Practices No. 15/16: The Texas A&M football team worked out in full pads at the Coolidge practice fields Friday morning for 2 hours, 5 minutes, then returned with helmets and no pads indoors in the afternoon for 1 hour, 55 minutes.
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Slow start, fast finish: The receivers dropped a few more balls than normal in the morning session, but came back strong in the afternoon.
"In 7-on-7 they probably had their best day," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "We had two [sessions] and they really had some phenomenal catches."
Junior Jeff Fuller, who had one of those rare drops in the morning without a defender near, led the way in the afternoon. He caught four 35-yard touchdowns on four straight plays from quarterback Jerrod Johnson, despite good coverage.
"He caught the ball real well," Sherman said.
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Injury update: A&M had started to get a few players back from injuries in the middle of the week, but had more than 10 players on the sidelines in the morning session.
Sherman said ankle, foot and mid-foot sprains aren't minor injuries.
Free safety Steven Campbell (foot sprain) has yet to practice and "really needs to work out here," Sherman said. "We're really counting on him to be part of our defense."
Junior strong safety Trent Hunter hasn't had much contact this week, adding to Sherman's concern.
"We'll going to probably hold both of those guys back until Monday and see where they're at," he said. "They both say they fell better, so that's good news."
Senior outside linebacker Von Miller and defensive lineman Tony Jerod-Eddie didn't wear pads in the morning but both were moving well, helping coach the younger players as they watched, as did Hunter. Sophomore outside linebacker Sean Porter also was among the injured.
Miller came back in the afternoon to take part in the play of the day.
Johnson threw a sideline pass toward Fuller, but Miller was able to stretch out and tip the ball away. Junior cornerback Terrence Frederick grabbed the interception in full stride before stepping out of bounds as the defense roared its approval.
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Hurd moves to safety: Freshman Toney Hurd Jr., who was playing cornerback, moved to safety Friday in part because Hunter and Campbell were out.
"When you get thrown back there and have to communicate calls and disguise coverages and do all that stuff, it's a daunting task to start out that way when you've been a corner," Sherman said. "But he's a very good tackler. He has great recognition skills. I think he'll be fine back there, but he's still feeling his way.
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King of the Hill: Former A&M running back Greg Hill (1991-93) who was a first-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, talked to the team's five running backs following the afternoon workout. Hill, who had 3,262 career yards at A&M (third in school history), embraced Sherman afterward.
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Quick start: Sophomore cornerback Dustin Harris, who has missed time in fall camp with an injury, intercepted the first pass during 11-on-11 drills as he covered sophomore wide receiver Uzoma Nwachukwu. ... Freshman lineman Jarvis Harrison of Navasota was back on offense after trying the defensive line for one day. He joins redshirt freshman Rhontae Scales, who also was tried on defense but is back on offense. ... Redshirt sophomore tight end Hutson Prioleau had a 20-yard touchdown catch during 11-on-11 scrimmage action, slipping through a defender on a nice individual effort. ... Junior wide receiver Taylor Randle had a couple nice grabs, including one during a two-minute drill. ... Senior wide receiver Terrence McCoy, who had been sure-handed in fall camp, also had a couple of drops but made a nifty touchdown catch over junior cornerback Coryell Judie during 7-on-7. ... Sophomore tight end Michael Lamothe had a good day catching the ball in both sessions.
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Et cetera: Sherman said he's still concerned about punting, waiting for one of the three candidates (junior Ken Wood, sophomore Ryan Epperson or junior Jared Jaroszewski) to step forward and show consistency.
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Next up: Practice No. 17 will be at 8:25 a.m. Saturday at Kyle Field (which is 30 minutes earlier than previously reported), the team's second scrimmage of fall camp. Sunday is an off day.
Outside practices are open to Aggies. Students, faculty and staff must show their A&M ID. Students and former students also will be admitted with an Aggie ring.
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