MOUNT PLEASANT – Central Michigan held its first full-pads practice of the season Monday morning at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Practice began with a series of full contact one-on-one drills and concluded with an 11-on-11 session that also was full contact.
For the second straight day, the Chippewas worked out in warm and humid conditions in Mount Pleasant. The coaching staff moved Saturday’s scheduled practice to Sunday, originally scheduled as an off day, in order to work out in temperatures that hovered near 90 degrees; Sunday’s high temperature in Tucson, Ariz., site of the Chippewas’ season opener against Arizona, was 101 degrees.
Quoting Coach Jones:“There is always a little bit of a transition from the acclimatization period to full pads, and we’re going through that right now. We finally got some heat to work in. That’s big, and it will continue to be big for us to have to deal with some heat throughout the rest of camp. You can have the best summer conditioning program around, but you still have to get into football shape, and the only way to do that is to be out here on the field. The pads obviously add weight that these guys have to carry around, so it is a transitional phase for everyone right now. I do continue to like the spirit and the focus that we have had so far in camp.
Camp News and Notes- Freshman running back Tim Phillips turned in the biggest play in the 11-on-11 period Monday morning. On the final snap of the period, Phillips took a handoff up the middle, broke to the right sideline and sprinted 49 yards untouched to the end zone.
- Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour was featured on Sunday as part of Yahoo! Sports and Rivals.com’s countdown of the top 100 players in college football.
LeFevour was ranked No. 26 in the countdown.- CMU’s first two-a-day practice session of the preseason is scheduled for Tuesday.
- CMU’s preseason media day is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 18.
- The Chippewas open the 2009 season at Arizona in just 26 days.
Courtesy: CMU Athletic Communications
