Football Fall Camp: Eleventh Practice Signals Start of Second Half

Kansas entered the second half of fall camp with its 11th of 20 practices taking place on the practice fields outside Memorial Stadium Friday afternoon. The entire practice session was open to the media, who met with linebackers coach Clint Bowen and selected linebackers around lunch time. Quotes from the media session are available below.

Quoteables
Clint Bowen, Linebackers Coach
On changing the culture of a program…
“Coach Weis set the standard on what’s going to be accepted and what’s not going to be accepted and it never waivers. Guys either understand that they are going to do it the way it is supposed to be done or we are going to do it without them. It’s been pretty simple and straightforward. The players have bought into it and I think they appreciate doing things the correct way.”

On Ben Heeney…
“The best thing about Ben is leadership and leadership is two different ways. Some guys lead by being vocal and some guys lead by being an example. He actually leads by both. When you go and put on our practice film, you can point to Ben Heeney any time and he is guaranteed to be going 100 miles an hour, the guy doesn’t take a play off. When one of your best players is doing that, it’s easy to show someone else, ‘look, this guys is doing it and doing it every play, that’s what we have to do.’ When Ben shows up, it’s very important to him, he is a football guy and he puts a lot of work into it and a lot of pride into it. If you watch us practice every day like our kids see every rep, you can’t help but appreciate what the guy brings.”

Sampson Faifili, Jr., Linebacker
On the difference between junior college and Division I…
“It’s a lot more difficult. I think the big thing for me that is different coming from a junior college is the tempo of practice and the installations are constantly coming in daily. We are throwing in new stuff every day and at juco we threw in new stuff once every week, so we had plenty of time to learn it. Being at KU we are constantly throwing in stuff, so I am constantly having to learn new things, which is harder for me, but that’s what comes along with being a DI athlete. You have to be able to learn on the go and pick things up quick, so that’s what I’m trying to work on.”

On his competition with Jake Love…
“He is pushing me and it’s a lot of work to keep up with him. It’s competition and I’m trying to be the starter and I’m sure he’s trying to do the same thing too, which is the whole point of DI football. They brought me in to compete. We are both trying to work on our individual game, but at the same time we’re both improving the whole defense because we’re trying to make ourselves better so we are the starters. Everything that he knows, I’m trying to pick his brain. I’m trying to learn everything he knows and do it the way he does it. Right now he is my mentor and I look up to him for everything.” 

Ben Heeney, Jr., Linebacker
On his personal preseason recognition…
“The accolades are cool and all, but I’m just excited to get the season going and to win some games.”

Prinz Kande, Sr., Linebacker
On what the team is trying to accomplish on defense…
“We are just trying to be aggressive and be able to run. We want to be able to run to every snap and just swarm the whole offense. That is our main priority, to run and just be aggressive as a unit.”

On what you learned from watching the game while being injured…
“I definitely learned a lot. You don’t realize what you had until after you lose it. I looked at it like a coach from the outside looking in. I figured out what I needed to work on, what the team needed to work on and just try to fix all the little holes in my game. It has helped me out quite a bit since I’ve been back.”

Jake Love, So., Linebacker
On the intensity of the competition at weak side linebacker…
“It has been very intense. Prinz (Kande), Sampson (Faifili) and myself are all playing well. Prinz has been a starter here and so have I. Sampson is coming in as a highly-touted linebacker so the competition has been fun. It has essentially lit a fire under all of us to compete harder and try to make each other better. We all know what we want to accomplish, and the strong competition is only going to make us better.”

On what kind of improvement you see from the overall linebacker unit…
“The guys that have come in have been a nice addition. We have guys that have been here like Prinz (Kande), Schyler Miles and myself and we have all improved. We are all in better shape this year thanks to our offseason conditioning program. Overall, our depth is as deep as it has been since I’ve been here so that has been a positive for our team.”

Tweetworthy

General impression: #KUfball offense got the best of the D today. Heaps was sharp, WRs made catches in traffic

— Matt Tait (@mctait) August 16, 2013

Along w/tonight’s kickoff, #kufball is holding Fan Appreciation Day tomorrow! Get an autograph & watch practice: http://t.co/ZY9o8dkjp2

— University of Kansas (@KUNews) August 16, 2013

Can’t wait for Saturday morning and #kufball open practice! Appreciate the hard work these guys are putting in! #JoinTheChant

— James Hanke (@hanke25) August 16, 2013

http://t.co/RwD9RZBuRv blogger @BChatmon posted his 2013 Kansas season preview: http://t.co/DKFeDPj03n #kufball #rockchalk #jointhechant

— Kansas Football (@KU_Football) August 16, 2013

In the Pros
Josh Williams’ Chicago Bears outlasted Darrell Stuckey and Greg Brown’s San Diego Chargers, 33-28, in preseason action at Soldier Field Thursday night. Stuckey was the only former KU football player to record a stat in the game, stuffing a Michael Bush run in the third quarter before Bush finally punched it in for a Chicago score on the next play. Tim Biere’s Atlanta Falcons saw Ravens score 20 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 27-23 Baltimore win. Biere did not record any stats in the contest. 

Five Jayhawks will be in action in three different games Friday night, including Bradley McDougald and Toben Opurum as the Chiefs take on the 49ers at Arrowhead Stadium. Mike Rivera and Aqib Talib look to help the Patriots top the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Fox. In a regular season CFL contest, Ray Brown looks to help Hamilton slow down the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on ESPN3. 

Viewing Guide

NFL – Chiefs vs. 49ers (KCTV5)
Friday, 7 p.m. (CT)
Bradley McDougald (S, Kansas City Chiefs)
Toben Opurum (FB, Kansas City Chiefs)
NFL – Patriots vs. Buccaneers (Fox)
Friday, 7 p.m. (CT)
Mike Rivera (LB, New England Patriots)
Aqib Talib (S, New England Patriots)
CFL – Tiger-Cats vs. Blue Bombers (ESPN3)
Friday, 7 p.m. (CT)
Ray Brown (DB, Hamilton Tiger-Cats)
CFL – Stampeders vs. Lions (ESPN3)
Saturday, 8 p.m. (CT)
Jon Cornish (RB, Calgary Stampeders)
NFL – Bengals vs. Titans 
Saturday, 6 p.m. (CT)
Anthony Collins (OL, Cincinnati Bengals)
Tanner Hawkinson (OL, Cincinnati Bengals) 
NFL – Broncos vs. Seahawks (NFL Network)
Saturday, 9 p.m. (CT)
Steven Johnson (LB, Denver Broncos) 
CFL – Eskimos vs. Argonauts (ESPN3)
Sunday, 6 p.m. (CT)
Marcus Henry (WR, Edmonton Eskimos)
NFL – Redskins vs. Steelers (ESPN)
Monday, 7 p.m. (CT)
Dezmon Briscoe (WR, Washington Redskins)

Looking Ahead
Fan Appreciation Day will be held in Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 17. The gates on the west side of the stadium will open at 10:45 a.m., with practice slated to begin at 11:15 a.m. Cameras will not be allowed to be used inside the stadium until the completion of practice.

Weis and the Jayhawk players, who will be set up at tables by position group, will sign autographs for 30 minutes following the conclusion of practice. KU football posters, rosters and other promotional items will be available for the team to sign. Any other items brought for signing will have to be personalized by Weis and the KU players. Additionally, the Hy-Vee Hawk Zone, full of inflatables games for children, will be open from 9-11 a.m., at the KU football practice fields adjacent to Memorial Stadium on the southeast corner.

Kansas will open the 2013 football season by hosting South Dakota on Saturday, Sept. 7 in Memorial Stadium. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by contacting the Kansas Ticket Office at 1-800-34-HAWKS or via the web at KUAthletics.com.

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