Notes From A Wild 12th Day Of Spring Ball
CHESTNUT HILL - It was a big-game atmosphere inside Fish Field House on Saturday.
Matt Ryan, Brian Hoyer, Matt Hasselbeck, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, dozens of recruits and local coaches packed the sidelines for a scrimmage that was initially supposed to be inside the stadium, but slick turf prevented that.
Anyone who was lucky enough to watch the two-plus hour practice got to see the same physical BC team they've been throughout the spring, and they also got a show towards the end of practice too.
The buzz is most definitely back in Chestnut Hill. Here's everything from the 12th spring practice...
-Saw new S&C coach Craig Fitzgerald playfully waving cars into the garage besides Fish. When cars weren't around, he was doing up-downs on the concrete like a psycho. Talk about a tone setter...
-Wide receivers once again in first around 10:45, OL second group in about 10 minutes later.
-Stretch, indy period, ball security/open field angles until 11:52.
-7-on-7 on one end, Texas drill at the other.
TC: out to Bond, short to Morales, sick wheel route dime up the sideline to Ward
James: short to McGowan, flat to McDonald, screen to Dino
Rueve and Robinson each got a couple snaps before the team went into scrimmaging at 11:52.
-Ball at the O's 25 after a kick off (Ward and McGowan - as I've said since the first few days - could be weapons back there, particularly Ward.
TC: Screen to Bond, run stuff for Horsely (on Ward), screen to Ward, sick grab on a slant to Skeete down to the 'opponents' 40 on 3rd down. Shifty move by Ward in space, screen to Bond, hard run for Datrell Jones to the 11. Jackson PBU in the flat against Ward, incomplete deep to Bradley, 25-yard field goal for Connor Lytton.
James: Screen to McGowan, short run McDonald, great grab over the middle for Reed Harris over the 50, short catch (didn't see who), short run for McDonald, toss to McDonald to about the 20, three straight incompletions. Missed field goal from about 45 yards for Liam Connor.
-Bathroom break for me, didn't see Reueve or Robinson but don't think anything major came from either of their drives.
-Ball now placed at the 50...
TC: fumbled snap, screen Bond, drop for Franklin over the middle, punt
TC again: big run up the middle for Ward, short Ward run, deep TD to the front left pylon, dime to Skeete who caught the ball through a hit by KP Price. Lytton PAT
James: Screen to Tomlin, short catch for McDonald. crosser to Tomlin, couple hard runs by Jones. Ball backed up, 45/50 yard FG for Lytton. Nothing too noteworthy came out of the Rueve and Robinson drives except for a pick on the sideline for Victor Nelson with Robinson in.
-At 12:39 O'Brien called the team to midfield (about 10 minutes after Joe Mazzulla walked in) and politely asked the team to step the effort up the rest of the way.
-Ball placed at the opponent's 45...
TC: short pass to Skeete, big gain for Bond on an out, crosser to Bond, sack for Okpala.
James: short pass to Nate Johnson (big hit Owen McGowan), PBU for Carter Davis, incomplete pass, sack for Sedarius McConnell.
Rueve: false start, ass to Ferrucci in flat for no gain, another sack for McConnell, short catch for Holden Symonds.
-At 12:49 the offense worked goal-to-go situations on the other end. So packed I couldn't really get down there, but it was a productive session with a ton of guys getting a lot of reps. Great work for McDonald, Ward and Jones with Broome and Robichaux still out for precautionary reasons.Quite honestly I was also networking a bit for the NEFJ site with some donors and alumni (if anyone wants to sponsor the NEFJ BC postgame show this year let me know!)
-The day was capped off dramatically when the team went into its last situational period. 1:10 left on the clock, field goal to win it, ball at your own 25...
TC: Incomplete deep, incomplete on a shallow crosser, ridiculous reach-behind catch for Skeete over the middle while falling to the ground for a first down. Two straight incompletions, sack for George Rooks, TC scramble, 45/50 yard FG for Liam Connor.
James: short pass to Jones, incomplete to Jones, superb catch for Harris against Davis, crosser to McLaughlin to right around midfield, then all hell broke loose...
-This happened right in front of me. During the end of that play Price and Tomlin got into a mini brawl on the sidelines that quickly escalated . Defensive players did a good job of breaking it up rather quickly, but things got ugly there. It also happened on the sideline full of recruits and families, so if nothing else, kids must have left there saying 'hell yeah I want to be apart of that energy." It was also bound to happen 12 practices in. O'Brien addressed it after practice and simply told the team it better not carry over to the locker room.
-Once the drive resumed James went incompletion, short crosser to Harris - who ran over Ryan Turner drawing a huge 'oooooh' from the entire field house. Luca Lombardo missed a 45/50 yard field goal.
-Sprints at 1:27. Mazzulla also addressed the team after practice talking about mindset. Overall, if you're a supporter of BC or just a fan, these are the types of days you dreamed of when Bill O"Brien was hired. This isn't a word, but the only way I can describe it is an incredible sense of 'Eagleness' around the facility today.
BC practices Tuesday and Thursday before next Saturday's spring game, which should be a lot like this practice in terms of scrimmaging and controlled situations.