STARKVILLE — Mississippi State defensive coordinator Chris Wilson always calls Tuesday’s practice “the first days out of the pajamas and into some work clothes”.
Welcome to the first day of shoulder pads at MSU spring football practice.
“It’s sort of what I expected out there today with the pads on and people moving at a different speeds out here,” Wilson said. “You get to see who really wants to play when you’re getting bodies on bodies.”
MSU coach Dan Mullen described the first truly physical two-hour workout as “sloppy” but wouldn’t go into much detail without “seeing the film” from Tuesday’s spring practice.
“We got so many different guys reps out there with 1s, 2s and 3s then you really got to look and evaluate it on film on the relevant improvement of certain players,” Mullen said.
With the lineman on both sides of the line-of-scrimmage able to engage in contact for the first time this spring, the focus was spotlighted on the defensive front where East Mississippi Community College transfer Denico Autry got his first reps at defensive end with the first-team defense.
“We’ve got packages already set up for him and we’re preparing him to be a starter in this group,” Wilson said. “What we’re doing with him is creating competition.”
Autry led all EMCC defensive linemen with 81 total tackles (54 solos and 27 assists), including a team-high 11 sacks and 13 other tackles for loss last year but admitted his first week of a Division I college football practice was a shock.
“It was kind of shocking to get a taste of what the competition was like out here,” Autry said. “I kind of liked being in shorts because it was slower and I was able to learn more things at a slower pace right now.”
Autry, who was also credited with 41 quarterback hurries, four pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles last year, said he’s a bit behind in learning the Bulldogs defensive playbook.
“I know about one or two installs and the rest is kind of lost in it right now,” Autry said.
The 6-foot-6, 245-pound pass rusher is supposed to dramatically increase the sack totals of the 2012 season as the Bulldogs had only 27 in 13 games.
“I think he’s going to be a real great player and the reason I know this is he’s still trying to get used to this level and still looks good out here,” MSU senior defensive tackle Josh Boyd said. “Once he gets his feet on the ground and understands things — look out. It took me a while to get it all down.”
Wilson described the first day in pads as “ugly” but was encouraged by the enthusiasm of his defensive lineman knowing they’d get to have contact throughout the day.
“The key thing that we’ve got to do is we’ve got to be a more fundamentally sound defensive front from the back-end to the front,” Wilson said. “It’s going to have to be a collective effort with this
group.” One of the leaders Wilson is looking to bring a vocal presence to the line this season is Boyd. Boyd spent the first two practices simply getting used to the idea of not having his classmate next to him in the trenches with Fletcher Cox declaring for the 2012 NFL Draft.
“It’s kind of odd because (Fletcher) was like my brother but it’s going to take some time to get used to it,” Boyd said. “(Coach Wilson) leans on me a lot and I’m coming from a place that’s not used to being a vocal leader. I was always the quiet one and Fletcher did the talking.”
The Bulldogs return to the practice field at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. That practice will be open to the public.
The Maroon-White spring game is set for April 21. It will be one of the main attractions of Super Bulldogs Weekend on the MSU campus.
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