Wednesday practice: Player updates

It was practice as usual again on Wednesday night, with the Demon Deacons taking the field in full pads once again. As reported by the official site, the most notable thing to happen was probably the institution of the new 40 second play clock.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to report from the practice. Plans for Saturday's scrimmage have been finalized; the Deacons will scrimmage at 7:30 on BB&T Field.

Yesterday I had a couple of reader requests for reports on specific players. I can't always promise to be able to provide substantial information, but I'll do my best. The two requests yesterday were for Marshall Williams and Rich Belton.

Williams has looked pretty good catching the ball, making some nice grabs. He is definitely in position to have opportunities this season, but hasn't made a strong impression one way or the other. If that changes, I'll be sure to let you know.

It's more difficult to get a read on Belton. The team hasn't been working much (if at all) on handoffs to fullbacks, so we haven't been able to see him run the ball yet. Most of what he and the other fullbacks have been working on is running routes, which he seems to do fairly well, but he's dropped some passes and may need to work on his hands. There aren't any indications that he's being significantly hampered by the previous injury, so ultimately it's just going to come down to how he performs compared to the other fullbacks.

One new injury note today, Jordan Williams did not practice due to a groin injury and will probably be out for about a week.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll do my best to provide answers. I'm on the west coast this week so time zones are making things a bit weird, but I'll do my best to continue staying on top of things.