Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team completed its ninth practice of the 2015 spring football season on Monday afternoon. The Huskers practices for just over two hours outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields in helmets and shorts.
Nebraska Head Coach Mike Riley met with media members following the conclusion of Monday’s practice, as Riley mentioned that in his 14 seasons as a collegiate football head coach, this was the first spring practice season where the team took a week off for spring break.
“This is the first time I have been involved in breaking up spring practice with a week (off), so I wondered what all that would be like,” Riley said. “I thought for the most part it was pretty good, not perfect, but I don’t know if it would be perfect anyways.”
Riley added that having the time off was a good thing for some of the players who were dealing with some bumps and bruises before break.
“I liked the fact that we probably had four, maybe five guys that would have not practiced on practice No. 9, if we would have had it right after the last practice we had (before spring break).”
Despite getting back to the grind of a regular routine, Riley said there was plenty of enthusiasm on the practice fields on Monday.
“I thought the enthusiasm for practice today was really good. Kind of my favorite thing. The football was off and on a little bit today—the execution on plays, in general that part was not as sharp,” he said.
Even the quarterbacks have been practicing well, despite transitioning from a spread offense to more of a pro-style offense.
“There was some good execution, some crisp throws, I am not sure as crisp today as we were on that last practice Friday (before Spring Break),” Riley said. “AJ got a lot of turns and I thought he made some nice plays, I thought Zack Darlington made some nice plays—I was impressed with him. The rest of the guys all had their moments too.”
Nebraska returns to the practice field on Wednesday for its 10th workout of the spring. Check back at Huskers.com for updates.