Practice moves over to Romney Stadium on Tuesday

To calm a lot of people's nerves, Tuesday marked the first sighting of wide receiver Ronald Butler practicing with the team. Due to the rules stating that players must have x-amount of practices before adding shoulder pads, and then full pads after that, Butler was limited in what he do, but it appears everything is sorted out now.

Things are starting to look more crisp all around as guys look to have the bulk of their rust shaken off after a few practices. Now with contact entering the mix, you can see just how competitive so many of these guys are. Even after some plays are blown dead, you'll see ballcarriers still running, while defenders are still trying to stop them, and both sides trying to get the best of one another. Things get a little chippy at times, but after those little shoving matches are over, you've still got two guys competing at a high level. Pretty alright if you ask me.


Let's get to the notes though...

• It looked as though Travis Reynolds was not out with the first team offense today. The bulk of the time when they took the field first, it was Brandon Swindall, JoJo Natson, and Travis Van Leeuwen lining up at receiver. Not sure if that was just the packages they went with or what, but it seemed like Reynolds was doing everything at about 150 percent today in response to it. Simply put, he practiced his ass off! He also was doing some kick returns during one drill and looked pretty fantastic at it. Not sure what to take from this, but if Reynolds was indeed demoted, he sure as hell looked determined to earn back whatever he lost. Major kudos to him.
• Joe Hill is looking more and more like he'll be a fantastic pass-catching option out of the backfield. We saw tastes of it last year, and he's done plenty to indicate that'll continue.
• D.J. Tialavea seems to have one "holy s***" moment each practice where he shows just how good he can be. We've heard some of the players hype him up on The Front Row Show, and so far D.J. has delivered. Runs good, crisp routes, is strong against defenders in the middle of the field, and it's safe to assume he'll still be the epic run blocker he's always been.
• Cornerback Jeremy Morris had a couple really nice plays today, one coming on great coverage of Alex Wheat while Craig Harrison rolled out. Harrison threw a ball he absolutely shouldn't have thrown, but Morris still adjusted right away to intercept it.
• Tavaris McMillian showed off his speed today, chasing guys to the edge a handful of times. While last year was headlined by the awesome seasons that Doughty, Vigil, and Fackrell had, don't sleep on the other No. 16. He's still got a ton of talent, and to have fresh bodies to rotate in there like him who can still perform like studs will help this team a lot.
• In the red zone today, the USU offense executed beautifully! Following a perfect connection from Keeton to Tialavea for a touchdown, the first-team offense busted out a little trickery to get a score on the next play. After how much the defense dominated on Monday, it was good to see the offense come back and figure out what they needed to do.
• Tay Glover-Wright is fast, just in case you were wondering. Just a phenomenal athlete. He also got in a little bit on fielding a kickoff today and accelerated to blazing speed instantly. He's going to have a fight on his hands for a starting job with how great Rashard Stewart has been so far this camp, but that's a great problem to have as both of these guys have some very awesome potential to have monster seasons. 

That's all for Tuesday. Likely won't be able to see Wednesday's practice, but possible return to action on Thursday. Stay tuned.