If you're the observant type, it only takes a minute at practice to notice that a pretty significant change is occurring. The various stickers and logos have been added to the players' helmets, a clear indication that we must be getting close to seeing some real football.

This afternoon's practice lasted just over two hours and was conducted only in shells. The team started with some individual work and a lot of special teams. Instead of working on the standard special teams units, some "special" special units were in use (confusing, huh?).

Swank and the punters were working on stopping 35 yard punts just shy of the goal line and Brandon Ghee and the return team were working on blocking punts, plus just about every other special teams unit got some work.

The team also spent a significant portion of the day working on redzone offense and defense. It's important for them to get this kind work in, as things get a lot more cramped down there and things look different than they do when there's plenty of field to work with.

The ball-catchers (WRs and TEs) had a rough day. Not only were they dropping balls, but they were consistently getting in trouble for running the wrong routes. There was clearly confusion - sometimes receivers nearly collided. I noticed Andrew Parker and Ben Wooster had particularly bad days, with several drops each.

The lack of concentration in catching balls would have been enough to make the coaches mad by itself. The wrong routes receivers ran only made them even angrier. Several times I heard coaches remind players that these mistakes could potentially cost them the game next week at Baylor. It got bad enough for the coaches to make all receivers stop and do pushups for awhile.

Riley Skinner's passing looked crisp and accurate. Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass were both running well.

Matt Woodlief came up with an impressive interception during red zone 7 on 7. All of a sudden he had an arm in the air tipping the ball to himself for a pick. Devon "Y'lou" Brown was the only receiver I noticed making any impressive catches.

Aside from the helmets, the biggest indication of the transition from preseason to regular season was the amount of time dedicated to scout time. At least half of the practice was spent preparing specifically for Baylor.

As far as I'm concerned, it's about time.

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I apologize for not having a more thorough report tonight, but here are some quick notes from the scrimmage:

• The team used this scrimmmage to practice what it's like to prepare for a real game - meaning they did they're real pregame routine, practiced getting on and off the field, etc.

• D.J. Boldin had the catch of the night (no surprise there) with a one handed leaping grab. Might even be the best catch of the preseason.

• Devon "Y'lou" Brown got hit incredibly hard and took a minute before getting up. Appeared to be fine, however.

• C.J. Washington ran well, but was hit hard several times and didn't return after the final hit.

• Brandon Pendergrass had a 10 yard touchdown run, and Josh Adams also ran well.

• Riley Skinner went through pregame warm-ups, but didn't actually participate in the scrimmage. Coach Grobe said afterwards that he tweaked a hammy in the weight room. Brett Hodges took all the first team snaps. This shouldn't be any cause for concern, it was precautionary and he should be fine.
  

• We talked yesterday about Dennis Godfry's move to the offensive line, but he didn't get a whole lot of snaps in the scrimmage. Only a handful in the last few posessions with true freshman/3rd string line. He just moved yesterday, so it makes some sense, but I'm guessing it's somewhat frustrating for him.

I'm traveling tomorrow and probably won't be able to get much (if anything) up. Should be back at it on Thursday, when I should be back at practice.

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Tonight the team had another full practice in preparation for tomorrow's 7:30 pm scrimmage at BB&T Field. The team is of course still practicing in full pads, and went through its usual individual periods as well as 7-on-7, 11-on-11 and special teams sessions.

Readers had recently been asking questions about receiver Marshall Williams and I didn't have a whole lot to say at the time, so he decided to change that for me. During the 7-on-7 period Williams made a great one-handed grab in the back of the endzone. It definitely stuck out as one of the best plays of practice.

Other highlights from 7-on-7 included a nice catch by Devon "Y'lou" Brown, good play from freshman tight end Andrew Parker, and an interception of Skylar Jones by freshman cornerback Kenny Okoro. It's great to see these young guys really stepping up early on, particularly Parker considering the team's current depth issues at tight end.

Highlights from 11-on-11 included a deep catch by D.J. Boldin, a nice run by fullback Mike Rinfrette, good runs by C.J. Washington, and a pass deflection by defensive end Anthony Davis.

Speical teams work included a blocked field goal, although I'm not sure who blocked it (not Alphonso Smith, though).

Apparently there are some new injuries, as Scott Betros, Josh Bush, Terence Davis, and Kyle Jarett all sat out today, as well as the guys who've been out for a few days like Chip Brinkman and Cameron Ford. There doesn't appear to be any serious issues for these new guys, probably just small stuff and they're day-to-day. Jordan Williams tried running a few routes but then stopped, so it appears he's not quite ready to come back yet.

Thats it for today. Check back late tomorrow night for a report from the scrimmage.

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Still having picture issues - not sure what the problem is. Sorry!

Not too many notes from practice today, and there's some mixed news on the injury front.

The good news: Devon "Y'lou" Brown practiced after sitting out yesterday and made some very good catches in Skelly. The offense continued to have the defense's number, making them look particularly bad in the red zone.

The bad news: Chip Brinkman did not practice and appears to have a thigh injury.

Even though the offense outperformed the defense, the defense did have one big highlight. Junior walk-on linebacker Lee Malchow, who usually gets most of his playing time on special teams, hit receiver D.J. Boldin hard enough to knock his helmet off. It was a huge hit and really fired up the defense.

Even though he took that big hit, Boldin continues to have a great preseason, catching everything in sight. He may not be the next Kenny Moore, but he's showing a readiness to step up and contribute in a big way.

Until today I've felt like it's been too early to really start analyzing things much, but I think we're getting to the point of being able to put some pieces together.

One thing I've noticed consistenly is that the offense has had a lot of success making headway against the defense in passing drills. This is great to see from the wideouts, who all seem like they're ready to step up and get the job done this year. I mentioned Boldin specifically before, but I think the entire passing game is going to be successful.

The other suprising thing about the offense's success is that usually the defense is well ahead of the offense at this point in the preseason. Considering how talented this defense is, the fact that the offense can get things done is very encouraging. I also don't see this as any indication of problems on defense, just a sign that both sides of the ball are very talented.

All of this analysis is based mostly on drills that don't involve the running game very much, so clearly we'll learn a lot more once we start seeing full pads and 11 on 11 scrimmaging, but these have to be good signs for an offense that has some question marks. If the offensive line is able to give Riley some time, I think we'll see some great things from the passing game this year.

Tomorrow the team should be practicing in full pads, which means we may start getting a better read on the run game and offensive line. Hopefully we'll see good things there as well.

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Following this afternoon's practice, left guard Russell Nenon checked in with these notes from practice:

• Practice had high intensity today for the first day in shells.

• The defense did real well in the team segment at the beginning of practice, but...

• The first team offense looked very good in the team segment at the end of practice.

• There were lots of installations of special teams today.

Other observers checked in with the following details:

• The defense in particular was excited to have some pads on and hit some people.

• At one point Devon "Y'lou" Brown took a hit from behind and sat out the rest of practice, but was still on the field watching.

• During 1-on-1 drills Chip Brinkman made a good grab on a deep ball but was tripped up by Chip Vaughn, landed awkwardly, and also sat out the rest of practice. Hopefully both Brinkman and Y'lou are fine, but we'll have to see if they practice tomorrow.

• Kerry Major practiced and appears to be just fine.

• During today's Skelly period (7 on 7) the offense had the upper hand except for a pick-6 by Alphonso Smith. Riley Skinner looked particularly good in this drill as well as 1-on-1 drills. DJ Boldin had some good catches, and Brandon Ghee looked good in coverage.

• Punt team work is starting up and looks more stable than it did in the spring. The snaps look pretty good so far.

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