Practice Nos. 19, 20: The Texas A&M football team had its final two-a-days of training camp Tuesday. The Aggies worked out in full pads at the Coolidge practice fields Tuesday morning for 2 hours, 30 minutes then worked out in the afternoon in the McFerrin Center in shorts and helmets with no pads for 2 hours.
"I think we've had a good camp. They're working hard," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "We've had a couple clunkers where I thought at some positions we could have done a little better, but that's part of two-a-days."
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Offensive line depth: Freshman Jake Matthews worked out at right tackle with the first unit while sophomore Brian Thomas, who had been a first-teamer at right tackle since spring drills, working out at center with the second unit.
Having linemen playing more than one spot will get the team ready to fill in if a starter gets injured, Sherman said.
"Brian has played every position on the offensive line, so it was a no-brainer to get him some work there," Sherman said. "He'll move back there. He'll take some reps at tackle tomorrow, then again Thursday and Friday. It also gave Jake a chance to be with the first team and work some kinks out. I thought it was very productive."
Senior Matt Allen is the starting center.
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Eight, looking for 10: Sherman has said he wants at least eight offensive linemen -- five starters, a swing tackle, a swing guard and a backup center -- to be ready to play with the first team if necessary, though he's hoping for 10.
He said Matthews is "definitely" in the eight.
The coaching staff is close to finding its eight and could find nine.
The second offensive line Tuesday had junior Danny Baker and redshirt freshman Rhontae Scales at tackles and junior Joe Villavisencio and freshman Shep Klinke at guards with Thomas at center.
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Backup quarterbacks: Junior quarterback Ryan Tannehill (foot) missed his third day of contact, which allowed freshman Matt Joeckel to get more snaps.
Joeckel, who engineered a couple touchdown drives in Saturday's scrimmage, had a couple touchdown throws Tuesday. Sherman said he threw an interception by sophomore linebacker Kyle Mangan that he shouldn't have.
"But overall, he's making a lot of progress," Sherman said.
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Powerful meeting: Former Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum was at the afternoon practice, spending about 10 minutes at the start talking to senior linebacker Von Miller.
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Injury updates: Sophomore wide receiver Brandal Jackson is out with a knee injury. Junior strong safety Trent Hunter (foot), sophomore free safety Steven Campbell (foot), junior cornerback Coryell Judie, junior defensive lineman Tony Jerod-Eddie (concussion symptoms), redshirt freshman tight end Hutson Prioleau (high ankle sprain) and sophomore tight end Michael Lamothe (rib) were among those who didn't scrimmage in the morning.
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Et cetera: Junior place-kicker Randy Bullock bounced back from a tough kicking session Monday with a solid effort Tuesday. ... The offense and defense switch maroon and white jerseys at practice, but the quarterbacks always wear black so they won't get tackled. Lamothe, however, wore a black jersey Tuesday. ... Sophomore defensive back Dustin Harris dropped an interception in an afternoon drill but held on to one two plays later. ... Former Bryan High football coach Marty Criswell was at the morning practice.
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Next: A&M will have a closed practice Wednesday to the public and media. A&M's other practices this week will be at 8:25 a.m. Thursday and 9:15 a.m. Friday, both at the Coolidge practice fields.
-- Robert Cessna
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