LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 2011 University of Kentucky football team held an open practice as part of fan day at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday, with UK head coach Joker Phillips again pleased with his team’s performance.
Phillips had the team go through a normal two-hour practice, involving offensive, defensive and special team drills, along with a few short seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 segments. Overall, Phillips said the team had a good practice with “a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of energy,” which is usually the case on fan day.
“I saw a lot of guys out there flying around and I think the young guys have a chance to help us,” Phillips said. “I liked what I saw, but this is the second day and that’s what I expected. The players are still fresh and it has only been two days (of camp). Everybody’s legs feel good and everybody’s body feels good right now. I want to know how we are going to practice 10 days from now. That is what I want to see.”
Similar to Friday’s practice, Phillips continues to be impressed with how fast the defense is playing, saying that moving some guys closer to the line of scrimmage has had a positive impact on the team’s speed defensively.
“The defense is playing fast,” Phillips said when asked about what he has seen from the defense so far. “That is what we have created out on the field by moving guys closer to the ball. We moved Winston Guy and Ridge Wilson closer to the ball. We moved Martavius Neloms to the backend and moved Taylor Wyndham inside. We just have a faster football team.”
Kentucky will return to the practice fields Sunday for the third practice of fall camp. The Wildcats will begin installing more of the offensive and defensive schemes on Sunday in preparation for the first full-pads practice next week.
