BATON ROUGE – After three days of split-squad practices, LSU came together as a full team on Sunday as the Tigers held one workout in preparation for their first day in full pads, which will take place on Monday.
Sunday’s schedule had the Tigers working out in shells (shorts, shoulder pads and helmets) for the second consecutive day. LSU concluded the afternoon by taking part in the annual Fan Day on campus as several thousand Tiger fans filed into the Maravich Center and the Maddox Field House for autographs and pictures.
“It was really a good day,” Miles said of LSU’s first full squad workout. “We were out in the elements, so it was a nice, hot day. It was a good practice. I see marked improvement. It was not a perfect day by any means, but it was a good, hard work day.”
Among the areas that caught Miles’ attention was the play of the defense during the team portion of practice.
“I think the defense starts ahead in every two-a-day scheme and I think the defense is certainly ahead again,” Miles said. “There is a lot of speed on that side of the ball. This was a day where the offense is still struggling with installation and making it all work. Again, that’s the way it is; that’s the way it starts, but it was a good practice.”
Sunday also saw the return of starting left guard Josh Dworaczyk, who had missed the first three days of practice with a sickness.
“I don’t know that he participated fully, but I know that he participated certainly through the majority of the practice,” Miles said. “The good news is he’s got it all; he understands what we need to do with him. We just need to get him back.”
Dworacyzk is one of three returning starters on the offensive line, joining left tackle Joseph Barksdale and center P.J. Lonergan, although Lonergan started just two games a year ago. Alex Hurst (right tackle) and Will Blackwell (right guard) are running with the first team on the other two offensive line positions.
Offensively, Miles continued to praise the play of the wide receivers as well as that of position coach Billy Gonzales.
“(Billy) has great attention to detail, and that is always a mark of a very good coach,” Miles said. “A guy is not going to go onto the field and not know what to do, and he’s (Gonzales) not going to have to teach it in the snap. He has it taught before the snap, and those things then allow the player to show the coach what it is he really knows because the coach knows what he’s got coached.
“I think guys like Rueben Randle, Terrence Toliver and Russell Shepard have improved because of it.”