Spring Practice Day 5: FAMU football shows clear progression through foggy Thursday morning

Spring break is over.

Florida A&M football is back and has hit the field twice since returning from vacation.

On Thursday, the Rattlers were at Bragg Memorial Stadium for day five of spring practice during a foggy morning in Tallahassee.

Thus far, FAMU head coach Willie Simmons likes how his team is responding from the 11-day break.

"Tuesday's practice was a typical first day back from spring break practice, but I thought today was better," Simmons said. "I thought the guys were back in football mode and really channeled themselves the right way."

The Rattlers will be placed in some in-game situations this weekend. After five practices, they will participate in a intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday to serve as the sixth of their 15 practices.

"Offensively, we must clean up details, protect the football and establish the ground game," Simmons said. "The defense is flying around and make it tough for the offense to get consistent.

"It'll be interesting to see how they perform on Saturday in our first true evaluation of where we are as a football team."

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FAMU making strides as midpoint of spring football practice approaches

FAMU offensive left tackle Jalen Goss is going through his second spring period with the Rattlers.

He's seeing a shift within the team as they have transition from spring break, citing that Thursday's practice was a clear improvement from Tuesday's first day back.

"It was a little shaky, so everybody's trying to get back in the groove again," Goss said. "Everybody's starting to lock in with it being the second day with locking in and honing in on assignments."

Goss, from Valdosta, Georgia, transferred from Florida State ahead of last season and earned an All-SWAC First Team selection. Now, he's one of the leaders of the offensive line, also known as 'THE MOB.'

"Being in the same offense has really helped me and I can get a deeper context of it," Goss said. "We all are bringing each other along, making sure we're competing, and being consistent.

"You're not going to do good everyday, but it's all about getting one percent better."

Defensive lineman Kamari Stephens led the Rattlers with ten sacks a season ago.

Returning as a starter and an integral piece of the Dark Cloud Defense, Stephens and his unit are making strides and are making progressions through the first five days of spring practice.

"It's always rocky when we first start, but the defense is getting more comfortable when it comes to communication," Stephens said. "We have a lot of new guys, so everybody's still learning the plays and trying to get used to the system."

He comes in as one of the captains of the Dark Cloud Defense after his All-SWAC First Team performance in 2022. But Stephens is still trying to establish his worth to his team this spring, just as his counterparts are doing vice versa.

"Everyone's trying to prove themselves," Stephens said. "I'm trying to prove a point and the new guys are trying to prove to me. Everybody wants to be the best and we're just competing."

Rattlers excited to experience in-game reps for Saturday's team scrimmage

Competitive nature flows through the entirety of FAMU's football team. And that will be amplified at Saturday's scrimmage.

Goss is most excited for the contact that will be inflicted between the offensive and defensive units, stating that his team has been waiting for this moment since offseason workouts began in January.

"I'm looking forward to them pads popping," Goss said. "We would talk back and forth in the weight room like 'just wait until we put on pads.' We give each other our all we got even if we lose the rep. It's brotherly and we're trying to make each other better.

"Saturday is going to be a day for us to do what we do and put it on film. I hope we get better from it."

Stephens and Goss will likely be matched up against each other for a huge portion of Saturday.

And defensive lineman from Jacksonville, Stephens, is looking forward to the all-conference matchup.

"Jalen Goss and I go back and forth," Stephens said. "We're getting better and attacking each other everyday. He brings intensity and I love when I line up against him.

"Iron sharpens iron."

FAMU Football 2023 Spring Schedule

• Tuesday, March 7 ― Practice 1

• Thursday, March 9 ― Practice 2

• Friday, March 10 ― Practice 3

• Tuesday, March 21 ― Practice 4

• Thursday, March 23 ― Practice 5

• Saturday, March 25 ― Practice 6

• Tuesday, March 28 ― Practice 7

• Thursday, March 30 ― Practice 8

• Saturday, April 1 ― Practice 9

• Tuesday, April 4 ― Practice 10

• Thursday, April 6 ― Practice 11

• Friday, April 7 ― Practice 12

• Tuesday, April 11 ― Practice 13

• Thursday, April 13 ― Practice 14

• Saturday, April 15 ― Orange and Green Spring Game at Bragg Memorial Stadium, TIME TBA

Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

Follow the Tallahassee Democrat on social media at Tallahassee Democrat (Facebook), TallahasseeDemocrat (Instagram), and @TDOnline (Twitter)

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Football: Rattlers making proper gains as first scrimmage looms