Chilly, Wet Weather Greets MSU For Spring Practice
"I was kind of glad it rained," Croom said of the team's first spring practice of the 2005 season. "I think it helps with our mental toughness. I wanted to see how we would respond to the conditions, and I thought we dealt with it."
Croom's Bulldogs not only had to deal with the elements, they were forced to handle a change of venue when the elements warranted. State opened Croom's second spring practice period outside, but when a light rain developed into a brief electrical storm an hour into the workout, the team was forced inside the Shira Athletic Complex. After about 20 minutes indoors, the lightning had subsided and the team returned to the artificial practice field outdoors. They were greeted by a 10-degree temperature drop.
"It went about like a first practice," Croom said. "We were ragged, but we ran to the football. I thought (junior linebacker) Quinton Culberson did some good things, and (senior running back) Jerious Norwood picked right up where he left off."
An odd feature of Monday's first day of work was that more than half the team was in numberless jerseys. Only players who excelled in off-season conditioning were granted jerseys with numerals.
"Some guys haven't earned their numbers," Croom said. "If they don't work hard, some guys might not get their numbers back this fall."
A handful of Bulldogs were held out of the opening of spring practice, and some were limited.
Junior quarterback Omarr Conner will miss the first week of work after suffering a non-football related ankle sprain. Redshirt freshman defensive end Jeremy Jones will miss all of spring drills while rehabilitating a knee that underwent off-season surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament tear.
Senior defensive end Rob Walker (shoulder), junior offensive tackle James Redmond (knee), and sophomore defensive end Titus Brown (knee) all wore yellow jerseys, signifying a limit to 50 percent of the workout. Each was rebounding from off-season minor surgery.