Inside Army Football Blog

This was Army’s final physical practice, coach Rich Ellerson.

“By Wednesday, I will have chickened out,” Ellerson said. “We are rehearsing. We are making sure that all these things we are going to be visualizing ourselves do between now and August, we are visualizing the right things. So a lot of error correction and less running into each other. That fine-tuning of footwork and path.”

Wednesday is Army’s final practice before Spring break.

Sophomore cornerback Josh Jackson and junior free safety Donovan Travis chest-bumped each other after Jackson went low and nearly picked off a Max Jenkins pass intended for Justin Allen.

Freshman safety Ty Shrader went all out trying to punch the ball out of slotback Jameson Carter’s hands after a catch. Shrader’s momentum took him into the sidewall.

Freshman guard Frank Allen has found a home on the first team and has impressed Ellerson. “Frank Allen is an evolution,” Ellerson said.

The X-factor at wide receiver could be freshman Malcolm Brown. Brown, who was moved from slotback last week, made a diving catch and showed the speed (on a bad wheel) to get deep and nearly caught a 40-yard pass from Trent Steelman.

“He’s a natural ball catcher,” Ellerson said. “He’s got a great learning curve. The thing that’s going to help him is good news and bad news. You got moved around a bit when you are a guy like Malcolm because you can do a lot of things physically but you can also learn it and manage. He’s only been there a few days and son of a gun, he’s not lost. He’s a natural competitor. I like that move.But I also know  he would be able to compete in at least two other positions on that side of the ball.”

The defense worked against the defense towards the end of practice. Sophomore rover Josh Jones, a high school quarterback, was under center and looked pretty good.  He completed a crossing pattern to cornerback Antuan Aaron.

Sophomore Eric Jones, a cornerback who missed the 2009 season with injury and hasn’t practiced, didn’t. Jones, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, was picked by sophomore linebacker Steve Erzinger.

One of Army’s objective this spring – find a slotback fast enough to get to the outside quick on pitches.

Freshman Brian Cobbs, a converted cornerback, could be that player. Cobbs was also one of Army’s best special-teams cover guys last season.

“He brings some real speed to that position,” Army coach Rich Ellerson said. “He’s not as rough as you might expect being new to the position. Part of it is having a guy like JC (junior slotback Jameson Carter ) because you have a great picture in front of you of the fundamentals and details of what the job scription looks like.”

Carter’s had a good spring and is a steady as they come. If Carter can stay away from nagging injuries, he’ll be a calming force this fall.

Ellerson’s take: “It’s been a productive spring. I’m not happy about everything and every position. But we’ve definitely have made some strides. We’ve done a lot of good physical work and we’ve stayed healthy.”

Observations: Sophomore quarterback Max Jenkins throws a better ball when he’s on the move.

Carter stretched out to catch a pass from Max Jenkins. Freshman wide receiver Kyler Martin made a diving grab on a pass from Jenkins.

Freshman cornerback Josh Jackson picked off a pass intended from Malcolm Brown and made a nice play to break up a pass to Mark Allen.

Junior quarterback Chip Bowden was riding a stationary bike during practice. Bowden is recovering from a torn ACL, suffered on Nov. 7, 2009 at Air Force.

Turning heads: Freshman Nate Combs is seeing reps at bandit (defensive tackle/lineman, Victor Ugenyi’s old position) and middle linebacker. “We moved him around a little bit on defense,” Ellerson said. “He’s playing a couple of positions and it looks like he’ll have a chance to get in the mix in both of them.”

Port Jervis representing: More than a handful of high school and youth football coaches from Port Jervis were on hand to watch practice. Port Jervis athletic director Jared Kahmar told me they were invited by Army rovers coach John Brock.

Next: Army will head outside to practice in Michie Stadium Saturday (March 6). Practice will start at 8:30 a.m. Part of the practice will be in scrimmage-like conditions.