On Day 3 of WSU fall camp, Cougars unleash trash talk and physicality as shells come on

PULLMAN – In quiet settings, Cale Reeder exudes a cool demeanor. As he prepares for his fifth and final college football season, the Washington State safety comes across mild-mannered and even-keeled, wearing a kind smile and keeping his responses on the shorter side.

“It was awesome to be in the crimson and gray, finally. It felt really good,” Reeder said on Wednesday, after the Cougars’ fall camp opener. “Felt like it was a great day. The weather was nice. Everybody was kinda flying around.”

Two days later, Reeder did much more than fly around. In Friday’s practice, the team’s first wearing shells, Reeder led the charge on the trash-talking front in a two-hour session high on it, giving teammates sharp one-liners and biting invitations to match up against him in the secondary. Several of his teammates matched that energy, unleashing words that made the practice far more spirited than the two that preceded it.

In WSU’s first full team practice – coaches split the first two days into two-parters – a few scuffles broke out. Some players flexed after breaking up passes. Others chided their matchups for failing to keep up. The loudest talkers included Reeder, redshirt freshman cornerback Kenny Worthy III and transfer defensive tackle Kaden Beatty, the latter a 6-foot, 285-pounder pushing for meaningful snaps this fall.

It amounted to WSU’s most lively practice of fall camp, small sample size or not. To coach Jimmy Rogers and others, it was a net positive, an indication that players are fired up to win position battles and get on the field.

“Well, there’s always a balance, but when we start, it’s gotta be this way,” Rogers said. “There’s gonna be little outbreaks here and there. I’d rather tone them back than have to say, ‘Yeah.’ ”

“I think it’s good,” center Brock Dieu said. “Sometimes, guys need to chirp a little bit to get themselves going. So as long as we’re keeping it between the whistles, and we’re fighting our tails off and working hard and staying within the schemes that are set in the parameters, then I’m just fine with it.”

To Rogers, it wasn’t just about the energy. It was about the way his players used it to turn in solid reps. For all the trash talking he did, Reeder backed it up with his play at the safety spot, breaking up passes and making what would be hard hits in full pads (which come Monday). True freshman safety Damarius Russell intercepted a tipped pass, and freshman cornerback Tyrone Cotton III paired an interception with a breakup of a deep pass.

Many of the team period highlights belonged to WSU’s defenders. Defensive tackle Max Baloun, one of 16 players to follow Rogers from South Dakota State to WSU last December, had a simulated sack. So did redshirt freshman Gage Jones, who is moving from safety to linebacker. On one deep pass, Worthy stuck his arm out and knocked the ball to the ground, accentuating his promising campaign to earn a role in the Cougs’ cornerback corps.

“Demarius Russell will be a special player,” Rogers said. “I believe that. Whether he’s ready right away or not, he’s way ahead mentally at the safety position than many safeties that we’ve come across. He’ll have growing pains like he did today, picked off the ball, ran it back for about a touchdown, basking in his glory. The very next play, they took a shot over his head and scored him. So those are all moments to learn from.”

At the beginning of practice, WSU’s receivers experienced some of the same. Several players dropped passes in 7-on-7 settings, including fifth-year senior Leon Neal and Oregon State transfer Jeremiah Noga, the latter of whom will likely carve out a role on offense. The issue followed WSU’s receivers and tight ends around on Thursday as well. Still, this early in fall camp, they have time to turn that around.

But the Cougars’ offensive players also submitted plenty of their own encouraging reps. During the first three days, honors for most accurate throws might go to Rutgers transfer quarterback Ajani Sheppard, one of the four QBs vying for starting duties this season. On a 7-on-7 play in Friday’s practice, Sheppard threw a pass of some 40 yards to wide receiver Tony Freeman, who hauled it in over his shoulder.

On the adjacent field later in practice, Sheppard escaped simulated pressure and rolled out to the right side, where he spotted freshman wideout Noah Westbrook, who made a contested catch in traffic. For Sheppard, it was the latest impressive pass in a series, indicating what he could bring to WSU’s offense if given a role.

“A couple of Ajani’s first sessions, he dealt with a lot of bad snaps,” Rogers said, referring to true freshman Arion Willliams, who is still learning the center position after playing elsewhere on the offensive line in high school.

“So it’s hard to say how great a quarterback is if the ball is always hitting his knees. Overall, there’s gotta be a clear, defined guy that steps up, takes control and everybody can see it. And hopefully, throughout these practices, we continue to learn from it, and we can continue to see who’s improving at the fastest rate.”

In other news, junior college transfer wideout Devin Ellison sat out the last portion of practice, limping a bit with what Rogers called a “little heel (issue).”

True freshman cornerback Trillion Sorrell, who has earned Rogers’ praise in previous practice, missed Friday’s with an illness, the coach said.

“He’s fine,” Rogers said of Ellison. “He’s been going extremely hard. Proud of ‘Dev.’ He’s grown a lot in the short time that he’s been here. Got all A’s this last summer. Junior college player that is extremely talented. He’s growing in every way. So I’m proud of (him). He’s pushing through right now. We’re holding him back. He’s not holding himself out.”