Taylor and the group hustled to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball with 3 seconds left and Taylor’s pass to WR Brandon Smith as time expired was broken up by second-year S Jarius Monroe.
“Our competes are starting to get at a level that our coach will want to be at,” head coach Aaron Glenn said after practice. “Now, is it there yet? The way it needs to be in totality? No, but you start to see it climb and that’s been every day consistent as we’ve been going through OTAs. And I will tell you, you could have all the talent in the world, but if the competes aren’t there, you’re not winning games. I want to make sure as much as possible that we coach that and our players understand that. And they do, you see it out there on the field.”
Wideout Ontaria Wilson had an impressive practice including a catch off a beautiful pass from Taylor on the left sideline as the ball skimmed over the head of the outstretched defender. WR Garrett Wilson continued to flash and climbed the ladder with CB Michael Carter II in coverage to bring in Justin Fields‘ pass along the sideline. The offense subsequently erupted.
“Listen, we have guys that that can make plays for us, and that’s at every level,” Glenn said. “Every position we have, running backs, our tight ends, we have other receivers that are going to make plays. I’m expecting all of our guys that are going to be here step up and take the burden off Garrett.
“Garrett’s going to have his chance of one on ones. Is he going to get doubled? Yeah, he’s going to get doubled. He’s a good receiver, but when you do that, that that leaves somebody else in a one-on-one situation and I’ll take that with our guys all day.”