August 18, 2005
The Texas A&M football team finished up its third two-a-day practice of the fall with a two-hour evening workout in shorts and helmets at the grass practice fields on Thursday.
A&M head coach Dennis Franchione praised his team's efforts in Thursday's workouts.
"We had a very good day today," Franchione said. "The morning practice was good with (shoulder) pads on. We had a lot of good situation drills, first down and third down, and it was very productive. We practiced in shorts and helmets tonight. Our guys have done a good job of practicing without pads on and still getting things done. We did two-minute offense against each other at the end of practice. We went 11-on-11 with pass rush and the whole thing and looked very well. When you can do those types of things, you make shorts and helmet practice very profitable."
After the evening workout, an out-of-town reporter noted that it seemed like the Aggies were excited and eager at practice despite the usual drudgery of two-a-day workouts.
"Coming off of last year, it's easy to see that the guys have confidence and are passionate about what they are doing," Coach Fran noted. "They enjoy playing the game. They enjoy playing with each other. We all feel that. As a coach, I always have to say I'm cautiously optimistic. I think our players are very excited about getting to the season. I will say this: I've had a number of football teams that weren't that excited to start two-a-days, but were excited for the season. This team was excited to start practicing and they were excited to start two-a-days. That is something that separates this team in my mind."
Franchione was asked about the physical development of quarterback Reggie McNeal, who is noticeably thicker this year.
"He's worked very hard in the offseason, especially in this last year," Franchione said. "A year ago he had the shoulder (injury) that was detrimental to how much he could get accomplished in the offseason. This year he reported at about 212 (pounds) and stronger than he's ever been. He's more filled out. It's the result of his work ethic and his maturity at this point in time."
Earlier this week, Franchione announced that true freshmen Martellus Bennett and Howard Morrow would see action as true freshmen, and today he hinted that running back Jorvorskie Lane might be a factor in his first season as well.
"He's working well at tailback and he's right in the middle of the competition to become the second tailback," Franchione said. "When he hits the open field, he's got some moves. One of his best moves is the way he runs behind his pads. At his size and with the forward lean he has behind his pads, he's a hard guy to bring down. I haven't seen him stood up very many times."