TigerSportsReport.com - Memphis Football Update

August 14, 2009

UM Media Relations
Special to TigerSportsReport.com

The Tigers continued with early morning practice sessions today, starting under the lights at the Murphy Athletic Complex. They were in shells again, and appear to be anxious to come out in full pads tomorrow. The energy level remains high and coach Tommy West ended the workout with a couple of periods of light scrimmage work, or as much as could be done without full pads on.

"I keep talking about energy, but there is a different intensity level," said West after practice. "There was in shorts and there is now in shells. Now we are through that, and we put the pads on tomorrow, so we will start playing some football tomorrow. They have set a bar now for the level of competition. That probably has a lot to do with our energy level. We have a lot of competition going on for positions."

A special teams highlight that stood out this morning was freshman kicker Paulo Henriques, who had a chance to kick off some today. Henriques showed why West has eluded to the true freshman being vital to the kicking game. He was logging consistent shots deep into the endzone. Senior kicker Matt Reagan is expected to handle the punting and field goals at this point, with Henriques taking on the kick off duties.

Senior safety Alton Starr continues to work with the athletic training and strengths staffs to rehabilitate his knee, but today he did some non-contact, light work with the defense. He looked like he was more confident in his motions and appeared to be in high spirits.

Coach West introduced former Tiger Marcus Bell (1997-2000) to the team after practice. Bell, who had NFL stints with the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals, will work with the team as an assistant for player personnel/development with JC Crouse. West, who spoke highly of Bell as a leader, said he looks to Bell to be a person that players can talk to and look to for advice.

The Tigers will throw on full pads Saturday morning, and will have their first two-a-day session on Monday.

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