(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
Aug. 8, 2017 at Wayne Densch Center
Availability: HC Scott Frost, LB Shaquem Griffin, QB McKenzie Milton
HC Scott Frost
During the team’s first scrimmage of the preseason, Frost saw positives and negatives.
I thought there was some really good things and some things we gotta get fixed. I thought, defensively, we’re on track to being the same type of team, or better than we were last year. I see a lot of effort over there. Offensively, saw some good things, too, but a lot of detail that needs to be cleaned up. Overall, I’m pleased, but we have a lot to teach off of with the tape we have out there.
Frost would like the Knights to improve on the mental aspect of their game.
It’s detail. Knowing exact assignments. Knowing your exact technique to get assignments done. Fewer penalties. Those types of things. I think those things typically rear up on a first scrimmage, and we saw plenty of them. So, we have a lot of things to teach.
For Frost, the offensive tackles will be a big part of the offensive line’s success this season.
I think our two offensive tackles are doing a really good job. Wyatt [Miller] and Aaron [Evans], those guys are gonna have to anchor us. Waiting for some guards to really step up and separate themselves. I’ve seen improvement out of some guys, but I’m waiting for somebody to just grab it and take it and not look back.
Sophomore Jordan Johnson is moving from guard to center this season.
Jordan’s doing a good job. We need consistency out of him. It’s in there. We gotta get it out of him all the time. Anxious to watch the tape. But we definitely need to keep solidifying the interior of our line.
The quarterback competition continued today during the first scrimmage.
Saw some good and bad again. McKenzie did a good job today. I thought Noah Vedral—the last three days has really stood out. I think he’s picked it up really fast. And the offense hums when he’s in there with the right tempo, and he’s making good decisions with the football. The other guys did some good things, too, but I thought those two guys had a good day.
Vedral has done a lot to stand out in Frost’s eyes.
I give Noah and his family a lot of credit. I’ve seen very few people work as hard as he worked in the offseason to make sure he knew the offense coming in. And that’s really helped him to stand out, especially these last few practices.
Frost identified some incoming freshmen and their scrimmage performances, too.
We got a lot of young guys that played well. Otis Anderson made some really good runs today. I thought [Antwan] Collier had a really good day on defense. Gabriel Luyanda, who’s new to our program, a junior-college transfer linebacker, had a really good day. A lot of the guys you expect would’ve had good days had good days. But there was a lot of young guys, too.
Frost hopes the offense will have better tempo this season.
We went fast last year, but we didn’t really embrace it and attack our tempo. We’re gonna be a little smarter with our tempo this year. But when we want it to go fast, we want it to be humming.
The team isn’t where Frost wishes it was right now, but that is to be expected this early in camp.
You always want it to be more polished. But they hire us to coach for a reason. There’s gonna be mistakes. I think the first scrimmage is always a little bit sloppier. And there were good points in this scrimmage. But there’s stuff we have to clean up. Compared to last year, our first scrimmage, we’re night and day ahead of that. But there are a lot of things we can get fixed.
Frost sees a lot of competition for spots at a lot of positions.
There’s a lot of competition going on in the team right now, but there’s plenty of reps to go around. So, we have guys battling at corner; we have guys battling at offensive guard. Those two positions stand out, and, like I said, I’m waiting for some guys to step up and make it clear that they’re the best guy.
The play of the middle linebackers is something that has pleased Frost.
You know, we lost two inside linebackers last year that were key elements to our team in Mark Rucker and [Demeitre] Brim. Great guys and great players. We were a little concerned about that position coming in, and Pat Jasinski and Chequan Burkett look great. They made a huge stride since last year. I think Gabe Luyanda is gonna give us another really good player in there. Nate Evans has had a really good camp. And we have some young talented freshmen that are coming along. So, I feel really good about where we are at linebackers.
Burkett initially left the team during the offseason because of family reasons, but he has since returned.
I’ll let you ask him on the decision to come back. Chequan is a very mature guy. A guy I respect a lot as a man. He has a wife in the army and a young child and another one on the way. And he made the decision to go take care of his family. I think their circumstances changed where she moved and was able to have some help from some other family, and that kinda freed him up to come back. But I respect both decisions that he made very much and really appreciate him as a human being.
Frost doesn’t expect this to be the last scrimmage. He wants to make sure the team can practice more situational football.
I think we’ll get three in. The next two might be a little more situational. So we might not get quite the number of plays and make sure our guys are guys are comfortable with situations—in-game situations. But we definitely need to get some more hitting and tackling done.
While still early, Frost does think the team has made improvements.
It’s always a work in progress. I like the improvement we’ve made in a lot of positions. I see a lot of guys getting better. I see effort, and I see unity. Those things are gonna take us a long way. But we definitely have some things to fix, and we need to get the entire roster playing as hard as some of the guys are right now.
Frost wants to see more fire and effort from some if the players on the team.
Yeah, I think the guys that are involved in a heavy competition—they know they’re in it. And that’s why I really wanna see some guys step up and take it over. We’re gonna be better if we have a really good guy at any position, rather than a platoon system. So I’m waiting to see guys at a few positions step up, take the bull by the horns and make the position theirs.
LB Shaquem Griffin
In his first training camp without his brother, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin, Shaquem has been taking what his brother taught him in leadership and applying it to the team.
Just everything that he taught me before he left. And I think that was a big thing—where understanding how he handled the role of being the leader of the team and the defense. And being able to take young guys, and even myself, and teach his ways to us so we can take it and teach the younger guys. And that’s my whole thing. Even though he’s apart, I take a lot from him and just learning from where he at right now. Still, I’m able to teach guys like Dedrion Bacote and guys like Titus Davis on, you know, how to bring young guys up and not just feel like you have to do everything on your own. Because you don’t want to ever feel that. And I think at this point in the camp, I don’t feel like I’m by myself. I feel like I can lean on guys like Titus Davis, and Bam Bam and Shawn Burgess-Becker on how to create a bond with everybody else that help bring them up as a defense.
Shaquem and Bacote have had a growing friendship since camp started.
I would say it would have to be Bam Bam. ‘Cause that’s the one who stays here with me in the Wayne Densch, and he been here since Day 1. I was like, “Man, you don’t have to stay here.” He’s like, “Nah, I’m gonna learn everything I can. ‘Cause when you gone, it’s gonna be over. I gotta be able to teach everybody else.” And I know he took the role of just being that guy who’s always with me and not just only being in the Wayne Densch and at football—everywhere we go. If I’m going back home, he’s with me. If I’m just hanging out, going bowling, you know, Bam Bam’s right there. And I think he’s learning a lot very fast. And just from last year to now, he pick up on everything so fast, and he’s getting so much better.
For his last training camp, Shaquem is making sure he does everything he can.
Just enjoying it really. Just taking the little things and making them better. Basically, work on my craft. And adjusting to the new weight gain and being able to keep the speed. I’ve been trying to run so much more and trying to get myself more tired. ‘Cause in the game, I can still have that motor. Even if I’m tired, I can know how to work through it. Basically, just working on small things and actually giving back to the young guys. ‘Cause when I’m gone, somebody gotta take that role up. Being a leader and also being able to give back for when it’s timge for them to leave.
Gaining weight this summer was a focus for Shaquem.
It’s been going up and down. I know in spring I was 230, and I didn’t feel too comfortable at 230, so I came back down to 225. You know, last year, I started at 213 and ended up being in the season at 199. So, you know, the weight’s been crazy. But my whole thing was just to gain weight and keep running. And I’m still at 225 right now, and I just feel good at where I’m at.
To gain that kind of weight, Shaquem had one trick: eat.
Just eating. Just eating. At first, during the spring, it was just—I remember my dad bought me a meat box for like $100, and I was just going crazy. I was, like, meal-prepping. I’m eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I might be eating pork chops in breakfast and all the time just eating. And after that, just being that heavy—I’ve never ben that heavy in my life before. So, you know, I felt a little sluggish and stuff. And my whole thing was my dad just told me to keep running. And I had Coach [Zach] Duval and Coach [Andrew] Strop help me out a lot with what to eat, how to eat and when to eat it. And it kinda—it was able to make sure I can adjust my body to it. And I came back down; I felt more comfortable. You know, I was taking a lot of carbs out of it and, you know, just trying to adjust my body the right way to find a way too be able to keep my speed up.
Shaquem thought the team played well in the first scrimmage and was proud of the lack of penalties against the team.
It was good. I feel like it’s some things we could work on, but I still feel like we made a step up. And I think that is the important thing is we able step up each and every day. And even after the scrimmage, you got the refs. You didn’t see too many flags, and, you know, that’s a big bonus from last scrimmage that we used to have last year. You know, we was still trying to adjust and still trying to figure everything out. And you got guys who was offsides and guys trying to know the cadence. I feel like this year, this team it’s just so much [more] disciplined. And not just from the older guys, but you got the young guys, who watches the ball now and worry about the little things when it’s third and short. You know, you gonna have an offense that’s gonna do a hard count. You got the young guys who’s dialed and watching the ball. I think that’s important. And the flags we didn’t have many today. So, that’s definitely a step up for us. And that just means our team is very disciplined.
Among the young players, redshirt freshman Eric Mitchell was the one who stood out to Shaquem the most.
It’s hard to say ‘cause you got so many guys who are making plays. Eric Mitchell. Eric Mitchell. A young guy. An outside linebacker who really stepped up a lot. He made like three sacks back to back, and I was surprised. You know, usually when you come from rushing, and, you know, you gotta protect somebody in the pass and guard somebody and come back to rushing. And just seeing the motor in him, you know, he came a long ways, and I see him really step up a lot. ‘Cause, in the moment, he could’ve like, “No. I’m too tired to do this rush.” And, you know, he took the initiative saying, “I’m gonna work. I’m gonna keep working. I’m gonna get another sack.” And he got like three sacks back to back. And that shows a lot when hard work pays off.
QB McKenzie Milton
Milton thought the offense started slowly but got on track toward the end.
Scrimmage went pretty well. Offensively we kinda started slow. The defense kinda jumped on us early. But we kinda picked it up towards the end. Some young guys looked pretty good.
For Milton, the Knights’ improvement comes from guys buying in and putting in the work.
I think you got a lot of guys just buying in. Putting in work in the film room with the coaches. A lot of young guys look pretty good. Noah Vedral’s been stepping up at the quarterback position. He looks pretty sharp. Darriel Mack looks pretty good too. And Pete [DiNovo], obviously, is a seasoned vet, so he looks pretty good out there.
Even though his is playing for his starting spot, Milton still embraces competition.
Well, I just think competition is what drives football. So, you’re always competing, and you’re competing against other teams, competing against your teammates. But, at the same time, you got to buy into the team, and that’s what it’s all about.
When it comes to spotting team progress, Milton believes quarterbacks notice the most.
I honestly think quarterbacks kinda have the best eye for, like, who the guys are and who good players are. I might be biased, but I definitely do feel that way, and I definitely do see a lot of progress on the team.
For Milton, progress has been made, but some aspects are still lacking.
I think a lot [of progress has been made], but, at the same, time we still got to tighten up some minor details.
Milton sees focus and mental strength as essential during camp.
Sometimes the heat might be getting to us, I don’t even know. You just got to suck it up and dig deep. Like, when you get tired, you got to make sure your technique’s on point. When you’re fresh, you got to make sure your technique—and you’re attacking at all times. So it’s just being 100 percent physically dialed in and 100 percent mentally dialed in at all times.
For Milton, young offensive players stood out.
Bentavious Thompson, running back, looked pretty good. Noah Vedral, quarterback, he looked good today, too.
Milton didn’t think he played that well today.
Honestly, I think I didn’t do all that great today. I think I gotta step up, in all honesty.
Just getting our tempo going a little better. Getting the offense all together, like rallied. And just getting ready to rock so we can start fast. Not start slow. And that’s on me.
For more on the Knights, as they prepare for the regular season, follow Ryan Weiss on Twitter at @NDR_RyanWeiss.
