Practice Recap: August 24th

As the hot dog days of the August summer wind down and with September right around the corner, the Hokies held a practice Wednesday that sons Dominic Boltz and Nels Williams attended. From what the pair were able to see it was overall a productive session, but a few important points stood out:

Running backs Jalen Holston and Malachi Thomas were not present at practice. Linebacker Sam Lawston was also absent at yesterdays practice. Malachi Thomas was seen wearing a boot in an official photo posted a few days ago from their team positions, but it is still unclear what is bothering Thomas or when he will return. In other injury news, Coach pry informed us after practice that Benji Gosnell will unfortunately miss this season with a torn ACL. He is likely to medical redshirt. Linebacker Matt Johnson is also out for the season due to injury. Jadan Blue returned to practice and looked sharp in his return. It was good for him to get work in, especially with reps from Grant Wells. The connection already looks sharp between the two.

Along with DB’s getting work in with first team receivers, they also got to work with cornerbacks coach Derek Jones on drop steps and breaking on incoming passes. Some cornerbacks who had multiple dominant reps were Armani Chatman and Dorian Strong. The two both look to retain a starting spot on the new Brent Pry defense. Defensive backs and Wide receivers engaged in 1v1 red zone drills. Passes from Grant Wells and Jason Brown connected to receivers Kaleb Smith and Jaden Blue on multiple occasions. Along with red zone drills, CBs and WRs got work on crossing routes ending on the sideline. It was here where we got to see some exceptional footwork near the sidelines from some of our Wideouts. .

2v2s were handled by JC Price towards the end of our available session. The guards fared well against the d-ends:

Coach Rudolph got the O-line to work, with iron sharpening iron in blocking drills. Rudolph’s presence is being felt within the building.

DBs and Linebacker groups worked today in practice on getting off the ball and shooting gaps. With mock run plays being executed, the two groups both worked with trash can dummies on shooting gaps on zone run plays. Coach pry is preparing his defense for an Old Dominion offense that ran for 202 yards against the Hokies in their last matchup. With the season opener at ODU just 8 days away, expect the coaches to start working more schemes and drills specific to their matchup against the Monarchs.

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