Head coach Willie Taggart told his team to “embrace the suck” of fall camp.
On the second day of training camp, the dog days and “the suck” haven’t yet hit full throttle, but staying focused and bringing energy is still vital to making a good impression on the coaching staff.
On day two it was the defense that brought the passion.
“I thought the defense really got after it today, both the young guys and the older guys,” Taggart said. “They played with a lot of passion and they were flying around and having fun, and that’s how we want to play football around here.”
The practice was again split into two groups. Some freshman and underclassmen practiced before the rest of the team to maximize reps.
During the first practice, freshman safety Billy Gibson intercepted a pass from Dimitri Burch.

Freshman safety Billy Gibson picks Demetri Burch in today’s newcomers practice. pic.twitter.com/OSf2svEFIL
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) August 1, 2017

Gibson’s interception was the pre-cursor to the quality day in store for the secondary.
It was a mix of young and older players that were making plays during one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills during Tuesday’s practice.
Brady Breeze stood out with two interceptions on the day. His first came when he jumped a deep route on a ball thrown by Justin Herbert. The second came on an errant throw by freshman quarterback Braxton Burmeister.
“He’s a lot more confident now in what he’s doing,” Taggart said of Breeze. “I saw that towards the tail end of spring ball is where he really started to gain confidence, and then as we’ve had these first two practices he’s playing really good football for us.”
Freshman Thomas Graham Jr. also made good plays throughout the drills including an interception when he jumped a button-hook route thrown by Herbert, fought-off Dillon Mitchell and returned for what would be a pick-six.
Graham Jr. and Mitchell got into an altercation where shoving occurred, but it de-escalated quickly.
The secondary got another interception when safety Tyree Robinson grabbed a deflection off tight end Jacob Breeland.
Robinson spoke to the team after practice as part of Taggart’s plan to have one player say some words at the end of practice.
“Tyree just talked about today, how he enjoyed the passion and how if they continue to play that way and have fun with each other we can build something special here,” Taggart said. “He said, ‘We can’t allow the coaches to have more energy than us out here when we’re the ones working.’ I thought that was right on.”
Although depth charts are far from completion, fans and media caught a glimpse of the front-runners yesterday and today when players lined up for 11-on-11 drills.
Today, the ‘starters’ remained relatively the same as yesterday with some small changes.
Jalen Jelks took the place of Elijah George on the defensive line. Jordon Scott and Henry Mondeaux lined up as well. La’Mar Winston Jr. and Jonah Moi were the outside linebackers while Troy Dye and A.J. Hotchkins were on the inside.
In the secondary, Khalil Oliver and Tyree Robinson played safety while Arrion Springs and Graham Jr. player cornerback.
On the offensive line, Tyrell Crosby was at left tackle and Calvin Throckmorton players at right tackle. Jake Hanson was at center with Shane Lemieux to his left and Jake Pisarcik to his right.
Breeland was at tight end while Mitchell, Malik Lovette and Darrian McNeal were at wide receiver.
Charles Nelson left practice with hamstring tightness. Taggart said it was just a precautionary measure.
Other notes
The full roster will practice together tomorrow. Taggart mentioned that some young players might surprise the veterans. He named running backs Darrian Felix and CJ Verdell, defensive lineman Austin Faoliu, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and wide receiver Jaylon Redd.
It was reported during practice by 247sports.com that offensive lineman Zach Okun was medically retiring.  It was confirmed by Taggart after practice. “It’s more medical,” Taggart said. “I’ll leave that to Zach. It’s more personal than anything.”
Practice is no longer open to the public.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917