Here are a few notes and quotes from Wednesday's practice and coach Dave Clawson's weekly press conference ...
- First, an injury update -- which is full of good news. Clawson said the Falcons did not lose any players to injury in the Florida contest.
Further, the week "off" will help a pair of injured players return to action soon, perhaps as early as this week. Defensive lineman Ronnie Goble is "good to go" according to Clawson after missing the Florida contest -- and much of fall drills -- with a high ankle sprain.
And wide receiver Heath Jackson has been upgraded from "doubtful" to "questionable" for the Idaho game after missing the contest against the Gators because of knee problems. Jackson and Goble both wore a yellow "do not hit" jersey in practice.
OK, now that the family is in bed for the night ...
- I noticed that the offense was wearing orange in practice today and the defense was wearing white. In all of the practices this fall (before this week), the defense was wearing orange and the offense wore white.
I asked Clawson if it was just my imagination or the units had switched colors, and he confirmed that they had. The reason? Clawson said he wants the offense to practice in the color jersey the team will play in its next game, so they get used to throwing and "looking for" the proper color of jersey in teammates.
- Clawson confirmed a change in the place-kicking duties on Saturday, with freshman Tyler Tate kicking PATs and field goals in place of Stephen Stein.
"Tyler Tate will get the chance to kick this week," Clawson said. "That was a neck-and-neck competition [in the fall], and their percentages [of makes] were very close. Part of the competition is how you kick in games, and we think Tyler deserves the opportunity to see how he will do [in a game]."
- Clawson has talked about not claiming a "moral" victory over Florida, but he was asked Wednesday about if there were positives to be gained from the contest.
"We'll find out as the year progresses," Clawson said. "Certainly there was the physical aspect of competing against them, and holding up on the line of scrimmage was very encouraging. Florida is a team that has tremendous skill, and they have the ability to make plays in space. We gave up 21 points on three pretty badly missed tackles. ... Is it because Florida is that good at those positions, or because we're not as good as we thought we were at those positions. Those are things that you don't find out the answers to until the year goes on."
Click here to read the story in Thursday's paper about the struggles of the special teams in the Florida contest as well as a few other notes.
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