Was up with the early birds at 6:00 am at the practice field; it was a full-squad workout and got underway while it was still dark out.
After warmups, our guys were separated into position workouts. I was most impressed by the way our safeties were practicing today; they were razor-sharp on drills from the starters down to the backups. Ahmad Black didn't practice due to a minor injury, but Major Wright and Will Hill were johnny-on-the-spot in catch drills with Chas Henry playing "QB".
Vance Bedford was also working our conerbacks hard; Joe Haden is clearly the leader of that bunch, with Markihe Anderson not too far behind. I look for Jelani Jenkins to be impressive; also, I would like to see Wondy Pierre-Louis kick things up a notch going into his final season as a Gator. Anderson also picked off freshman QB Jordan Reed on a pass as well.
Speaking of Jordan Reed, he's a work in progress who will eventually catch on and adapt to the college game. He couldn't ask for two better mentors than Tim Tebow and Johnny Brantley this year.
Andre Debose is going to be a star. He nailed a nice deep pass that stood out in my mind; he was pulled from practice a little later on due to a tender hammy that the coaches wanted to avoid aggravating any further. Aaron Hernandez and Deonte Thompson also had a good session; Tim Tebow had to intercede on Deonte's behalf regarding a pass he caught from Timmy at one point.
Stephen Alli seemed a bit flustered after practice yesterday, but that was clearly a case of the "freshman jitters" and noting more or less. After yesterday's practice, I told him "keep the faith" as assurance that he'll catch on when I was walking back to get my car and head back to my hotel.
Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps were also sharp in drills as was Brandon James, who's returning after being out of spring practice with an injury - but don't count Mike Gillislee out just yet. Even though Emmanuel Moody was at practice, he wa held out due to a minor injury - and from what I read, he was working out on a stationary bike.
