Practice report: FSU takes refresh day before close of preseason camp
Thursday’s Florida State football practice was definitely a bit of a refresh from a physical standpoint.
The Seminoles took to their Indoor Practice Facility for a shortened and padless practice Thursday morning, spending a decent amount of time working on special teams scenarios.
The middle of the practice had a longer period of special teams work specializing on both sides of the onside kick play. However, there was an extensive 11-on-11 period early in practice and a few periods of scout-team work later in the practice.
Despite the lesser workload, it was a practice FSU coach Mike Norvell was largely content with.
“I thought we still got quality work…” Norvell said. “I liked the mental aspect and the intensity that the guys brought.”
While backup quarterbacks Tate Rodemaker and AJ Duffy have both had their moments this preseason, I thought the true freshman was notably better at Thursday’s practice. Rodemaker had a few inaccurate throws even in moments he wasn’t under any pressure and threw an interception to Brendan Gant on a play set up by an impressive pass breakup from Azareye’h Thomas.
Duffy had a few deep throws, which impressed even if they didn’t lead to big plays. One throw would have likely been a big pass to Ontaria Wilson were it not for a pass breakup by Renardo Green, which I believe was set up by some pass interference. Another was a near-perfect deep ball that was negated by a virtual sack.
For the second straight practice, FSU cornerback Greedy Vance made a great play in coverage to set himself up for a takeaway but dropped a would-be interception during the early team period of practice.
The team period of practice seemed to be set up around the defense throwing some blitzes at the offense, which the line didn’t always block well. Defensive end Dennis Briggs Jr. – who Norvell said hit his highest top speed of camp Wednesday – had a pair of sacks in 11-on-11. Linebackers Tatum Bethune and Amari Gainer also had sacks on blitzes from the linebacker position.
Friday’s practice will resemble a game-week Wednesday and then the team will hold its simulated game Saturday, replicating quite a few aspects of what game days will look like for the Seminoles.
“We go through pregame so everybody knows where they’re going, what it needs to be. I want to be organized in pregame. I want everybody to be sharp and get pads popping to finishing up with the ankle walk at the end,” Norvell said. “We have newcomers within the program just so they have a sense of what to expect. When we come out, where we stand, where we sit in between possessions.
“Everybody has a very specific assignment from where they're going to sit in the chair. If you're the starter, if you're the backup, you're standing behind, we want to have that organizational approach so that you have the efficiency of our communication.”
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