QBs Costello, Burns in spotlight at Stanford spring practice

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It seems like only yesterday the Stanford football team was hoisting the Sun Bowl trophy in El Paso, Texas. But the Cardinal were back at it Saturday as they hit the field for the first time in full pads at spring practice.

With quarterback Keller Chryst still recovering from a knee injury he suffered last year, all eyes were on two other quarterbacks — sophomore K.J. Costello and fifth-year senior Ryan Burns — along with some new faces.

“I thought it was a good day, first day in pads,” Cardinal head coach David Shaw said. “The first two practices have been fast, and guys are staying up. Today, we finally got a chance to tackle, be physical at the line of scrimmage, and it was good to see.”

On Burns’ first pass during a quarterback drill, he connected with tight end Kaden Smith. On his next pass attempt, he ran up the middle after running out of time in the pocket.

His first pass in 11-on-11 drills, to JJ Arcega-Whiteside, was incomplete, but then he connected on a first-down throw to Arcega-Whiteside.

Stanford running back Trevor Speights looks for an open lane to run through in a scrimmage drill during spring practice on Saturday March 4, 2017 in Stanford, Calif. Stanford running back Trevor Speights looks for an open lane to run through in a scrimmage drill during spring practice on Saturday March 4, 2017 in Stanford, Calif. Photo: Juan Reyes / Special To The Chronicle / Juan Reyes / Special To The Chronicle Photo: Juan Reyes / Special To The Chronicle / Juan Reyes / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close QBs Costello, Burns in spotlight at Stanford spring practice 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

“I felt good. I’m experimenting with the gloves right now. So I had a couple of throws where it felt a little funky, but overall pretty good,” Burns said. “I have the system pretty down by now, so I’m kind of just blocking all the details, trying to make my reads as smooth as possible.”

Burns said he’s testing the gloves to see what works in different temperatures and to avoid moisture, but he’s not sure if he’ll be wearing them when the season starts.

Costello’s first pass attempt was intercepted by safety Justin Reid. However, he bounced back with a completion down the middle to tight end Scooter Harrington. Costello threw a second interception, this time by Ben Edwards, who anticipated the pass in the flat.

“The second one was a tough read by the defense. They kind of baited him into a tough throw and then made the play,” Shaw said. “But those are the things you expect in the spring and those are great learning plays for a young quarterback.”

Shaw said Stanford will rotate the two quarterbacks until Chryst is healthy enough to play.

Also drawing attention were the young running backs who hope to fill the big shoes left by Christian McCaffrey. Shaw was excited to see in particular two young players, Trevor Speights and Dorian Maddox, who did not see action last season as freshmen.

“Dorian Maddox had a really nice run, physical, ran through some tackles early on. It starts up front with the guys blocking up front,” Shaw said.

Cameron Scarlett also had a couple of big runs during 11-on-11 drills, and Speights capped a drive with a 4-yard touchdown run up the middle. Maddox said he doesn’t mind the notion of competition among the three running backs.

“It’s great. It brings the best out of all of us. I love it, to be honest,” he said.

Shaw said it’s too early to start talking about competition for spots and mentioned that spring practice is time to install the offense. He said that the offensive line looks much better and that players are improving.

“There’s no easy path to being good, but it’s great to see those guys come in,” Shaw said.

Juan Reyes is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jreyes@sfchronicle.com