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The News-Gazette
Illini football quick hits | Training Camp Day 16
By SCOTT RICHEY srichey@news-gazette.com,
1 day ago
Buy Now Illinois coach Bret Bielema speaks with the media Thursday afternoon at the Smith Center. Scott Richey/The News-Gazette
Illinois training camp continued Thursday, with coach Bret Bielema available to the media at the Smith Center. Here’s some of what he said, courtesy beat writer Scott Richey:
‘New’ game-day halftime home
Game-day operations have changed for Illinois — and the rest of the FBS — with in-helmet communication between coaches and players and video technology on the sideline and in the locker room now allowed. Further changes for the Illini will include using the locker room at Memorial Stadium at halftime instead of going back to the Smith Center. It’s a move being made in the name of expediency, cutting down on the time to move an entire team back to the Smith Center and maximizing the time for film review before the second half.
“You don’t have all the traffic,” Illini coach Bret Bielema said. “It’s a 20-minute halftime. We probably take 2-21/2 minutes coming and going. Now, it takes, literally, 45 seconds to get off the field to our locker room. It’s smaller. If we dress 100 players, we would never have 100 in that one. We’d only have the (75-man travel roster). It’s just a lot more efficient way to use it. Then there’s a whole area our coaches have for offense, defense.”
Emphasizing long-term health
Illinois made it through its second training camp scrimmage Wednesday night mostly unscathed on the injury front.
A couple minor soft tissue injuries, Bielema said, but nothing serious.
Not every player that was healthy, however, participated, including backup quarterback Donovan Leary. A sore arm has kept Leary sidelined some this week, but it’s more of a maintenance issue than being out with an injury. The same is true for starting safety Matthew Bailey, who has been involved in Eastern Illinois and Kansas game prep but limited in other areas.
“Of these next four days, there’s two days on and two days off,” Bielema said. “If somebody’s got something that’s bothering them a little bit, even if they’re fully cleared, I think it’s important to let those guys recover and get ready for a full season rather than try and limp through it.”
Earning praise at quarterback
Illinois got about 150 plays in during Wednesday’s scrimmage using defined first and second units.
Luke Altmyer completed roughly 80 percent of his passes — his best performance in Champaign, per Bielema, with the 6-foot-2, 205 pound quarterback in his second year with the Illini.
The absence of Leary also opened up reps on the second unit for walk-on Kirkland Michaux and freshman Trey Petty.
Reps both quarterbacks took full advantage of during the scrimmage.
“Kirkland had his best performance by far,” Bielema said. “He, for the most part, was going against stiffer competition. He was going against our (first-string) defense, and he did a really nice job of managing the game and understanding where the ball needed to go and avoiding negative plays. Trey Petty was also impressive. I think those two guys, in general, took a step forward.”
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