8/2/2018 football Edit

Quick Count: Preseason football practice - Day 2

Matt Stevens • BoilerUpload

Staff

After Day 1, in which a lot of footballs hit the ground on deep pass attempts, Jackson Anthrop got the message immediately.

The sophomore wide receiver, who led Purdue in receptions last season, made two long touchdown catches Thursday after the 5-foot-11 slot receiver seemed to respond to the directive of his head coach from the previous day that the vertical passing game was less than satisfactory.

""The great thing is from the middle of last season to this first game (in 2018) we've truly focused on the things we're not doing well," Brohm said Wednesday. "Catching deep balls, catching contested balls, beating press coverage and having consequences when it didn't happen. If we do, we can start where we finished (in 2017); if we don't, it'll be a tough road.""

Anthrop had a 30-35 yard touchdown pitch-and-catch in a skelly drill, where he beat the nickel corner and his safety in coverage over the middle on a double move, fake flag and post route. Later in practice he hauled in a long touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone on a route similar to his first touchdown reception from Elijah Sindelar in the season opener against Louisville. The difference in Anthrop's catch Thursday afternoon, aside from the fact this was only an early training camp practice, was he had to make a very athletic adjustment to the ball as compared to being wide open vs. Louisville. However, starting out fast is nothing new to the Purdue legacy, who made 17 catches with four touchdowns in his first three college games last season.

"It's not a surprise anymore. Jackson is consistent about running the routes and being exactly where he needs to be in order to make a play," Sindelar said Thursday. "He's durable too so when you throw him something over the middle, he'll go get it. I mean, you don't try to get your receiver killed but if he gets rocked on a catch, he just bounces back up."

Purdue sophomore wide receiver Jackson Anthrop has made noticeably big plays in the first days of preseason practice. (GoldandBlack.com)

- So...about that baseline Purdue established at offensive line on the opening day, huh?

Boilermaker offensive line coach Dale Williams mixed and matched a number of players at left guard Thursday after having Shane Evans there most of the first day of camp. Bearooz Yacoobi, a 300-pound fifth-year senior, got most of the first-team reps at left guard Thursday but Evans saw some first-team action late in practice. The other three offensive line starting spots stayed mostly the same Thursday as Kirk Barron (center), Grant Hermanns (LT) and Western Kentucky graduate transfer Dennis Edwards (RG) remained in place. However, Williams also decided to mix it up with a younger player at left guard as redshirt freshman DJ Washington was seen next to Hermanns on the Boilermakers left side.

- Nick Holt's continuing to experiment with Purdue's defense.

While Purdue isn't hiding its depth issues at linebacker, it was interesting that freshman defensive back Elijah Ball was working with Holt's linebacker group Thursday. While this may not be a permanent position switch once Purdue gets all its linebacker bodies in camp (Tobias Larry was was back, but Derrick Barnes and Jack Smith continue to be absent), Ball was working with the second-string linebacker group in 11-on-11 drills.

Another experiment that Purdue was likely expected to do in preseason camp was attempt to see if freshman defensive lineman Jeff Marks could make the transition to playing both tackle and end. Marks, a 270-pounder from Mobile, Ala., lined up inside and outside during Purdue's 11-on-11 drills Thursday afternoon.

Here's a recap of what the first-string offense and defense looked like for Purdue on Day 2:

OFFENSE

OL (from right to left): McCann, Edwards, Barron, Yacoobi and Hermanns

TE: Herdman and Hopkins

RB: Knox AND Markel Jones (but both had a fumble on inside run drills today)

QB: Blough AND Elijah Sindelar (still splitting 1st-team reps)

WR: Zico (However, it should be noted again Jared Burgess was being rotated in with the first-string unit regularly and made a highlight-reel catch near the end of practice.)

SLOT: Anthrop

WR: Sparks (who made another spectacular catch for a touchdown Thursday)

DEFENSE

- DE: Reviere

DTs: Watts AND Neal

LEO: Kai Higgins

LBs: Markus Bailey, Cornel Jones and Jaylan Alexander (when in a 4-3 package)

CBs: Kenneth Major, Dedrick Mackey

Nickel: Elijah Bell (but the freshman practiced with the linebackers today)

FS: Jacob Thieneman

SS: Navon Mosley

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