Notes from Penn State's Open Practice: 4.13.12

Bill O'Brien and staff were nice enough to extend the media the courtesy of opening up practice--as they have a couple other times this spring--so it would be petty to complain that we were kicked out early. We still got 10 minutes more than the old regime would've allowed, even if we expected to be there for another 20. And the reason we were forced out was that practice got underway early, not to screw over the media or anything.

The upshot, though, is that there's really not much I can pass along in terms of observations. I figured I'd have more time to move around later, so I watched the quarterbacks practice rather than move around and take a look at each unit. Anyway, here's what I was able to ascertain about the Lions, presented in bullet point form:

• Paul Jones did not practice--but don't worry, he hasn't been declared ineligible. Reports trickled down that he was doing work for an internship.
• The other four quarterbacks who were in attendance seemed to be working on their play-action footwork during the first part of practice.
• Because you'll ask, Matt McGloin seemed to move around a little bit better. But the difference was negligible.
• The special teams was working on its punt coverage and blocking, from what I could tell. The players I saw returning punts were Adrian Amos, Bill Belton, and Justin Brown.
• From what I could gather, the first team OL was Adam Gress, Miles Dieffenbach, Matt Stankiewitch, John Urschel, Mike Farrell.
• The second unit offensive line appeared to be Nate Cadogan, Eric Shrive, Ty Howle, Angelo Mangiro, Donovan Smith.
• I saw all of two snaps--both handoffs--but Matt McGloin got the first play with the first team offense, and Rob Bolden was with the second team.
• Garry Gilliam was the most physically imposing specimen I saw at practice. He had a knee brace on, but seemed to be moving fluidly.
• The media was far outnumbered by what looked like visiting high school coaches and recruits.

Again, because of the abbreviated nature of the open practice, that's really all I've got. Feel free to over-analyze it, though. And hey, in just over a week, we'll be in Beaver Stadium for a three-hour open practice.

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