Cal Football Practice Day 9: Sun Shines on Bears in Light Drills
The Bears were back at practice Monday under sunny skies. Head coach Justin Wilcox was asked to reflect on Saturday's initial scrimmage of the spring.
"Sloppy leverage on defense, poor tackling," he said. "I thought we ran the ball pretty well for a first scrimmage. Offensively, the operation was pretty smooth for a first scrimmage. Within one play there’s so much you can teach off of.
"I thought (running back) Chris Brown showed up. He continues to show up. He has been noticeable this spring, which is great and exciting, but I don’t think there’s anything surprising off the practice tape."
Wilcox praised the blocking of the Cal wide receivers, particularly Nikko Remigio.
"Nikko has done it the whole spring," Wilcox said. "Nikko is going to catch passes for us, and he’s going to be productive catching the ball. We do enough on the perimeter, whether it’s getting the ball to the back or whoever, throwing it or running it, that those guys (receivers) have to block.
When you are evaluating a team’s play, you watch the receivers block to tell if a team is tough or not. That is an indicator. If the receivers go out and block, then that is a really tough team. And we need to be that team.
"We need to be better. They’re owning it and Nikko is the one who’s jumped out."
Monday's fairly light session consisted primarily of individual position drills. There were a few seven-on-seven and team plays. As in Saturday's scrimmage, Chase Garbers and Devon Modster did the lion's share of the quarterbacking, indicating the competition might be down to those two for now.
Garbers looked particularly effective. His first pass was a bullet to Remigio on the goal line.
Another highlight was Marcel Dancy showing a burst of speed on consecutive plays, running about 25 yards for scores each time.
The Bears practice Wednesday and Friday, with the annual spring game Saturday. "This Saturday the football's got to look better than it did last Saturday." Wilcox said.
Three more practices (March 18, 20, 22) are scheduled next week with the annual Pro Day on Thursday, March 21.
