Defensive Observations: Camp Day 2

CLEMSON — Clemson hosted the second day of fall camp behind at the Jordan Family Practice Fields on Friday. The media was allowed to watch the first six and a half periods on Day 2 of camp.

Below are some of the things we were able to observe from practice.

–Clemson cornerback Jeadyn Lukus was in a yellow jersey, which means he could not practice on Friday. Lukus’ injury was a new one for camp, as he was not one of the players head coach Dabo Swinney reported to us on Thursday as players listed out or injured. He had a sleeve on his left leg, but no word on what kind of injury he was dealing with.

–Defensive coordinator Tom Allen was again very vocal at practice. During Madden Drills, when the defense forms a circle of tackling drills, Allen yelled through the loud speakers, “We will be the best tackling team in America. That is what we will be.”

–One of the Madden Drills the defense was doing was called the “Drag and Grab.” As the defenders dragged the tackling dummy, they would suddenly let go and grab the loose football that a team manger threw on the ground.

–We noticed during the Madden Drills that defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart looked very slim. Defensive tackle Stephiylan Green also looked trim and was moving fast.

–One of the more interesting things during the Madden Drills was when the defensive backs were working on leg tackles. After they drove the offensive player into the mat, they continued to kick their legs while on the ground.

–In the pursuit drills, Allen mixed things up a little bit. He started off working Khalil Barnes and Kylon Griffin as his starting safeties, but he later mixed them with other players just to keep us guessing as to who was working first team with Barnes.

–We noticed that Kobe McCloud was moving very well. As you know, McCloud injured his knee (ACL) in Week 2 against App State. We also noticed that McCloud had a sleeve on his right leg.

–A few special teams notes. Punter Will McCune had the best day amongst the punters during our time to review practice. He had a 50-yard plus punt with a hangtime close to five seconds. Jack Smith struggled with his punts, as did Charlie Reed, who shanked one.

–We noticed that Antonio Williams, Tyler Brown, Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore were returning punts.

–Clemson worked a lot on punt coverage exercises. Some of the guys on the first-team coverage units were linebacker Sammy Brown, defensive back Ronan Hanafin, safety Ricardo Jones, cornerback Shelton Lewis, linebacker Wade Woodaz, and linebacker Jamal Anderson. Peter Woods and freshman Brayden Jacobs were playing the upback positions.