Jayhawks Go Through Fourth Spring Practice Wednesday
April 6, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas football team hit the practice fields adjacent to Memorial Stadium Wednesday afternoon, completing its fourth practice of the 2011 spring season. The Jayhawks had perfect weather to work with as they went through their second practice in pads under sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60s.
“The guys were a little bit sluggish early,” said Kansas head coach Turner Gill, who is in his second season at the helm of the Jayhawk program. “I think the players were a little sore with this being their second day in full pads, but they pushed through it.”
KU closed practice with some work on the goal line and head coach Gill came away pleased with the defensive side of the ball.
“We did some live action on goal line and short yardage situations,” said Gill. “It was good to get some of that work in. The defense won that battle today. We ran six plays, working with two groups. Each group had three opportunities to score. The offense only scored twice out of the six times. We need to do a little extra work to get those guys riled up.
“In a football game every play is going to count and when you are at the goal line you need to make a play and score a touchdown. I think it was good to work on those types of situations. We obviously need to improve in that area on the offensive side, but at the same time the defense did some nice things.”
Among the offensive positions, the wide receivers have been showing steady improvement under Kansas’ only new addition to the coaching staff in David Beaty.
“I think the wide receivers are doing pretty well,” added Gill. “As a unit they look pretty good. At this point no one person is standing out, but we have a good solid group there. Coach Beaty is an outstanding coach and a great communicator. He gets his players to really respond well on the football field and I know they will as we get into the season.”
The Jayhawks will return to practice Friday afternoon for their fifth practice session of the spring season. Kansas will play its annual Spring Game Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m.
