SPORTS

Cards camp notes: Day 4 afternoon session

Jeffrey Greer
jgreer@courier-journal.com
Dominique Brown bounces off of a defensive lineman during practice. August 7, 2014

Before preseason camp started, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino may have used the media to motivate his defensive backs.

His biggest concern, he repeated, was his team's weakness at safety. I wrote about it. Everybody wrote or talked about it. In fact, it sort of felt like a broken record at times.

But through four days of practice this week -- by no means a thorough sample size -- U of L seems to have covered over some of those issues by moving long-time starting cornerback Terell Floyd to safety and enabling the emergence of Gerod Holliman.

Petrino said earlier this week that Holliman needed to find his assertiveness and become more of a presence on the field. The Miami native agreed with his coach.

"I'm more of a quiet guy," Holliman said. "I just had to learn to step up and communicate on the field. That was my biggest issue."

The duo's looked sharp together in their first week as a unit. Holliman grabbed another interception in 11-on-11 drills on Friday.

At 5-foot-10, 200 pounds, Floyd already had good size to move positions. He said he trusted defensive coordinator Todd Grantham when the coaching staff informed Floyd he'd be changing roles.

"He knows what's best for the team," Floyd said.

Besides, it's not exactly unfamiliar territory: Floyd starred as a safety at Port St. Lucie (Fla.) High School before coming to U of L.

"I go back to my high school days and the things I did then," Floyd said, crediting safeties coach Greg Brown for easing the transition.

If this is the only thing you read today, and you're considering going to Saturday's practice, you should know that it starts at 3 p.m. and will include the full squad.

We have media day in the morning.

DAY 3 MORNING STANDOUTS

Let's start with Will Gardner. The expected starting quarterback continued his upward trajectory with another in-command, in-control performance on Friday. He put a vertical ball right on James Quick at the perfect step for a huge gain (more on that in a minute) and he consistently made the throws. Another play that caught my eye: He sent Like Brohm in motion left to right, splitting him out right. Brohm ran an 8-yard square in and Matt Milton ran a corner. Milton took both cover men with him, and Gardner pelted Brohm with a perfect pass for a good 15-20-yard gain.

Quick ran a go route, probably his best route, and at first looked like he had no shot at Gardner's long ball. James Sample was in perfect position for a pick coming over the top with his help, but Quick accelerated through the final 15 yards and then stretched thismuchfarther than Sample to catch the pass. He had a few other grabs on Friday, too, and looked the sharpest he has yet.

NOTABLE

Nose tackle Johnny Richardson blew up a running play right at the snap, slicing through the line and tagging out running back LJ Scott as he received the handoff.

Reggie Bonnafon really struggled today. Aside from one or two smart tuck-and-runs and a few you-should-make-those throws, the freshman quarterback had a rough performance. He underthrew at least three open receivers in 11-on-11 drills and took a bad sack.

Keith Brown also had a pick in Friday's practice. He's been playing with the second-team defense, which comes as a bit of a surprise because he's listed with the first-teamers on the preseason depth chart. That goes to show us that depth charts in July mean about the same as straw polls two years before elections.

QUOTABLE

"You have to have that swagger and confidence to play DB because it's just you and that man. We're just having fun, man. It's football. We're trying to have fun and enjoy it." -- senior safety Terell Floyd

INJURY UPDATE

Junior defensive back Carl Williams (leg) and freshman offensive lineman Danny Burns required training-staff attention Friday morning. Burns appeared to be dehydrated.