Red Report: Purdy's 'huge leaps,' evening practice, and less screen time in dorms
2 hrs ago
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has been keeping an eye on his quarterbacks during spring camp.
Rhule had positive things to say on Tuesday about Jeff Sims, Heinrich Haarberg and Luke Logval, but he singled out sophomore Chubba Purdy as a player who has grown in the last few months. Rhule said Purdy “has all the physical tools” but had to learn how to slow down and be less antsy in the pocket.
Through a week-plus of fall practice, Rhule has seen Purdy demonstrating improvements by taking what the defense gives him and not trying to be perfect on every play.
“Chubba has made huge leaps in my opinion; I thought he had a great summer and a really good camp. I’m really proud of Chubba,” Rhule said. “We came to him and challenged him in the spring and he’s done nothing but respond, so credit to him and his family. A lot of kids nowadays run and hide; Chubba’s taking everything head on.”
Evening practice: After going in the morning for eight consecutive practices to open up fall camp, Nebraska will shift to the evening on Wednesday instead. Rather than the 8:30 a.m. practices that players have gotten used to, Nebraska will practice at 6:30 p.m. on each of the next two Wednesdays — and recovery is the reason why.
“My thought process with (practicing) three days in a row is that when you move to the night, you get eight more hours of recovery,” Rhule said. “That extra eight to 10 hours of recovery might be the difference between a (muscle) tweak or no tweak.”
With the night off on Tuesday, Rhule said he has plans to take the entire football team to the Nebraska soccer team’s exhibition match against South Dakota State.
Dorm experience: Every Nebraska player has their own opinion on the two-week experience of staying in the dorms with their teammates — but the positive reviews continue to roll in.
Senior defensive back Phalen Sanford said he’s hardly in the dorms anyway because his long days at the stadium mean he rarely leaves until just before curfew. That being said, he’s enjoyed the experience of arriving at the dorm and seeing teammates there to hang out with.
“You get to be around these guys a lot more; you don’t finish the day and then you just go home to your same two, three roommates every day,” Sanford said. “You go to the dorms, you see guys that you’ve never talked to and they made us roommates with guys that we don’t know, which I think is really cool.”
Another positive that Sanford can take away from the two-week dorm stay is a lack of screen time. Sanford said he’s spent less than an hour per day on his phone due to all the socialization that’s taken place with his teammates together in one location.
“We’re doing something that’s pretty hard, so when you can sit down with some of your friends and joke and laugh, it makes the day go easier," Sanford said.
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has been keeping an eye on his quarterbacks during spring camp.
Rhule had positive things to say on Tuesday about Jeff Sims, Heinrich Haarberg and Luke Logval, but he singled out sophomore Chubba Purdy as a player who has grown in the last few months. Rhule said Purdy “has all the physical tools” but had to learn how to slow down and be less antsy in the pocket.
Through a week-plus of fall practice, Rhule has seen Purdy demonstrating improvements by taking what the defense gives him and not trying to be perfect on every play.
“Chubba has made huge leaps in my opinion; I thought he had a great summer and a really good camp. I’m really proud of Chubba,” Rhule said. “We came to him and challenged him in the spring and he’s done nothing but respond, so credit to him and his family. A lot of kids nowadays run and hide; Chubba’s taking everything head on.”
Evening practice: After going in the morning for eight consecutive practices to open up fall camp, Nebraska will shift to the evening on Wednesday instead. Rather than the 8:30 a.m. practices that players have gotten used to, Nebraska will practice at 6:30 p.m. on each of the next two Wednesdays — and recovery is the reason why.
“My thought process with (practicing) three days in a row is that when you move to the night, you get eight more hours of recovery,” Rhule said. “That extra eight to 10 hours of recovery might be the difference between a (muscle) tweak or no tweak.”
With the night off on Tuesday, Rhule said he has plans to take the entire football team to the Nebraska soccer team’s exhibition match against South Dakota State.
Dorm experience: Every Nebraska player has their own opinion on the two-week experience of staying in the dorms with their teammates — but the positive reviews continue to roll in.
Senior defensive back Phalen Sanford said he’s hardly in the dorms anyway because his long days at the stadium mean he rarely leaves until just before curfew. That being said, he’s enjoyed the experience of arriving at the dorm and seeing teammates there to hang out with.
“You get to be around these guys a lot more; you don’t finish the day and then you just go home to your same two, three roommates every day,” Sanford said. “You go to the dorms, you see guys that you’ve never talked to and they made us roommates with guys that we don’t know, which I think is really cool.”
Another positive that Sanford can take away from the two-week dorm stay is a lack of screen time. Sanford said he’s spent less than an hour per day on his phone due to all the socialization that’s taken place with his teammates together in one location.
“We’re doing something that’s pretty hard, so when you can sit down with some of your friends and joke and laugh, it makes the day go easier," Sanford said.
Players mentioned in this article
Jeff Sims
Heinrich Haarberg
Chubba Purdy
Brock Purdy
Chubba Maae
Phalen Sanford
Alex Sanford
Recent Stories
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann — a 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The former University of Wisconsin football ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any time laying out his expectations to “do ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference for the Longhorns, if you haven’t heard. ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing a memorandum of understanding that paves ...
Latest Player Notes
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing ...
Ball security, leadership key as Aztecs look to identify starting quarterback
San Diego State seemingly auditions a new starting quarterback on an annual basis.In the past 12 years, the Aztecs have opened ...
Results and more: A look at what happened at Penn State football’s Pro Day inside Holuba Hall
Most of those at Penn State’s Pro Day Friday were relatively quiet throughout the afternoon’s workouts, but there was one ...
Defense dominates first two weeks of Oregon State spring practice as Beavers ready for 2-week breather
CORVALLIS – Oregon State hit the break of spring practices Saturday, not exactly the midpoint but a good place to assess ...
Dillon Gabriel to have similar input, autonomy as Bo Nix had in Oregon’s offense
Published Mar. 16, 2024, 6:26 p.m.By James CrepeaEUGENE — Dillon Gabriel will have much of the same autonomy as Bo Nix did ...
Two transfers, one underclassman who impressed in Missouri football's spring game
With that, spring camp’s a wrap.Missouri football held its Black & Gold spring game Saturday in front of a healthy crowd ...