The Warchant Wrap: Wed., Aug. 24, 2016 edition
The Big Deal: Fisher says final scrimmage is "nothing special"
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher had mixed reviews after the team scrimmage's Wednesday inside Doak Campbell Stadium.
He initially described the final preseason dress rehearsal as "nothing special" and "OK" when he addressed reporters.
"There's some good things but not enough good things," Fisher said. "There's some bad things but not enough bad things. It's just kind of the end of camp, and I guess it's where we're at. We gotta lot of work left to do. It's just OK."
Fisher said he saw players dropping passes and not running routes correctly. He also said there were some missed defensive assignments.
The scrimmage did give FSU a chance to experiment with different players at certain positions.
It gave players like junior receiver Ja'Vonn Harrison, who has missed a few preseason practices, an opportunity to work with the first team.
Other moves were made. Fisher said the team played out a scenario where it lost junior offensive tackle Roderick Johnson.
"We put a lot of different scenarios and combinations of people, but you gotta play that way. It gives these guys what I call 'sudden changes,'" Fisher said. "You have sudden changes of turnovers but you have sudden changes of, 'Man, somebody's out. I gotta communicate differently.' All those things.
"That probably led to a lot of it, but you can't use that as an excuse. We've gotta perform no matter what. It's a great learning tool for those kids."
The second verse: Maguire gets in some light throwing during practice
Redshirt senior quarterback Sean Maguire is still not practicing with the team but he was at Wednesday's scrimmage and did have a couple of light tosses.
Maguire is slated to miss the team's season opener on Sept. 5 against Ole Miss at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. He had surgery Aug. 22 to repair a broken bone in his right foot.
"Yeah, really good. He has a great attitude," Fisher said of Maguire. "He wants to be out there and trying to get back. Very happy with where he's at right now."
It's been a tough offseason for Maguire.
He missed all of spring practice recovering from an injured left ankle he sustained in FSU's 38-24 loss to Houston in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year's Eve.
When camp started, Maguire was healthy and expected to compete with redshirt freshman quarterback Deondre Francois for the team's starting job. He broke the bone on the second day of camp.
His absence coupled with freshman Malik Henry's indefinite suspension for a violation of team rules leaves the Seminoles with three quarterbacks. Francois and redshirt sophomore J.J. Cosentino are the only scholarship passers while FSU also has the services of walk-on Jake Rizzo.
Tweet of the Day
Injury report
OUT: DB Nate Andrews (calf), DT Keith Bryant (foot), WR George Campbell (groin), OL Alec Eberle (concussion symptoms), WR Ermon Lane (foot) OL Cole Minshew (concussion symptoms), LB Dontavious Jackson (personal matter), QB Sean Maguire (foot), DB Levonta Taylor (thigh bruise), DT Adam Torres (foot), WR Bobo Wilson (foot)
IN: OL Alec Eberle, WR Nyqwan Murray and WR Travis Rudolph returned after missing time with injuries.
In their words
-- "He changed his diet? Tell me something he doesn't eat? I'm going to have to ask him that one. No, it's been good. He's been really good on the field. He's strong as heck. He's a force inside. His gap-to-gap control. He gets down the line of scrimmage. Learning to translate into pass rush too. He's been a pain in [the offense's] tail all camp." - Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher talks about the changes junior defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi has made coming into the season.
-- "I'm working hard every single day. I treat every practice like it's the national championship like Jimbo says. Eventually, that's going to lead to the game." - Seminoles redshirt junior running back Ryan Green discusses his transition to running back.
-- "All I can do is go out there and give it my best. I doubled my workout intensity from what I did last summer to what I did this summer. I'm just buying into what [defensive coordinator Charles Kelly] and [defensive ends coach Brad Lawing]'s game plan and telling me what to do. I'll just go out there and give it my all. The sacks I'm not really worried about. I just want to win. All I care about is winning." - senior defensive end DeMarcus Walker on if he's concerned about exceeding 10 sacks for a consecutive season.
More coverage
* First off the Field -- Gene Williams and Ryan Kelly discuss Jimbo Fisher's silence about the second scrimmage.
* Upon Further Review -- Does Florida State have the best running backs group in the nation?
* Game Boys -- FSU players fondly recall, miss popular NCAA Football video game
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