By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Photo: Andy McNamara

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Full pads

The benefits of work Travis Jonsen put in while injured last season were apparent from the moment he returned to the practice field this spring.

Out with a foot injury while redshirting, Jonsen spent countless hours during practice throwing into a net. This spring he's featured a quicker, more compact throwing motion, and has kept himself in the thick of the quarterback competition with transfer Dakota Prukop.

But there were other elements of the game Jonsen couldn't work on last season, in which he's hurrying to get back up to speed this spring. One popped up Friday, in a clock-management drill to close practice.

Jonsen and the No. 2 offense had a three-point lead with more than 3 minutes of game clock left to kill; should they be unable to do so, Prukop and the ones would have a chance to try and come from behind. Jonsen moved the chains once, using a hard snap count to get the defense to jump offsides. But he also got one play started with 15 seconds left on the play clock, something coaches were quick to get on him about.

“I just need a refresher,” Jonsen said after practice. “I think that was a good example right there. That's something you need to experience; you can't just watch. It's good, though.”

Jonsen learned another lesson the hard way a few snaps later, taking a sack by Torrodney Prevot on third down. After a punt, the ones converted a third-and-long on a diving, juggling catch by Dillon Mitchell. On the next play, a defensive back slipped at the line, Charles Nelson got wide open behind the defense and Prukop hit him in stride for a touchdown.

“I didn't even realize the DB slipped,” Prukop said. “I was just going through my reads, working the progression. Initially I liked the matchup for Charles; I didn't know the guy slipped until later.”

The touchdown was quick enough that Jonsen and the twos had time for one more drive. He moved the chains again with a nice catch-and-run by Casey Eugenio, who weaved past three or four defenders to get out of bounds and stop the clock. But Jonsen was sacked on two of the next three plays, first when Prevot and De'Quan McDowell converged on him in the backfield, and then by T.J. Daniel on the final play of the scenario.

The theme of this month under new defensive coordinator Brady Hoke has been a more aggressive, attacking style, and it showed in that drill.

“The whole defensive strategy is to be more aggressive, get upfield, cause more pressure,” Daniel said. “Those situations are great for us, because we know the situation and we've just got to cause havoc with the quarterback.”

After a period break, the same drill was run again, with the two side reversed. Prukop did a better job of managing the clock, but the ones didn't manage a first down, and the twos took over again with about 2 minutes to work with.

Jonsen connected with Darren Carrington a couple times during the ensuing drive, but a holding penalty moved the ball back toward midfield. A potential “game-tying” field goal of 49 yards by Matt Wogan was blocked – Daniel, Paris Bostick and a couple others crashed the line – and the first-team units “won” the scenario again.

With just a week left in spring drills, it could be awhile again before Jonsen has a chance to demonstrate that he has learned from Friday's experience. But even with the season still months away, he said that experience will be invaluable.

“Heck yeah – no doubt; even with how far away it is, it's going to come like that,” Jonsen said, snapping his fingers. “It's crazy.”

Other highlights: Both 7-on-7 periods Friday were conducted down near the red zone. The first was largely dominated by the defense. Arrion Springs broke up a jump ball to Carrington in the back corner, and later Springs teamed with Fotu Leiato II to stop Carrington short of the goal line after a reception. Tight ends did have some success, with Prukop completing a touchdown pass to Johnny Mundt and Jonsen throwing one to Pharaoh Brown. … The offense really got rolling in the second 7-on-7. Prukop had touchdowns to Carrington, Nelson and Kirk Merritt, Terry Wilson dumped off a short pass that Mundt collected before fighting off multiple defenders for a touchdown, and on the last play Jonsen connected with Taylor Alie for a score. …

In 1-on-1 pass drills early in the day, Wilson had maybe the best ball of the period, a nice deep pass to Mitchell with the perfect amount of touch. Then, on the next play, Wilson tried a short route that Bostick sniffed out and nearly intercepted. … In that same drill, Dylan Kane hauled in a pass from Alie despite having Malik Lovette draped all over him. A few reps later, Prukop tried to hit Kane with a deep ball and dropped it right into his hands, but Lovette got an arm in and broke up the play at the last second.

Other observations: On the day after Prince passed, his “Let's Go Crazy” was the first song to come over the PA once drills began, followed by “Little Red Corvette.” … Sophomore Justin Hollins got some reps with the ones at a defensive end spot. … Former O linemen Mark Asper, Jordan Holmes and Justin Fritz attended practice and spent time catching up on the sideline.