Practice Continues After Spring Break

With the team returning to town on Sunday afternoon, the five-time defending Sun Belt Conference champion Troy Trojans continued spring practice with a light session in shorts and helmets on Sunday evening.

The Trojans, like all of Troy's campus, were out of school for spring break last week, but are ready to get momentum moving again toward their next scrimmage on Saturday.

“We scrimmaged on Thursday night (March 3), which meant that some of them could leave on Friday if they didn't have any classes,” head coach Larry Blakeney said.

“That gave them a little bit of a break without rushing and then we asked them to be back on Sunday at 2 pm. Then, we practiced on Sunday night in shorts. That sort of gave us a chance to get some kinks out. We didn't do a lot of extra running and we just practiced high tempo for 21 periods.

“I think we knocked a little rust off from the break and are ready to get back going [on Monday].”

The scrimmage is set for 1 pm CST on Saturday in Phenix City at Garrett-Harrison Stadium.

Spring Break falling in the middle of spring practice is not a new experience for Blakeney and his staff, and it does present an opportunity for players with dings and scrapes to get back healthy during the week off.

“There are some guys that we are getting back and may get some more work because of the break and the down time,” Blakeney said. “It's less stress on them if they had a turned ankle or something like that. It may give them a chance to do something productive. We've got some good numbers and a lot of guys to look at.

“We haven't done it every year, but we've done it a lot of times. There is some thought that maybe, if you split it on both sides of the break, you get a little more time.”

The veteran coach knows that his team still has several areas to work on, but specifically wants to see more toughness out of his squad. The coaching staff has included several periods in practice that will specifically address the issue.

“The right now the thing that we need to work on with our football team, more than anything, is being physical,” Blakeney said. “We have an approach on offense that sort of spreads everything out that makes it more focused on speed and ability, but when we get the opportunity, we've got to be more physical. That is something that we have talked about a lot and worked at.

“We've got about a 10 minute segment in practice where we are hooking up with two groups, maybe wide receivers against secondary or backs against linebackers or offensive lineman against defensive lineman and ends, just trying to get some specialty work where we've got a chance to hit somebody and use proper fundamentals. A lot of it is learning the proper way to engage a guy that is trying to defeat your block or engage a guy that is trying to block you, as well as how to disengage.”

The Trojans will work each afternoon this week with the exception of Thursday as a build up to the second scrimmage. Spring preparations will conclude on March 26 with the annual T-Day game set for 1 pm in Veterans Memorial Stadium.

For more information on Troy football and all of Trojans athletics, stay tuned to TroyTrojans.com and follow @TroyAthletics on Twitter.

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