Pirates Wrap-Up First Two-A-Day Practice
August 11, 2015 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina continued its preseason camp progression Tuesday by completing its first two-a-day under the direction of sixth-year head coach Ruffin McNeill at Hight Field inside the Cliff Moore Practice Complex. The Pirates spent just over two hours wearing full pads during the morning workout before returning for another two-hour session in the afternoon in shells.
"I really like what I saw of our first two-a-day," McNeill said. "We had some rain with a little lightning come through this afternoon, which you get this time of year in Eastern, North Carolina, but the kids did a great job of adapting and adjusting to the circumstances. After the break, the guys came out and really finished the day on a positive note."
ECU, which has two more double practice days remaining, opened the morning with wide receivers focusing on timing routes and the linebackers working on run coverage. The quarterbacks then went through a series of scramble drills with the receivers before another 11 minutes of screen work. During the skeleton phase of the session, the offensive and defensive lines worked on pass rush, which led to the final 25 minutes of team vs. scouts.
The afternoon session, which was halted 30 minutes because of lightning, was used for special teams work and continued emphasis on offensive and defensive packages focusing on third and fourth down conversions.
"I like the way we are progressing," McNeill added. "In this part of camp, you see the offense and defense making good plays, but the thing we are focusing on is playing the next play and they have done a good job with that."
McNeill was also able to get some valuable evaluation tape during a combined 50-minute team-on-team segment that included competition between the squad's No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 offenses and defenses in the day's second practice.
Camp Notes:
The Pirates will use Wednesday as a recovery and treatment day, conducting a walk-through early in the morning followed by freshman introductions as well as team and positional meetings ... ECU's second two-a-day is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 14 (8:15 a.m.-11:00 a.m.; 4:15 p.m.-6 p.m.) ... McNeill and his squad will hold the first of two intra-squad scrimmages on Saturday, Aug. 15.
Up Next:
Thursday's Practice Time: 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Season Opener: Sept. 5 vs. Towson in Greenville (6 p.m. ET)
