WSU bounces back from sloppiness
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- The practices are getting shorter now for Washington State, as coach Mike Leach said they would once they start wrapping up camp. Read on for a few notes.
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Of course, shorter practices means less to report from practice, as well. WSU didn't do any 1s vs. 1s team session because the No. 1 offense and defense were working on opposite sides of the field against scout teams. It's that time of year. ... A number of players on the roster who missed camp returned with school starting on Monday. Among them: QB Jesse Brown, CB Spencer Waseem, DT Justin Clayton, DL Darryl Paulo, RB Kyle Lappano and WR Henry Eaddy. ... Taylor Taliulu is still working as a starting safety alongside Deone Bucannon. Cyrus Coen continues to work at SAM linebacker with Eric Oertel still watching without pads.
... Leach said he thought the team responded well after a sloppy practice on Sunday. "I thought we executed well, I thought we played fast. I thought we were pretty much ahead of schedule because we threw out stuff randomly, and yeah, it’s all been touched on in camp but it’s been executed pretty smoothly and I thought our scouts did well too."
Leach said he didn't think practicing after the first day of classes was too much of an issue.
"I think we kind of got that out of our system yesterday," Leach said. "I’ve never had a great practice the first day that you switch scouts or school starts, but today was pretty good, today was real good."
... Perhaps the most newsworthy item is the apparent switch of Niu Sale from offensive guard to the defensive line. Sale has spent time with the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive line units in camp, and appeared to be setting himself up for a reserve role at that position. But Leach wants to see what he can do on the other side of the ball.
"Just trying whatever ability we have, to get it on the field and I think there’s an opportunity to play there higher than some of our positions," Leach said. "With that said, he’s got pretty fluid hips and right now he’s not really a first-level o-lineman, but he’s got some ability and he’s strong and it’s awfully tough to block him with one person, so we want to see what we have there and if we can get his abilities out there on the field.
"We’ll see how he does. He did some good things. He can be explosive at times. He’s got to get in shape, but he’s big and strong."
... WR Kristoff Williams, CB Brandon Golden, CB Ray Ford, LB Darren Markle, WR Isiah Myers and DL Xavier Cooper appeared limited.
All for now.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple