Rutgers was ready for Day 1 of training camp Thursday at the Marco Battaglia Practice Complex in Piscataway.

Maybe a bit too ready.

The Scarlet Knights did a basic drill early on in the session - offensive player carries the ball and goes down the field as a defender hangs on top of him and tries to punch it out. About halfway through, head coach Chris Ash had to stop the drill and remind the defensive players to stop grabbing jersey - just go for the ball - and tell the offensive players they were going too fast and to bring it down to half-speed.

That’s a basic anecdote from what was a pretty basic first day of practice in helmets and jerseys with the first hour open to reporters. Here’s what else we saw:

Roster housekeeping: Teams are allowed to have 110 in camp and there are 109 on the roster. Rutgers has one spot left being held open for graduate transfer Ron Johnson, whose graduation from Michigan is still being finalized. When Johnson arrives - head coach Chris Ash expressed optimism it will happen soon - it will be a full camp roster.

On a related note ...

Corey Bolds: The former Paramus Catholic and Penn State defensive lineman is not enrolled at Rutgers and was not on the camp roster. It sounds like there is still a possibility he will join the team eventually, but right now he’s not here (and the Scarlet Knights would need to make room if he comes during camp).

Stanley King: The Woodrow Wilson product is a big kid and stood out the most to me. King (6-foot-4, 190 pounds) looked to be the tallest wide receiver on the team when they were all together, even though Jalen Jordan is listed at 6-foot-5. King has a pretty sturdy build already and seems to move well. I bet he plays as a true freshman. At the least, Rutgers tries to send him on a streak pattern a handful of times and look for a home run.

Quarterbacks: Artur Sitkowski was the No. 1. McLane Carter the No. 2. Cole Snyder the No. 3. We did not see any team drills, but all threw well in individual drills. Carter has a pretty smooth southpaw delivery. Johnny Langan, whose eligibility waiver was denied by the NCAA pending an appeal, was at practice and did work in the drills. But obviously he got fewer reps than the top-3 guys.

Speaking of Jalen Jordan ... He is still working his way back from an injury in the spring, but he looks much more equipped to play in the Big Ten after a year in the strength program. There are a lot of folks high on him for his size and speed. He might also have a role in the offense.

Drops: I saw a bunch of them by the receivers (not King as far I saw). It’s early, but that’s not a great sign for a unit that struggled to catch the ball last season and let already-rare opportunities for a bad offense slip away.

This and that: Ash seemed more hands-on in practice - at least to me - than I’ve seen in the past. Then again, it’s Day 1 and there are not as many things to worry about.

Jack end Tijuan Mason looked to be 100 percent. Remember, he was playing well against Texas State last fall before breaking his leg and missing the rest of the year.

Right tackle Kamaal Seymour has dropped 15 pounds since the spring. Offensive line coach Pete Rossomando said it was just a natural thing as players get ready for the season, but I do think it could help Seymour move on the edge in pass protection. That’s an area where he has struggled.

Safety Malik Dixon was limited from contact but was practicing. Starting center Mike Maietti was not working with the first team, but a source said there are no long-term injury concerns on that front.

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.