Heavy rains in Harrisonburg late Wednesday afternoon forced JMU Football into Bridgeforth Stadium for practice #6 on Thursday. The day began with clouds shielding the field from the sun, but that quickly changed and the heat and humidity was back into the mix as it had been the last 3 days.

Here are some of the highlights from Thursday’s practice.

• I stated in an earlier blog about not being sure about the depth at linebacker. I spent time watching this unit practice for a bit this morning and was really encouraged about the young players that play that position. They seem to have speed, and are getting more comfortable in the scheme from what I could tell.
• Trai Sharp looked Sharp on Thursday, running the ball well and keeping defenders on their heels. He agreed after practice this may have been his best day this preseason camp.
• Not to be outdone, Marcus Marshall had some impressive runs, “Zigging and Zagging” through traffic on one particular play, and spinning out of a tackle at the line of scrimmage for a nice pick up on another.
• The O-Line and D-Line head to head match ups are really getting good. As I stated before, these two units will get better because of who they are going against every day. It’s hard for one player to dominate a day because of the different guys they’ll face from one round to the next, plus if a guy doesn’t have a good round, he’s ready to come back, really focused on his next time up. Stay tuned.
• Davis Patterson had a couple really nice grabs, but also sprang Trai Sharp for a touchdown run when he sealed his block on the outside which opened up the sideline for Trai. Again, Patterson is in a deep pool of Wide Receivers, but he’s trying to make a splash.
• The Dukes continue to put a lot of focus on Red Zone Offense. The offense does have several creative options when they are knocking on the door of the end zone.
• Several guys spent time after practice getting additional work in either on their own or with a team mate. It would appear that these guys want to be on the field this season, and are willing to do the extra work to make that happen.