Coach Freeze gives update on Rebels’ first scrimmage and injuries

Coach Freeze spoke with the media before Tuesday’s practice and gave an update on how the team is progressing following its first scrimmage yesterday. He also offered info on the status of safety C.J. Moore, who had surgery this week for a torn pec muscle.

Freeze on the team’s first scrimmage:

“Yesterday, we had our first scrimmage. It was a bit odd really because the offense I thought really controlled the scrimmage—which is not normal for this early in camp. So I was really pleased with that side.

“Defensively we have a lot of things to clean up, so that was a bit discouraging. So, we’ve got a lot of improving to do still on both sides, but I did think there were some neat things offensively yesterday. I’m not sure how much of that had to do with the offense’s execution, the tempo, or the defense’s lack of execution on their side.

“So It’s hard for me to ever feel great…when you’re trying to look at the big picture. Special teams looked pretty solid. Gary (Wunderlich) kicked the ball extremely well yesterday, so did Nathan (Noble). (Will) Gleeson was ok.”

Update on C.J. Moore’s injury:

“C.J. had surgery this week to repair a torn pec muscle. We’ll just see how that rehab comes. I’m not ready to say how long that is. I don’t really know. He does have a redshirt year, so that will play into it to depending on what point of the season we’re in. We’ll do what’s best for the program and the kid when that time comes.”

On what the absence of C.J. Moore means to defensive personnel:

“You know we’ve moved (redshirt freshman) Jarrion Street to one of the safeties, too. Very athletic young kid. Hasn’t been here this summer, so he’s a little behind but we think he’s got potential to be good.

“We really haven’t juggled a whole lot of things around. It just hurts us on our depth. He was definitely in the two-deep, so that’s something that you never want to happen.

“It’s the constant struggle of how do you prepare your team for opening game like we have, be physical, get things done and then try to keep as many healthy as you can. We’ve got some good young talent back there I think but we haven’t had to really mix with the rotation yet. We’ll see how that goes.”

Here’s video of Coach Freeze at Tuesday’s practice, courtesy of The Rebel Walk’s Courtney A. Smith: