Full pads mean full contact, as Hoosiers begin two-a-days

BLOOMINGTON -- Indiana opened its first full-padded practice to the media Tuesday, offering an extended look at the Hoosiers during full-contact work. Here's our full-length story from today, and below are assorted notes from what we saw today:

SPEAKING OF CONTACT ...

A significant portion of open practice today included Oklahoma drills, one of Wilson's favorites. He doesn't style them like the old back-to-the-ground drills, but rather sets two pads up as boundaries a few feet apart, with an offensive player trying to clear out a defensive player to make room for a ball carrier.

For the most part, offensive and defensive linemen work against one another, linebackers and tight ends, and so on. They're a good gauge of point-of-attack physicality, and reaction time. Some standouts today:

Redshirt freshman running back Tommy Mister, about whom returns were positive before a season-ending injury in camp last year, looked good in pass protection drills Tuesday, and he was lively in Oklahoma work as well, at one point running through and over a teammate.

Wilson has labeled the right tackle competition open, and both Timothy Gardner and Dimitric Camiel impressed in pads Tuesday. Could see that position battle lasting through most of camp.

Andre Brown Jr., a 194-pound cornerback, did well, particularly at a position not always known for physical play. He's a bigger corner, standing at 6-feet.

Would definitely take Wilson at his word when he says fellow freshman Devonte Williams is in the mix at cornerback. He seems to have the staff's attention there.

Mentioned Greg Gooch in last week's practice report, and he was impressive again Tuesday, getting off blocks and squaring up well. It will be hard for him to beat out T.J. Simmons at middle linebacker, but he's an awfully good-looking second-teamer.

Freshman bandit linebacker Brandon Wilson, who has impressed early but has to fight past Nile Sykes and Zack Shaw for playing time, got into a scrap with fellow freshman Austin Dorris, a tight end. After a brief scrum, Wilson separated the two and had them settle things between the pads, where Brandon Wilson got the better of his teammate. After practice, Kevin Wilson said he likes to see competitive fire in practice, but that he also wants disagreements left on the field, and not in the locker room.

WATCHING WIDE RECEIVERS

Defensive back and wide receiver are probably Indiana's two most-watched position battles on their respective sides of the ball. And we've seen freshmen and sophomores mixing it up in both.

Simmie Cobbs and Pike alum Dominique Booth, both second-year guys who played last year, had nice moments during passing drills Tuesday. Booth made a superb catch on a ball thrown behind him, and Cobbs flashed nice hand technique in a drill designed to sharpen receivers' ability to beat the jam at the line of scrimmage.

As for freshmen, I continue to be intrigued by Nick Westbrook's blend of size and skill. Leon Thornton had an mixed day during what we watched, but it's easy to see why Wilson mentioned him as one of those freshmen in the mix at wideout. He made a couple of nice leaping grabs.

INJURY UPDATES

Darius Latham is still hobbled after his knee scope, which is no surprise. Wilson said this weekend he expects the junior and North Central alum to miss at least a couple of weeks.

Isaac James, a freshman from Carmel who has been working at wide receiver, suffered what Wilson described as a minor shoulder injury. He sat out Tuesday.

Placekicker Aaron Del Grosso has been slowed by a groin problem. Wilson said he had expected Del Grosso to compete hard for the starting kicker spot with Griffin Oakes.

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.