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AUSTIN — Heading into Friday’s practice Tom Herman felt a little anxious. After four days on Frank Denius Field, the Longhorns were putting on their full suit of armor for the first time.

Turns out there wasn’t too much to be worried about.



“Really, really good day today,” Herman said after Friday’s practice. “I was anticipating how we would respond to putting full pads on and four really tough days, long days, leading up to it. The guys came out with a lot of juice.”



Outside the addition of pads, not much changed for the Longhorns on Friday. Kirk Johnson was still out while he deals with a hamstring issue, but Herman still expects him to be back on Monday. Reggie Hemphill-Mapps, who left Thursday’s practice early after feeling dizzy, was back on the field, however, he was held out of contact.



He did participate in team meetings Thursday night, but Herman is currently unsure if he’ll participate in Saturday’s scrimmage.



“Other than that, everybody was good today in practice,” Herman said.



An upbeat Herman credited strength coach Yancy McKnight and a few of his assistants for getting his team ready for Friday’s test. Everything seemed to be on track, according to Herman. The tackle drills, the defense, the offensive line. He talked about “much better pad level than in the spring, much better knee bend and hip explosion.”



Friday was the day Texas was looking to see what progress has been made with the pads on and “real football” beginning.



After Thursday’s practice, Herman said Friday and Saturday would be the “big test” in how the Longhorns responded to a new adversity.

“We talk about it all the time, we had a team meeting last night,” Herman said. “They grow up in this generation of 7on7 and all the other stuff, which is good, there’s nothing wrong with that. It builds certain skills, but its definitely not real football.



“They understand the important of putting full pads on, tackling to the ground, training as real as we can in simulating game-like situations is how you get better. They believe in that and they understand the importance of it.



Texas has its first scrimmage, which is closed to the public, on Saturday.

