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Aug. 13 practice report

The second practice on the first day of two-a-days was hot, and not just the temperature.

After stretching the first-team offense didn't line up in the correct formation for the run through and got an ear-full from coach Brian Kelly.

Kelly and the rest of the offensive coaches were also extremely vocal while the skill players went through short-passing routes. After the route drill was complete, Kelly called the skill players to a huddle to express some of his displeasure and strongly encouraged them to finish plays.

As for personnel matters, Mike Ragone was in shorts and a T-shirt observing practice. The tight end was released from the hospital Wednesday after suffering a heat-related illness.

There was no sign of cornerback E.J. Banks, who is still enrolled at the university but currently not with the team. Kelly is scheduled to talk after practice, so he may have information on Banks' situation and when Ragone could resume practicing.

The offensive line took a little hit as center Dan Wenger and tackle Matt Romine were not at practice because of injuries. Should have more on them after Kelly talks.

As for practice

Offense

With some players out of practice and the staff still careful with tight end Kyle Rudolph, because of the hamstring he tweaked at the start of practice, and Ragone being held out, there were some new faces working with the first-team offense.

Former Bishop Dwenger standout Tyler Eifert, who had been working with the second team, went with the 1s, and Braxston Cave slipped into center for Wenger and in a non-injury related change, Andrew Nuss moved up to right tackle with the first team and Taylor Dever worked with the second team. Tate Nichols was working at left tackle with the second team in place of Romine, and Chris Watt was at left guard in place of Lane Clelland, moving from the right side, and Alex Bullard was at right guard.

Here is the first team: Quarterback Dayne Crist, running back Armando Allen (with Robert Hughes stepping in when they reached the goal line), receivers Michael Floyd, Duval Kamara and Theo Riddick, tight end Eifert, left tackle Zack Martin, left guard Chris Stewart, center Cave, right guard Trevor Robinson and right tackle Nuss

The second team was: Quarterback Nate Montana, running back Jonas Gray, receivers John Goodman, TJ Jones and Robby Toma, tight end Jake Golic, left tackle Nichols, left guard Watt, center Mike Golic Jr., right guard Bullard and right tackle Dever.

The third unit just went seven-on-none, probably because of the missing guys on the line. Quarterback Tommy Rees ran the drill with Cierre Wood at running back, receivers Deion Walker, Shaquelle Evans and Bennett Jackson and Alex Welch at tight end. Cave handled center duties.

Passing drills

The receivers, tight ends and running backs heard a lot of loud voices while going through the short passing drills. Kelly and the rest of the offensive coaches was on them quite a bit as they rotated through three stations.

The center-quarterback combos were: Crist and Matthew Mulvey with Cave, Rees and Brian Castello with Golic and Montana, Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa with Watt.

The routes run were short five-yard routes, one with the players stopping to catch in and the second with them cutting across and running after the catch.

Tight ends

Rudolph was participating in individual drills starting with the short route passing, and he led the ends when they started individual drills.

Rudolph was followed by Eifert, Alex Welch and Golic.

Tight ends coach Mike Denbrock started the players off with dragging their back foot while making a catch at the sideline.

Rudolph made a nice one-handed catch right on the line on his first go, but the second time, he was a little late getting to the ball and had to reach for it and missed the catch.

Running backs

Running backs coach Tim Hinton had the backs work on a stutter step move that he called "shake" at the end of their run to get around him.

The running order was Allen, Hughes, Gray, Wood, Cameron Roberson and Derry Herlihy.

After the shake move, the backs worked on blocking by bumping the first guy in and setting up to stop the second guy.

Hinton stressed getting a solid base when bumping the first guy and just sliding back to set up to pick up the second guy. Allen still has a solid approach to blocking, and Hughes, who is 245 pounds, is also solid with his footwork getting in guys way.

Receivers

Just got a quick look at the drills receivers coach Tony Alford was running his guys through as the media viewing portion of practice was winding down.

The receivers were running through an arch making a cut and catching the ball.

The order was Goodman, Kamara, Toma, Jackson, Walker, Floyd, Jones, Austin Collinsworth, Chris Gurries, Dan Franco, Shaquelle Evans and Riddick.

Goodman made a really tight cut and looked pretty fluid on the two runs I saw him make as the viewing time came to a close.

The Journal Gazette's Assistant Sports Editor Tony Krausz covers The University of Notre Dame. Krausz, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a native of St. Louis, has been assistant sports editor since October 2005. Prior to joining the JG, he worked at two papers in Mississippi covering high school and college athletics.