Scott Shafer wasn’t happy with his team’s progress on Monday.

When asked what specific areas his team needs to improve in, Shafer replied, “Everything. We’ve got to get better at everything we do,” as he pounded the podium with his fist.

It was the Orange’s third practice of training camp, and the team wore shoulder pads and Guardian Caps, which are intended to prevent head injuries.

The head coach later expressed unhappiness with his defensive linemen’s performances, saying they need to utilize their hands better, as the group aims to replace Jay Bromley, now with the New York Giants.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get to where we need to be and there are some good things going on,” Shafer said, “but the level and the standard of expectations got to be higher every day. I felt like yesterday we had a really good day and today we had a day that just wasn’t as good as we need it to be.”

Kirkland suffers knee bruise

Senior linebacker Josh Kirkland was being tended to by the medical staff when practice opened to the media late Monday afternoon for what Shafer said was a knee bruise after bumping knees with a teammate.

“The fancy word would be contusion,’” Shafer said.

Kirkland couldn’t put much weight on his right leg during the open practice, but slowly limped to the locker room on his own during Shafer’s press conference about two hours later.

Batten continues to work with tight ends

Sophomore P.J. Batten, listed as a linebacker on the Orange’s roster, spent the open part of Monday’s practice working with the tight ends, and let a pass from position coach Bobby Acosta sail through his hands during a route-running drill.

Batten was on last year’s roster as a tight end, but switched to linebacker before the start of this season’s training camp.

Another positional switch made earlier this camp was the move of sophomore Troy Green from quarterback to wide receiver, where Shafer told reporters he thinks the Central Florida transfer will have a better chance to compete. Last year, quarterback John Kinder – who has since transferred to Stony Brook – made a similar position change.

Others:

• No exact date for a return is imminent for freshman quarterback Alin Edouard, who left SU’s training camp to deal with family matters at home in Miami. “When the family is all set and feels good about things, we’ll get him back up here,” Shafer said.
• While Syracuse looks for a new holder to replace the graduated Charley Loeb, safety Darius Kelly held down a few kicks for senior Alex Hodgkinson during the open practice, but it was punter Riley Dixon who executed a fake field goal, rolling to his right and flicking a touchdown pass to defensive end Micah Robinson in the end zone.

Published on August 4, 2014 at 10:17 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb