LINKPelini displeased with Husker practiceby Brian Christopherson
Husker head coach Bo Pelini was brief with his comments after Wednesday's practice, not pleased at all with his team's effort.
"Not good enough," Pelini said. "We didn't get better today as a football team. We took a step back."
Lack of intensity? "You can go right down the board. We didn't get better as a football team. We didn't play well. We didn't practice well. Not everybody but we're not getting it collectively like I like to see it. ... We only got 15 practices and I didn't like this one."
Running back Quentin Castille echoed the coach, saying the team struggled to get it going after a physical Sunday scrimmage that he said felt like a game.
"I just felt like he was mad at us and I was like, 'Man, we need to come out Friday and start all over,'" Castille said. "We already messed up one practice. I just felt like today was a whole waste of time almost. As far as the learning curve, it wasn't a waste of time, but the way we went out and were sluggish ... Like coaches said, our leaders need to step up. You can tell nobody was out there really ready to practice today."
Castille was optimistic the team would pick it up in the final six spring practices.
"We still got it in us," he said. "We're looking for a good rest of the spring. These six practices we got left, I think we'll be ready for the game."
I-back Roy Helu (hamstring) was held out of practice, working the bicycle at times. Chris Brooks was also out.
"He's coming. We'll see," Pelini said of Helu, who was injured on Saturday. "It's not a time of year you want to rush him."
Perhaps the most interesting news item: Jacob Hickman is working some reps at right guard, with Mike Caputo taking more snaps as the top center. Shawn Watson remarked last week that right guard was a concern. D.J. Jones and Ricky Henry were trying to win the job, but Hickman's move serves as evidence both those guys have a ways to go at this point.
"He's playing a little bit of guard. He's still playing some center," Pelini said of Hickman. "We're just moving guys around trying to find the best combination."
Bad practices always mean bad performances. Thank God this isn't a practice in the middle of the week in the middle of the season. Rivals.com had a better article on it, so for those of you that have a subscription I recommend checking it out.
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