Drop and Give Me Ten

When the Bearcats took the field for the second practice of the spring they were met with light rain showers at the beginning of practice, however the rain would eventually come to an end about 30 minutes into practice.

Even though conditions were not ideal for the Bearcats took the field for the 2nd time this spring. There were a couple Bearcats that did not participate in practice today due to injury. Both Connor Barwin and Leo Morgan were on the sidelines as the team went through their drills. It appears as though both injuries are minor and neither player should miss that much time this spring.

There were a few spectators today on the sidelines taking in all the action as former Bearcats Brent Celek , Nick Davila and John Bowie stopped by to watch practice. However they were not the only visitors that were at practice.

Yesterday Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson was at Nippert watching the Bearcats go through drills, today there was another NFL player in attendance to not only watch the Bearcats but to provide guidance to some of the defensive players.

Former Ohio State Buckeye and current Dallas Cowboy Linebacker Bobby Carpenter was at practice along with his dad. Both were on hand watching John Carpenter who is Bobby's younger brother.

Each time John would come off the field Bobby was right there waiting for him on the sidelines ready to critique what he saw on the field. BearcatLair had a chance to talk to Bobby during practice and will have more information about our conversation.

Now let's talk about the action on the field. Day 2 was a lot like Day 1 in terms of the tempo of practice. One thing I did observe as there is not one second wasted between plays. Whether it is individual work, group work or 11 on 11 the tempo is fast paced.

The quarterbacks are getting a ton of reps this spring and this should really help them as they try to learn the offense. In individual work after one quarterback throws a pass the next quarterback is already ready for the next rep.

The quarterbacks as a whole looked good at times and looked bad at times. There was a lot of inconsistency within the entire group which is to be expected for a couple of reasons. The first reason is this is the first time they are on the field working in coach Kelly's spread offense and the second reason is this is only the second practice of the spring.

Through the first two days of practice Craig Carey looks to be the most consistent of any of the quarterbacks and is pushing to become the starter. Dustin Grutza seems to be struggling at times with the snap from the center and with his accuracy. At this point these two are the best in camp but there is a long way to go before anything can really be determined from this group.

I am not sure if the weather had any impact but the wide receivers dropped a lot of passes that were right in their hands. It was not just one guy but several who dropped passes that hit them right in the hands.

Dominick Goodman has some of the best hands on the team as he seems to catch anything that is thrown his way. I look for him to have a big year coming of his performance in the International Bowl.

I spent most of the day watching the offensive side of the ball because until they get the pads on it is really difficult to get a gage on the defense and the offensive lineman.

There is no practice on Thursday, however they will be back at it on Friday and BearcatLair will be there providing you with coverage of all the action.

Notes:

Every time the defensive backs miss an assignment or drop what would have been an interception Coach Coombs makes the DB drop and do 10 push ups on the spot.

The first few days of spring practice it appeared as though they were really focusing on the short to intermediate throws which are the bread and butter of this offense.

A lot of dropped passes probably due to the wet conditions, Nakamura picked off a Grutza pass. Grutza threw at least 2 interceptions today.

Play of the day is when a DB tipped a pass near the sideline and Derrick Stewart caught the ball as he was falling down and tippy toeing the sideline.

Craig Carey stayed after practice today and worked on his own with a couple of the wide receivers. He was working on the short in routes, out routes along with a few intermediate routes.

There were a handful of recruits that took in the action today down at Nippert. Zach Domicone a quarterback from Beavercreek High School was in attendance along with his teammate J. D. Bales a 6'5 310 offensive lineman. There were a pair of recruits from Coach Coombs old high school Colerain at practice as well, QB Doug Reynolds along with his teammate Brad Dagnillo also were in attendance today taking in the action.

For complete cover of Spring Practice stay inside The Lair.