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Friday, March 28, 2008
Johnson says Jackets need toughness
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Johnson’s evaluation after seeing his Georgia Tech football team practice in pads for the first time: “We’ve got to get a lot tougher, a lot tougher.”
No sooner had special teams work ended than the Yellow Jackets jumped straight into hard-hitting drills.
At 4:10 p.m., it was “Oklahomas,” the kind of who’s-the-toughest drill that is all about seeing who is man enough to accomplish the blocking and tackling basics that win football games. One player blocks, one plays defense, one tries to carry the football between two pads and past the defender.
“You try to find out who will stick their face in there,” Johnson said.
Setting the tone at the start of the drill were two of Tech’s best, offensive tackle Andrew Gardner firing out to block defensive tackle Darryl Richard. Richard missed Wednesday’s practice because of a class but is back today and going all-out.
Vance Walker, who sat out of drills on Wednesday, is in with Richard at first-team tackle. The first-team ends are Derrick Morgan and Michael Johnson. The linebackers: Kyle Jackson and Anthony Barnes on the outside and Brad Jefferson in the middle. Corners: Mario Butler and Jahi Word-Daniels. Safeties: Morgan Burnett and Dominique Reese.
Center Trey Dunmon, who was out sick for the first two practices, is back. Dan Voss still ended up taking a lot of the snaps at center with Jason Hill at guard, though Voss did appear at guard, too. The other guard was A.J. Smith. Gardner and David Brown are at tackle. Greg Smith and Jamaal Evans were the top A-backs, with Calvin Booker continuing to work at No. 1 quarterback.
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