— Steven Miller
It was as hot as ever in Piscataway on Tuesday for the Rutgers football team’s practice, but the rain held off despite the dark sky. With the heat, the intensity picked up and saw a few players leave practice. …
Bumps and bruises:
Five days into the Scarlet Knights’ training camp, the intensity picked up a bit.
Redshirt freshman wideout Quron Pratt and sophomore receiver Tim Wright each left the field in obvious pain after taking hits, even though the practice was meant to be “thud” — contact, but without driving players to the ground.
“Quron got dinged,” said head coach Greg Schiano. “Tim Wright — I don’t know any more yet. I don’t like when they get carried off like that, though. That’s not usually a good thing.”
The offensive line also began to feel it, as senior center Howard Barbieri left practice.
“Howard left late in the practice with something and [Antwan] Lowery went out with something,” Schiano said. “I saw he had an ice bag on his ankle, so I assume it’s an ankle. That’s not good, we don’t want to get on that course again.”
Joe Martinek is OK, after a hamstring injury.
“We’re playing it normal,” Schiano said.
Schiano said he could feel the players starting to drag a bit at practice, but that they’re eager to start with full pads and contact tomorrow — something echoed by the Knights’ defense.
“I’d say the whole defense is looking forward to it,” junior linebacker Manny Abreu said. “The offense, we go back and forth every day and always compete, so why not? It’s time to show it off with the pads tomorrow.”
Jersey City wishlist:
Rutgers athletic directer Tim Pernetti (left) greets St. Peter's Prep running back Savon Huggins (middle) and his father. (Sam Hellman)
For the second day in a row, St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) was represented on the sidelines.
Savon Huggins, the No. 9 running back in the country according to Rivals.com and the No. 57 recruit in the country, was on the sidelines along with coach Rich Hansen.
Huggins chatted with Athletic Director Tim Pernetti and Schiano during practice.
Huggins’ teammate, offensive lineman Keith Lumpkin, was at practice yesterday, and stayed long after it ended, attending meetings and talking with coaches, according to Rivals.com.
Mike Bimonte, the Manalapan quarterback who already offered his verbal commitment to Rutgers, was also at practice.
Rivalry renewed:
Rutgers announced yesterday that it would begin a four-game series against Temple in 2015. The two teams are plenty familiar with each other from the days when both were in the Big East, but neither looks quite like it did back then.
“I think it’s a great regional game,” Schiano said. “For both our fans and the Temple fans it’s an easy commute, easy trip. We’ve played for a number of years and when we get it going again — it won’t be for a few years — I think it’s good for eastern football.”
Keep an eye out:
Senior defensive end Jonathan Freeny was named to the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year watch list.
Freeny is slated to start for his first season after playing as a pass-rush specialist in the Knights’ eight-man defensive line rotation.
Freeny led the team with 9.5 sacks last season and had 12 tackles for a loss.
O captain! My captain!
Schiano said the captains could be announced as soon as Tuesday night.
TargumSports staff predictions:
Steven Miller — Tom Savage, Howard Barbieri, Joe Lefeged
Sam Hellman — Savage, Barbieri, Charlie Noonan, Lefeged
