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.

Spring game time
Army’s spring football game will be at 1 p.m. Saturday March 27.
Black Knights Alley will open at 11 a.m.
Hope to see you there. I’ll be the goofy guy with a notebook in hand.