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UCF Thursday practice recap

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UCF redshirt freshman Blake Bortles will lead the Knights' starting offense during preseason camp that begins Aug. 1. Credit: Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel.

My apologies for not posting a recap from Wednesday’s practice. I didn’t get home until late and there really weren’t too many noteworthy plays or depth chart moves.

Thursday was a different story.

There weren’t many changes to the depth chart, except for freshman OL Tarik Cook taking a majority of the starter’s reps at LG with Theo Goins still out with a knee injury.

UCF head coach George O’Leary praised Cook (6-3, 280) Wednesday evening and seemed confident enough to get him even more snaps Thursday.

“I think he went over there and did a heck of a job, as far as the guard position,” O’Leary said. “He has good hip strength, comes out of it, gets moving on the ball, but again, he’s young.”

UCF appeared to be headed to the Nicholson Fieldhouse for the third straight day when the lightning siren by the nearby softball complex sounded, but O’Leary opted to end practice a few segments early.

“We’re trying to get down to the two-deep look and get after the kids about competing,” O’Leary said after Thursday’s practice. “The kids, they had to put the pedal to the metal out there today, a little bit. But I think the kids responded and that’s what you’re looking for, is competition out there. And I thought they competed well, that’s why when the weather came in, I sent them in and we got done what wanted to see on film.”

O’Leary also said that he was pleased with the resiliency of his squad. The Knights have been going full contact for most of the week and some players have been getting dinged up but are playing through the pain.

“They’re beat up a little bit, they’re tired of hitting each other but they’re still going back after each other,” O’Leary said. “We’ve got to watch our own injuries now, we’re starting to get a couple of them. But that’s to anticipate after 16 days of practice, but the kids, I had to kick them off the field. That’s a good sign. Like [DE] Troy Davis had a little injury and he wouldn’t go out.”

Below are some more in-depth notes from Thursday’s practice:

–Bortles looking good – Sophomore QB Blake Bortles had one of his better practices of the preseason.

He hit short, intermediate and deeps passes, and his only bad throw was a dropped interception by S Clayton Geathers. It seemed like UCF’s offensive line has adapted to the defense’s blitz packages, which is certainly helping Bortles.

WR J.J. Worton did a nice job making some tough catches in traffic, and RB Storm Johnson also stood out with some impressive cuts.

–Mitchell in the middle – Sophomore LB Willie Mitchell remained with the first-team defense, but was playing middle linebacker at times during Thursday. Mitchell is a bigger ‘backer (6-1, 233) and could allow the more athletic Terrance Plummer to line up as the strong-side LB.

–In attendance – A couple of NFL scouts watched Thursday’s practice, including a member of the New York Giants front office.

–Next practice – UCF practices Friday from 6:30-8:30 p.m.


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