Defense Set The Tone In Second Day Of Practice

Flowery Branch, Ga – The intensity of Jeff Ulbrich’s defensive scheme was showcased during the second day of training camp.

After a mild first day of practice on Thursday morning, the energy was ramped up a few notches on Day two of practice, most notably by the defense.

The defense, both first and second teams, forced three fumbles and with three fumble recoveries, including a fumble off a shotgun snap that was botched by Kirk Cousins. They were able to cause wide receiver Drake London to fumble twice.

Ulbrich’s aggressive style was evident from the start when the first team defense started blitzing on the first passing play, which caused Kirk Cousin to throw a tipped pass at the foot of his targeted receiver.

Playing fast, hard and blitzing won’t only benefit the defense but it will sharpen the offense as well, according to offensive tackle, Jake Matthews.

“He’s [Ulbrich] always had a defense that you look at, they’re always going to play hard, they’re going to be sound and they’re going to try and get after you,” stated Matthews. “Excited to bring that here.”

The more the defense started to make plays, the more talking and jawing they did. It eventually woke the offense up towards the end of practice that resulted to a deep pass by Kirk Cousins to Jessie Matthews.

“We’re treading in the right direction the way practice is going, the competition and the way guys are chirping at each other,” said Matthews.

It will be interesting to see how this will affect practice on Sunday morning.