More from Monday morning's practice
The linebacker position has been one of those positions to watch during the first week of fall camp. With the absence of projected starter Matt Bauman due to injury and with the emphasis on developing depth at that spot, coach Bronco Mendenhall and defensive coordinator Jaime Hill have given reps to a lot of different faces.
Junior Matt Ah You has seen plenty of action with Bauman out at inside linebacker. Mendenhall said that Ah You has “a slight edge” on Shawn Doman. “But it’s slight. You could list them as even,” Mendenhall added.
Doman and freshman Iona Pritchard are with the second-team defense at inside linebacker, followed by freshman Spencer Hadley.
Another freshman, Michael Alisa, has been seeing less action during 11-on-11 drills and there’s a reason for that. ‘While Mike Alisa has a lot of potential, the insertion, like a lot of freshman, is slowing him down a little bit,” Mendenhall said.
Remember all of those rare Lisfranc (foot) injuries BYU players suffered last year?
Well, BYU trainers have researched the cause of those. In addition to looking at the possible causes, they talked to trainers at other college teams as well as NFL teams. What they found was the turf causes more of those types of injuries than natural grass. Also, Mendenhall said, “We know there’s a type of shoe that some of our players were wearing that we’ll only issue on game day now because they’re so light and don’t have much support. It’s been traced to surface and the type of shoe. We’ve tried to regulate both of those things.’
One of the bright spots of fall camp, according to Mendenhall, has been sophomore safety Andrew Rich, a transfer from Snow Junior College.
“He’s our third safety to this point. I feel comfortable with him playing. He’s a great kid,” Mendenhall said. “If you look at his story, he was offered scholarships at Cal and Boise State and walked-on here because he wanted to be in this environment with this team. That’s a great statement. Hopefully, I can reward him as soon as possible.’
Asked if freshman O’Neill Chambers could be involved in kick returns, Mendenhall said: ‘Possibly. It depends on how he maintains his assignments, his effort, his his maturity, his consistency with everything else he is doing. To add additional responsibilities is usually what you do when someone has progressed and is ready for that. I’m not sure right now that’s the case.’
Quote of the day (so far): When Bauman was asked by a reporter if his scooter helps him when it comes to meeting women. Bauman replied, “I’m married, so I don’t know.”