BATON ROUGE — Les Miles put LSU through its seventh straight day of practice on Friday as the Tigers held a three-hour workout in full pads at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility.
The morning practice was the only session for the Tigers on Friday as LSU spent the afternoon getting their legs back under them in preparation for Saturday’s scrimmage. The Tigers will hold their first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday afternoon in Tiger Stadium.
“As far as practice, it was a pretty good go,” Miles said. “We had a long practice and the guys worked hard. We are around the eighth straight practice so we are really going to settle down for the rest of this day and tomorrow morning to prepare for Saturday’s scrimmage.”
The Tigers will hold a walk-thru on Saturday morning before going through a scrimmage that will feature 36 “live” snaps. The remaining 30 plays during the scrimmage will be “thud” (hitting, but no tackling to the ground) in nature. The team will also work three special teams units on Saturday, which will include “live” kicks for the punters.
The first and second teams on both offense and defense will each get 18 live snaps, while the third team will get a handful of plays during the workout.
Miles said Saturday’s scrimmage will also be an opportunity for some of the younger players to make their mark and take a step towards getting playing time this year.
“This is going to be a competitive scrimmage and we are going to look at all of the guys,” Miles said. “It is going to be an opportunity for certain guys to make their mark. We are 20 days away from the first game. What you are looking for as a coach is a guy that can maintain the intensity of a live go for the length of the drill and improve during the drill.
“They don’t have to be perfect, because if a young guy comes in trying to be perfect then they wouldn’t need coaches. What we want the guys to do is contend with the length of the drill, compete and improve.”
Among those players who won’t see significant action during the scrimmage is senior quarterback Matt Flynn. Miles said Flynn will likely see a few snaps, but likened his snaps to that of a starting NFL quarterback in a preseason game.
“I am not sure how much we want to use (Matt) Flynn,” Miles said. “I am interested in seeing a lot of guys do certain things. There is a pretty consistent plan for each team and most of the players. We want to see how we can best utilize them. All of us recognize that it is early and that we aren’t set with the offense or defense. We just want to let them play and have some fun.”
Among the players who are expected to see action during the scrimmage is senior offensive lineman Will Arnold. Arnold has been out of action since the Mississippi State game a year ago with knee and ankle injuries, but he’s in a position to return to the field.
“I’d like to get Will some snaps,” Miles said. “We need to see him in a live situation.”
Following Saturday, the Tigers will participate in LSU Media Day and Fan Day on Sunday. Media Day activities start on campus at 11 a.m. on Sunday followed by Fan Day, which has the players signing autographs and taking pictures in Tiger Stadium starting at 2:30 p.m.
Les Miles Quotes
August 10, 2007
Opening statement…
“As far as practice, it was a pretty good go. We had a long practice and the guys worked hard. We are around the eight-straight practice so we are really going to settle down for the rest of this day and tomorrow morning to prepare for Saturday’s scrimmage.”
On how long the scrimmage will be…
“It will be a little less then a normal practice. We will probably have no more then 36 live plays and the rest will be scrimmage plays.”
On what players he might hold out or limit in Saturday’s scrimmage…
“I am not sure how much we want to use (Matt) Flynn. I am interested in seeing a lot of guys do certain things. There is a pretty consistent plan for each team and most of the players. We want to see how we can best utilize them. All of us recognize that it is early and that we aren’t set with the offense or defense. We just want to let them play and have some fun.”
On how Saturday’s scrimmage will affect the depth chart…
“This is going to be a competitive scrimmage and we are going to look at the guys. It is going to be an opportunity for certain guys to make their mark. We are 20 days away from the first game. What you are looking for as a coach is a guy that can maintain the intensity of a live go for the length of the drill and improve during the drill. They don’t have to be perfect, because if a young guy comes in trying to be perfect then they wouldn’t need coaches. What we want the guys to do is contend with the length of the drill, compete and improve.”
On if being an offensive lineman in college makes him more vocal with the offensive line…
“It is no more then communicating with the offensive line coach. I am not taking an individual period and coaching them myself. (Greg) Studrawa is doing a good job with them and it is not by mistake that our young guys are improving.”