SDSU Camp Notes: Day Seven
San Diego State kicked off its second day of two-a-day practices on Monday and AztecSportsReport.com was there to bring you the scoop. Take a look at the Camp Notes from Day Seven:
Good news for Clark
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Initially, SDSU doctors feared the worst. They told head coach Rocky Long they believed freshman wide receiver Larry Clark would miss the 2011 season with a torn MCL.
But after looking over the official MRI results, they found good news for the Aztecs. Clark does not have a torn ligament after all, and will not require surgery.
"They think he's going to be fine," Long said. "It's not near as serious as originally thought."
Long said Clark isn't exactly ready to go, however. He said Clark suffered a kneecap subluxation (where the kneecap temporarily dislocates and pops back in) as well as "some kind of strain" in his knee when he went up to catch a pass in 11-on-11 drills on Friday night.
Clark is on crutches, and Long has no idea when the freshman will be able to return to practice.
"I don't think he'll be back anytime soon to help us this year," Long said. "But it's really good that it's not as serious as we first thought."
Receiver position still muddled
The position with the most question marks surrounding it heading into fall camp still has plenty of questions left to be answered on Day Seven.
Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said he still isn't sure who his starting wideouts will be when the season kicks off on Sept. 3.
Click Here to view this Link."I feel real good about the development of the group but we're still waiting for a couple of the younger guys to step up," Ludwig said. "Right now (Colin LockettClick Here to view this Link.) is slotted at one of the No. 1 receiver spots and we're looking to fill the second No. 1 spot right now."
Sophomore Dylan Denso has been getting most of the first-team reps there, but Ludwig said he expects newcomer Aldodius Colquitt and redshirt freshman Ezell Ruffin to push Denso for the job.
Still, Ludwig said things haven't been going so smoothly.
"There's a growing process going on," he said. "We've got to grow up fast."
Long agreed.
"Some periods of practice they look good and the next period of practice they don't look so good," the head coach said. "So we're not ready."
Comparing Bears to Aztecs?
Keeping running backs out of live drills during practice is nothing new to Ludwig.
In fact, in the past couple years, he's held stars Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen out of live practice when he was at Cal for the same reason SDSU is holding Ronnie Hillman out of live drills - to keep them healthy.
"There's some players there you hold out sometimes," Ludwig said.
He did say it was a little too early to compare Hillman to those two backs, who are now in the NFL. But he's excited to see Hillman play in some games soon.
"He's got skills and abilities," Ludwig said. "I'm anxious to watch him play against an opponent."
Short Shots
Long's Aztecs were finally able to practice on their new grass field, and Long said he was happy with the way it turned out. "There's no patches, there's no holes; it's much better," he said. … Long said the morning practice of the past two double days has not been up to par. "We haven't really played with the energy or the excitement that I wish we'd see (in the mornings)," he said. He blamed it on SDSU being so used to practicing at night, where it's cooler and more comfortable.