Wednesday afternoon marked the full return to a game-week practice for the Kansas University football team, which is slated to take on Baylor, at 3 p.m. in Waco, Texas, on Saturday.
The Jayhawks had a bye week last week and, therefore, went through a little different practice schedule than normal. That’s not to say practices were any easier last week. In fact, junior safety Isaiah Johnson told me just the opposite. If anything, he said, practices were more intense, simply because the Jayhawks had time to lock in more on fundamentals yet still focused on physicality.
Plenty of Jayhawks got the rest they needed to get back into the flow for this week, though, and that was evident on Wednesday.
Here’s a quick look at what caught my eye….
**• Tony Pierson was out there working with the first-team offense** and appears to be fine. I didn’t see him favor anything or go half-speed to protect anything while he was participating in drills. Pierson was knocked out of the Texas Tech game after just two plays with what turned out to be a sprain of some sort near his neck. Good to see he’s out there and ready to go for this week.
**• Michael Cummings also looked sharp again.** Cummings took a beating at Tech and even left the game for two plays. Earlier in the day, Cummings was asked what he got most out of the bye week and he answered with one simple word. “Rest.” From the sound of it, that was as much mental rest as physical rest, but Clint Bowen did give his guys last Friday and Saturday off and Cummings said he went fishing, watched some college football and just relaxed. There’s no doubt that that kind of routine was good for everyone on the roster, especially considering the crazy times that have surrounded the program since the firing of former KU coach Charlie Weis.
**• Wednesday’s practice started with a little bit of flare,** as Bowen broke out what appeared to be some kind of championship wrestling belt and then called the team together in a circle at midfield. Evidently, this happens quite often. Three players from the offense square off with three players from the defense in a quick wrestling-style showdown and whichever side — offense or defense — wins two of the three bouts emerges with the belt and bragging rights. I couldn’t get a look at exactly who competed, but it looked like the offense won this round and the whole exercise created a lot of energy and excitement to kick off practice.
**• One interesting note in terms of personnel….** Freshman wide receiver Darious Crawley is now working as a running back. It’s hard to say if the move is permanent or what role the coaches have planned for the 5-11, 190-pound freshman from Houston, but he appears to have some natural ability. It’s most likely just a depth thing for practice purposes, though. We’ll see.
**• Bowen said Tuesday that junior wide receiver Rodriguez Coleman would be in the mix** for playing time after a quiet start to the season and he was very much that during Wednesday’s practice. Known as a burner who can stretch the field, Coleman’s emergence, should it happen, could really help this offense. He was very involved in Wednesday’s practice and looked good running around out there.
**• Speaking of somebody who looked good out there,** wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau was also very active during the portion of practice I saw. Not only was he more vocal than I remember, with regard to the entire offense, not just his group, but he also flat-out got after it physically, running with guys during routes, throwing passes over the middle and encouraging guys to dig deeper, run it out and finish plays at an almost constant rate. The guy’s got great energy and, perhaps more importantly, the players really seem to respond to his style.
**• One quick note regarding former Jayhawks now playing in the NFL….** Chris Harris (Denver), Aqib Talib (Denver) and Anthony Collins (Tampa Bay) are all officially on this year’s Pro Bowl ballot. Log on to NFL.com to cast your vote.
