McCoy, Auston English
LB: Travis Lewis, Ryan Reynolds, Keenan Clayton
DB: Brian Jackson, Dom Franks, Sam Proctor, Quinton Carter
The second-team defense look like this
DL: RJ Washington, Casey Walker, Cordero Moore, Frank Alexander
LB: Daniel Franklin, Tom Wort, Austin Box
DB: Demontre Hurst, Marcus Trice, Emmanuel Jones, Lamar Harris
Stacy McGee and Jamarkus McFarland were the third DTs. JR Bryant is nowhere to be found on the field during team drills. He apparently has been beaten out by Dan Franklin.
* Linebacker Mike Balogun continues to practice, however, that may be coming to an end. Balogun’s final practice with the team may be Wed., as the NCAA concludes its investigation about whether Balogun played semi-pro ball before his 21st birthday.
* Sam Bradford was sharp again. He found tight end James Hanna over the middle for a nice gain. The first play, however, was noteworthy. Bradford ran the option and kept the ball upfield. Hard to believe that one will remain on the playbook after Sept. 5.
* The biggest collision of the day came between to heavy hitters. Fullback Matt Clapp was running down the sideline and ducked his shoulder into a soaring Quinton Carter. Even though they were only in helmets and shoulder pads, both players collided at 90 percent and flew to the ground. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was on Clapp afterward, saying “You going to let that DB tackle you?”
* Brandon Crow is now working at fullback. Crow, a native of Comanche, was a linebacker last year who famously replaced Reynolds in the Texas game.
* Backup tight end Eric Mensik appeared to get banged up at some point. I didn’t see what happened, but he sat out the latter part of the evening practice.
* A lot of Michael Jackson was played tonight on the loudspeakers. GK McCoy did his best MJ moves. McCoy has said before that he’s a big fan of Jackson.
-JT
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Nice, Stoops. Running the option with Sam carrying the ball up field. That’s one hit away from a Jamelle Holieway knee injury. Please, Bob. Use your head.