Pat Narduzzi recapped Saturday's scrimmage and talked about standout players Tuesday. Here's the full rundown of what he said.
Narduzzi: Good day. Practice 16, I believe, if I have my count right. I don’t know how many days we’ve been in camp; it seems like forever. But we had a nice scrimmage Saturday. Most importantly, we stayed healthy. Nobody too banged up. 136-play scrimmage, so we got after it. I was really happy with the way our offense ran the football, which obviously was not the case the scrimmage before. So I really felt like they put some strings together. Todd Sibley ran the ball well. Vince Davis showed that he’s going to be able to play for us this year. You know, is that fourth game, third game? I don’t know when. But he did some nice things as a running back. Overall, I was happy with where we came out at.
Would Vince Davis be more of a third-down guy?
Narduzzi: You know, TBA. When you look at depth charts and we still have two weeks to go before game time so we’ll find out where that is. And not just in reference to Vince, but in reference to everybody. The depth charts have not been set. They’re still fighting every day. I think you have a pretty good idea after the second scrimmage, which is the most important scrimmage that we have out here, but you still have to go out and be able to adapt to a game plan.
His name has come up a couple times; what has he done that’s really stood out?
Narduzzi: You know what? Obviously, he knows what he’s doing, first of all. But he’s just done a nice job of hitting the holes and twisting and spinning and he’s just been good, so we’ll see how game-ready he’s going to be. And obviously he’s a few weeks away as well. I don’t see him playing in the opener yet, but we’ll see.
How did Salahuddin look?
Narduzzi: Mychale’s still rusty right now. To his defense, he’s been out for a year. All of these other guys have been running around and he’s been out. He didn’t particularly hit the holes like you’d like him to, but that’s kind of expected. He’s been out for a year and it takes time. Things happen fast back there and probably a lot on his mind, so I’m happy with where he is now, me personally, and we’ll kind of see from there.
Did you get any separation in your linebacker group on Saturday?
Narduzzi: We got separation really in everything. I feel like there’s some guys that can play at that position. Probably if you had to say there’s a banged-up group right now, it’s probably that group. Maybe it’s because of all the running that we’re doing, as far as the run game. Elias Reynolds has had a good camp. Kylan Johnson has really had a good camp. Cam Bright’s been solid. So there’s, I guess, some separation, but there’s still a lot of work to do.
What did you see from the D-line?
Narduzzi: Pat Jones continues to progress. Deslin Alexandre played well. And then Jaylen Twyman has been outstanding. Again, I think I’ve said this several times: the rest of that D-line inside, the tackle spots, have been very solid. I’ll mention another guy, just a guy that just keeps day by day progressing is Haba Baldonado. He progresses to the point where he’s going to be a factor this season.
Have you guys decided on a number-two quarterback?
Narduzzi: Not really. Nick Patti and Jeff George are doing a fine job and they’re both battling and we’ll see. I think we get closer day by day, but we’ll just kind of hold that.
Is Baldonado in the top four at this point?
Narduzzi: At this point, today, but you know how fast that thing can change. You can go from top four to top six in a period. So he’s got to continue to progress. But yeah, Haba’s proved that he can be in the top four.
Has your first-year nutritionist done anything different this year?
Narduzzi: Yeah, we’re getting more desserts.
What’s your favorite?
Narduzzi: I’m trying to stay away from those but I still go with the chocolate chip cookie when they’re available. The last couple nights - you know, we had the great fan day yesterday and in our little snack there, they had a cookie, a chocolate chip cookie. I didn’t eat the rest of it but I for sure had that chocolate chip cookie.