Here's the news from Tuesday's practice:
LB Cam Smith, LB John Houston (stinger), QB JT Daniels and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (shoulder) were full participants. (Each had been limited to some degree during the bye week.)
Daniels mostly abstained from throwing last week. Helton said he's on a pitch count because he's throwing more this year than he ever has before. He's continued to work on his deep balls. Helton lauded his back shoulder throws -- "he's about as good as I've seen with it" -- but isn't as sharp when trying to drop it in the bucket over the top of the defense.
Daniels tried one of these today to Trevon Sidney and sure enough, it was batted away by walk-on safety Jordan McMillan. Daniels also fumbled when nickel back Dominic Davis came free and knocked his arm down on a blindside blitz.
St. Brown looked very healthy and beat Chase Williams for a great jump-ball catch on a toss from Daniels. Matt Fink tried to go downfield to ASB but was picked off by Isaiah Langley.
LB Porter Gustin (ankle) and DL Malik Dorton (ankle) were limited.
DL Jay Tufele was in a car accident last week and is in the concussion protocol. He'll be monitored throughout the week to determine when he's available.
S Talanoa Hufanga is on the mend from a quad injury.
LB Levi Jones remained out because of illness.
LB Raymond Scott is out after having surgery on his finger. He's expected to return soon.
OTs Clayton Bradley (back) and Bernard Schirmer (neck) and QB Jack Sears did not practice.
Helton briefly addressed the Bubba Bolden leaving USC in his opening statement following practice:
"I wish him nothing but the best," Helton said. "Good player, good kid, and hopefully a very bright future for him. I know it will be."
Helton said he was not authorized to comment beyond that and did not answer when asked if he was blindsided by his indefinite suspension the week of the opener.
I've been told that's exactly what happened -- as far as Helton knew, Bolden was not facing any discipline for the incident Bolden alluded to in his Instagram post. Thus, Bolden was in line to start to begin the season. However, sources have told me there had been other transgressions involving the former USC safety. Perhaps his punishment was the culmination of repeated poor behavior.
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Helton said he spent the bye week watching a lot of football, namely USC and Colorado. He was asked (by Ryan) for his main takeaway after self-scouting over the past week and he went into detail about what was learned.
Here's a summary:
- Defensively, he lamented the lack of takeaways and stressed how important they are in creating separation in games.
- Offensively, the team is typically starting fast but isn't consistent. He noted the need for a killer instinct.
- Special teams, he's generally pleased but feels there are big lapses.
- He told the coordinators to call more aggressive games and without fear -- "play to win."
- He told he position coaches to be very critical of fundamentals and techniques.
- He told the players there needs to be accountability for decision-making.
"Just a brutally honest self-evaluation of what I think we need to do as an entire team," he said.
Tee Martin weighed in as well:
"It was really good to be able to self-scout with a new quarterback and just seeing what we are, or at least what's on tape. Teams can't prepare for what they don't see. It was good to see some things that have been called that's on tape that teams are preparing for, and some things that we've practiced that haven't been called yet that's good stuff. I got some wrinkles and look forward to getting it called on Saturdays."
We have video interviews with Martin, Daniels, WR Tyler Vaughns and TE Josh Falo.
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