Kentucky spring football practice begins Wed. March 29 at 9 a.m. at the Nutter Training Facility. Here are some things to know for the spring:
The Wildcats will practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from approximately 9 to 11:15 a.m. at the Nutter Training Facility.
The Wildcats will practice on Saturdays at 10 a.m. at Commonwealth Stadium.
Practices are open to fans. For practices at Nutter, fans should stand in the parking area next to the field. Fans may sit in the stands for practices at Commonwealth Stadium.
In case of bad weather, practices might be moved inside to the Nutter Field House.
Spring practice concludes with the Blue/White Spring Game on Sat. Apr. 22 at 1 p.m. at Commonwealth Stadium.
Rich Brooks Press Conference Quotes – March 28
Opening statement?
?I?d like to start with the remnants of surgeries from last season and let you know who will not be participating in spring ball. Definitely out, meaning not doing any drills, is (Fatu) Turituri, Jacob Tamme, Kendall O?Donnell, Eric Mueller and E.J. Adams (who had surgery after aggravating a shoulder injury that he had when he arrived at UK). Jeremy Jarmon had a mishap over Christmas working out and had surgery on his knee. He (Jarmon) will miss spring practice. Braxton Kelley, Bo Smith (shoulder surgery), and Matt McCutchan (reconstructive ankle surgery) will be out as well. We still do not know if Matt (McCutchan) will get his sixth year of eligibility. DeMoreo Ford will be out the first two weeks due to having cartilage removed from his knee. Keenan Burton had a bone graft on his foot that wasn?t healing properly and he?ll probably run some routes without contact the last week of spring ball. Roger Williams pulled a hamstring last week and we?ll just have to wait and see how he comes along. David Jones pulled a hamstring running indoor track. He is doubtful to be out there this week.
?Limited in spring ball will be James Alexander and Eric Scott, both coming off shoulder surgery. Lamar Mills will go through non-contact drills along with Marcus McClinton. Those are the major injuries. We do have some other guys with minor injuries that we?ll be doing contact drills at some point. The list is quite extensive with a few new ones added. Most are cleaning up surgeries from the season. Many of the guys had knees and shoulder injuries that were pretty serious. I think there ended up being somewhere near the upper 30s in surgeries on this team following last season. It was the most unbelievable year I have been around and hopefully that is behind us.
?The good news is that guys like Tony Dixon are on their way back. I don?t know if he has everything back but he ran a 4.41 on pro day so he is pretty close to being all the way back. He?s (Dixon) is bigger. When I came here we needed speed (at the running back) and our top four tailbacks all have good 40 times. Rafael Little ran a 4.37, Dixon ran a 4.41, Alfonso (Smith) ran 4.33 and Antoine Brown ran a 4.55 so that makes you smile about the guys carrying the ball.?
?The other good news is that guys that had surgery during the season like (Zach) Hennis and (Patrick) Daly will be cleared to go in the spring on the offensive line. With all the guys that will miss practice, this will give us a great opportunity to look at other people. The position that is the thinnest is probably wide receiver. We will have some guys coming in the fall that will help us in that position. Safety will also be thin this spring with Roger (Williams) pulling his hamstring and Marcus McClinton not having contact. Our young safeties are going to get a good long look.
?One change on the roster is Maurice Grinter will not be at the fullback spot. He has requested and we have granted him the move to strong safety. He is a big good looking athlete and we will find out what is his best spot.?
On changing practice habits due having so many injuries last season?.
?No. Most of these injuries happened in games. Only a few happened in practice. To get better enough to win and do the things we want to do, you have to play football. Football is not played in shorts in the SEC on Saturdays. There will be contact. Good news for me is that we have depth at a spot like quarterback, where last spring and fall we had to hold Andre? Woodson out of contact. Our depth will greatly enhanced with Will Fidler enrolling this January and Curtis Pulley having a good year last season. Now we are going to line them up and let them play. We?ll see how they respond to more game-like situations.?
On sophomore linebacker Braxton Kelley?s rehab?
?He?s making very good progress. He is working on the last five percent of the range of motion in that knee. I think he?ll probably be able to do some agility drills with the linebackers before the end of practice, but he certainly won?t be doing any contact. The ACL surgery takes a minimum of six months before doctors want you putting any type of stress on it. The best results happen eight to nine months out when you return to full strength. After suffering the injury during the season that criterion isn?t there yet. He suffered the injury in the seventh game so he has a ways to go.?
On the effects of Matt McCutchan?s uncertain future?
?It doesn?t really have any (effects) since we kind of know what he can do. This gives us a really good chance to take a look at Travis Slaydon, who played some at the end of last year. Jorge Gonzalez should also get a look. It really gives a chance to see if any of those guys are ready to play. It?s my understanding that (McCutchan?s appeal) is under review by the NCAA offices and we should know in a couple weeks.?
On how the team?s strength and conditioning is coming along?
?The most pleasing thing is that there aren?t as many guys who are way in the back in running drills like in the past. Guys are competing and pushing. We have guys who can run pretty well, including our bigger guys. We have some guys that are overweight. We had the majority of the guys do what we wanted them to do in losing weight if they were too big. The end of the (running) line is a lot closer to the front of the line than it was a few years ago.?
On what he looks to get out of spring?
?The main thing I want to get out of the spring is to identify people who I think can play. We already know a lot our guys can play and I want to if those guys have improved their play. We also have question marks where we need to find some people to step up and help do what we need to do to win some games. Defensively, we have to be a better run-stopping team. Our third-down defense and run defense was atrocious. We have to improve in those areas. We will work to that end this spring. We will be missing some guys in that area but we will also be able to add some depth. We need to come out of this spring with our best guess of who can help us in the fall. It will be an important spring to see who is ready to step up and contribute, not only offensively and defensively but also in the kicking game.?
On offensive linemen Aaron Miller and Micah Jones?
?Aaron Miller is very good. He will start out behind Garry Williams at left tackle. He has always been able to run. He is 300 pounds and a lot stronger than when he was a freshman. Micah (Jones) needs to lose some weight and has some work to do. He has great ability but he has to pick up his play because at his position on the offensive there is great competition.?
On the quarterback competition?
?I think it will be the best competition since I?ve been here. Andre? Woodson has a lot of experience. It will be clear to him what he needs to improve on. He (Woodson) needs to get better with ball security and needs to have a quicker release. He needs to eliminate bad plays. Curtis Pulley brings a dimension to that position. He (Pulley) actually ended up with a pretty good completion percentage. The one thing that is missing to me is his down-the-field game. With Will Fidler I am just anxious to get him out on the field. He has worked as hard as anyone has at any position in our off-season program. He is going to be really well-prepared physically. I am anxious get him out there and throw the ball to see where he is and what he needs to work on. Having those three guys makes it extremely competitive.?
On competition on the offensive line?
?It will be a lot clearer at the end of April who are starters could be. Like I said about the quarterback position, there is going to be great competition. If McCutchan gets an extra year, all five starters will be back. I would be shocked if all five starters from last year are the starters next year because I think we have some guys who are going to push them out of jobs.?
On running back Alfonso Smith?
?He is another guy who will get some kickoff return duty. Based on what happened last year, if you?re a good player and third string you?ll probably get on the field. The great news to me about the tailback position is we have a junior, a sophomore and two redshirt freshmen. He?ll (Smith) get some time this spring. How much time he gets depends on him. I saw him make some breakaway runs last season in practice. I want to see him run when there is no hole.?
