April 8, 2008

NORMAL, Ill. - After the 58-play scrimmage to end Sunday's practice, the Illinois State football was slated for a light workout. On Tuesday, Mother Nature ensured it, as the Redbirds practiced without pads for an hour under a steady drizzle.

"We wanted to scale back today anyway," said head coach Denver Johnson. "We had to get another non-padded practice in, by rule, and we extended them some on Sunday, so I really wanted to take advantage and get the non-padded practice in today. We cut practice back and got caught up on our film, so all-in-all we got exactly done what we needed to."

The first couple periods were spent on special teams, while the remainder of the practice was divided between offense and defense and centered on fundamental drills. The highlight of the day was a one-handed circus catch by Eyad Salem in the pouring rain, while running routes with the Redbird quarterbacks.

"We are fighting weather right now," said Johnson. "The forecast for the next several days through the weekend is pretty dicey. We expect to have great weather (Wednesday), so we are going to try to take advantage of that and play it by ear for the rest of the week."

Johnson moved up Thursday's originally scheduled practice to Wednesday, while the weekend sessions could change.