Running a little behind today so I’ll bring you a dirty dozen of Joker fresh quotes about practice on Friday.
On the defense picking up the new schemes:”…they continue to fly around. We have to make sure they know what to do, though.They have to understand the total packages that we’re putting in.”
On any players making improvements on D (Trevathan doesn’t count, he has nothing to improve on):”I think Ronnie Sneed is playing fast, he looks comfortable out there in the new scheme. He looks like he knows what’s going on. We’re playing Winston (Guy) and Ridge (Wilson) as linebacker-type guys and they are playing a lot faster.
On concerns with the LB corp:”“The thing we have to do is create some depth at the position. Qua (Huzzie) is coming off ankle surgery and he’s struggling a little bit to do the things he needs to do. Avery Williamson is a guy that needs to continue to come along also.”
On Winston Guy’s new role and moving Martavius Neloms to safety:”Winston was a guy that in high school was blitzing off the edge and played in the gaps a lot, while Neloms is athletic enough to play over the top. Neloms has a little bit better instinct in breaking on the ball and being a middle-of-the-field or half-field safety. And Winston has a better feel than Neloms being in the box. Last year, it was opposite. We are just flip-flopping those guys and it will help us as a football team.”
On Miles Simpson switching positions this spring:“I really like moving Miles Simpson to that position, he backs up Winston Guy and moving him closer to the ball makes us more athletic also. He does (have the natural playing instincts). That’s what we like about him. He’s really fluid in his movements at linebacker. He just has to learn our whole package.”
On the QB’s learning the playbook:”The quarterbacks have a lot on them, they have to know a lot in our offense because sometimes we give them two or three plays to get in and out of. I really like the way both of them, when they know what’s going on, the way they step and throw and deliver the ball.”
On the progress made from last season:”If you look at the way our spring practices looked last spring, especially in the throwing game it was horrendous. Then you look at the stats and we were second in the league in passing yardage. We will continue to get better as long as the quarterbacks continue to study and progress the way we want them to.”
On backup Maxwell Smith:”He is going to hold on to the ball a little bit longer than needed and sometimes he doesn’t realize the speed of which the game is played at this level…The ball comes out of his hand as good as anybody we have ever had at this stage. As long as Max continues to progress, he will be a good quarterback here at Kentucky for a long time.”
Joker’s wish list going into summer?:”One thing we want to do is try to find out if our guys are in the right positions and who is going to fly around, play with enthusiasm and make plays for us, we need playmakers at the skill positions on offense. Defensively, we have to be a great tackling team. We want to be a team that creates turnovers and negative-yardage plays.
His thoughts on the scrimmage Saturday:”I really liked the enthusiasm and the way we threw the ball today. That was one of the things that stood out the most. We threw it and we caught it. It was one of the better days that we’ve had this spring so I’m pleased with that.”
On who he thinks the best blog is for Kentucky Sports:”Most definitely Wildcatbluenation.com, they have the best looking writers there by far, plus they don’t have so many petty articles that don’t contain any real information.”*
*Quote paraphrased. And made up
You might go back and count and say,”Hey, that’s only 11 quotes. That’s not a dozen!” But that’s why it’s called a Joker’s dozen. If he gets to 11 he and everyone else in Lexington will call it a win.
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