Johnson happy with Jackets' first practice

By DOUG ROBERSON

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said he wanted to see tempo and focus in Monday’s first practice of the 2009 season.

After the 2-1/2 hour session was done, he proclaimed himself mostly happy.

“We were way ahead of where we were a year ago at this time,” Johnson said of 2008, his first fall practice with the team.

There were some good things and bad things to note:

The quarterbacks looked shaky in the seven-on-seven drills, combining to complete 14 of 38 passes. The incompletions came in a variety of ways. However, each quarterback threw at least one pass that looked great, from incumbent starter Josh Nesbitt gunning a ball into the flat to Jaybo Shaw dropping a rainbow down the middle.

The two freshmen, Jordan Luallen and David Sims, got into the act as well. Luallen gunned a pass into the middle that only freshman wide receiver Tyler Jarry could have caught, and he did -- one-handed.

Sims looked the most shaky of the quartet, but Johnson said that’s to be expected.

“They looked like they are drinking from a fire hose,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a lot thrown at them really fast for a while. But both are good athletes and I saw some good things out of both of them.”

Field moves

• Kamaron Riley, who was supposed to be in the mix at defensive back this season, has transferred to Georgia Military College, Johnson said after Monday’s season-opening practice.

“He had some issues, nothing bad,” Johnson said. Riley, from Hawkinsville, was a redshirt sophomore.

• Jemea Thomas worked out with the safeties on Monday. He was recruited as an A-Back, but Johnson said he thought he would get more playing time in the backfield.

• Freshman wide receiver Stephen Hill returned punts on Monday, along with Jerrard Tarrant. Johnson said coaches will try out all freshmen who have the ability to return kicks, but that they won’t take off a player’s redshirt if that’s the only way they are capable of helping the team win this year.