Nebraska Football Spring Practice Report I April 23 I Nebraska Huskers I GBR

Huskers wrapped up practice number 13 here on Tuesday hi Sean Callahan with huskeronline.com as there'll just be one more practice before Saturday's red white spring game we heard more though about the scrimmage this past Saturday where the offense had a big day I think just the operation our offensive operation uh execution is still not at 100% but the guys were we know what to do now we're stepping in the right directions uh now we just have to execute it a little bit higher EX shoot the technique at a little bit higher rate but I think just two or three weeks into it getting a lot of football in the last three weeks I think just naturally helped them improve and develop a lot of talk as well about the quarterbacks and just what we've seen from guys like Dylan riola hinr harberg and Daniel Kalin the plan is they'll all get chances to play with all the different groups uh you know they're still battling playing uh battling and competing with each other and then what I want to see is just them taking care of the football securing the snap taking care of the football throwing the ball away when needed uh just making sure that we have the ball at the end of every whistle what about the turnovers I think for Marcus safield that's a huge point of emphasis this spring as the Huskers led the country in turnovers well I would I don't even want you to ask me stuff like that uh We've improved then we caught up with running backs coach EJ Barthel as he broke down his room and you know I asked him this question how big of a priority is it to have a number one outright running back back this spring well I tell you what you know if you were asked me that two years ago I probably would have told you it's extremely important but going through what we went through last year you know what I mean um that was the first ever I came into the office and you lose your you know your one and two on the same day you know what I mean so um I would tell you from an experience from an experience of last season you know I think the more depth the better you know what I mean and honest honestly it's going to the chips will fall where they're where they're going to fall I talked to EMT last year in August and we had a lot of one-on-one talks about you know where he's at and with his progression and development and I remember just like yesterday you know his first play was double a mug um against you know double a mug pressure and he steps up against Michigan and makes a great play on third down you know what I mean as his first snap as a as a as a as a young player against Michigan that's he came off to the side I go I told you be ready when it's when you're ready and he was ready so I take that that message with em it with the other guys you know what I mean and and don't worry about when the time comes or when your moment comes to be listed as the starter but you need to be ready you know what I mean and the one thing I think positive about this group is we have some depth you know and we have some guys that can do different things and that's um that's really important um as I've just learned from last last season a number of the key running backs though are limited this spring coming off injury and gab bvin Jr and rir Johnson obviously rir and Gabe um have been have been limited uh just kind of recovering still and you know rir is you pretty much um he's pretty good but just get him some work you know what I mean and you know he's got being monitored by coach a little bit here but uh he um you know he's he's really grown mentally you know he's you if you watch him this offseason in our workouts the biggest thing I noticed about Ramirez his mental focus and his determination you that's that's the two things that jumped out for me with Ramirez he's determined to to make a statement and with his career and for this team you know what I mean he's you know he's had some adversity here as a as a player um you know he knows as a staff coach Rule and the offensive staff myself uh we believe in him and um you know so I think he appreciates that and he's really coming into his own here as a as a leader and and as a um contributor um for his role and what it's going to be I mean I'm I'm in pads right now you know I'm going through the individual drills like in indd that's what we call it in practice and you know going through those things and I feel good you know they just you know really just trying to take precaution you know trying to get me even more healthy and summer I'm going be rolling fall camp and be there you know I'm be rolling uh Gabe and rir both do a tremendous job Gabe uh you know he's like a coach on the field he's out there you know whenever he's not doing his work on the side he's out there make you know mentoring those young guys making sure you know we split up on all these different fields and so like EJ can't be at every single field so he's he's like a coach on the field he's he's done a really nice job him and Raheem both rir the most challenging part is just like you know you know seeing the guys you know do what I love and just like you know being on the sideline you know supporting I mean I love supporting the guys but just like you know that um aspect of football taken away from me again it's the most challenging part that I have to deal with every day but being stronger mentally is something that I've been trying to develop you know because you're going to you're going to need to be stronger mentally you know throughout your whole life so this um taking this time to just like working on my mental piece and knowing it's going to be okay for the future focusing on what I can control controlling what I can only can control and just taking it on I mean loving the guys even more the days I come in and I'm like dang I want to be out there just love the guys even more you know supporting the guys and we have a good group of guys and I love them and we're going we're going to be good coming this fall but that's been the most challenging thing in just like you know watching them do things that I love and because I have a passion for the game and just like watching them you know you know do it Day Day in day out but they've been pining some good work you know and I feel like you know we're going to be really good and for Gabe he hurt his hip early in the season it was the second major injury he sustained as a Husker yeah I mean I mean going back to that game I really thought I mean we went into the tent um and Coach EJ and the athletic trainer coach Chris was there and it was like a i Manan this just seems like a pool you know hip flexer pool and I'm like yeah I mean but it I mean it didn't feel like a pool you know I was just trying to keep positive vibes keep positive energy and the next day I came back in the training room and we got an MRI on it and that's when we we found out it was more serious than what it was and I mean it just you know I just mean memories just brought back to freshman year where I hurt my knee and I mean it's just one of those season ending injuries that I have to deal with but I mean I'm going on forward not going to think about that you know I'm control what I can control you know keep positive energy Positive Vibes and I'm just going to keep on going because I'm not going to let that stop me like that's not going to stop me meanwhile EMT Johnson continues to take full advantage of the opportunity here at running back yeah Spring's been going well for me so far you know I think just getting a lot more reps and uh just seeing everything differently this year you know having a lot more experience and everything like that uh it's been good and I've been you know stacking days and just working hard every day I mean I would say I always had confidence but I just feel like now it's like I've seen a lot of things and you know I'm able to take that next step and kind of like is rather than like if I mess up on a play you know I'm I'm looking at the things that I could have did better on it just knowing that you know I'm I'm a step ahead of last year I feel like with all my reads and just you know I'm stronger I'm faster so I think I'm just seeing everything more clearly uh this season Johnson also hit on a couple of newcomers on defense that have opened his eyes in linebacker Vincent Shavers and defensive back blly hill man I'll say you know there's a couple uh Shavers you know a linebacker he's been doing a great job and he's a physical guy he runs the ball after plays he's been doing great with that uh blly you know playing Corner uh he's been a good impression too on the defensive side of things but I'll say they're all working really hard but those are like the two guys that i' would say have been sticking out and then finally it's year two here for Matt Rule and for veterans in the program like Irving Jr it's just been a lot more comfortable this spring I mean you know we're we're adapted to the system and how they operate and I feel like you know we're just you know taking a taking a jump from last year cuz you know it's was a new staff and trying to figure out how they are and and how they do things and don't really really know and now we know you know and now we're just like you know embracing that process that they're instilling because that process is is really good coach Rule and the staff they know what they're doing and you can tell they know what they're doing and we're really just buying in you know to the process coach Ru talks about that every day buying in to the process because I mean it's a hard process it's not for everybody it's not for everybody but you know he really building us you know for the next level he building us for that um for that next structure in life you know not only to be a player but to be a man you know they building us to become great group of um young men to you know take a toll in life Huskers are back to work here Thursday for practice 14 reporting with the Nebraska football team in Lincoln I'm Sean Callahan of hoscar online.com