March 25, 2008

After a four-day Easter break, the Baylor football team began its next-to-last week of spring ball with a 135-minute workout in full pads Tuesday afternoon on the grass practice fields at Floyd Casey Stadium.

Tuesday's practice pushed the Bears past the midway point in their first spring under the direction of Head Coach Art Briles.

"We have to play with energy, that's something that you can control," said Briles when asked about the intensity the Bears are showing on the practice field this spring. "We have to be a tough, energized, physical, intelligent football team. We are going to handle the intangibles. That's our job as coaches and players."

"I think we are a hungry football team," he added. "We have a lot to prove as coaches, players and as a Baylor football community. So, we are in the proving stages of trying to be a team that has some respect on the football field. We are on the path, but we are still a long way from getting there, but our effort and energy are really something we can be proud of right now."

With the Bears reaching the halfway point of spring ball, Briles said his team continues to focus on the new systems being implemented on both sides of the ball.

"We started out (the spring) pretty fast, then we had to scale back a little bit, but we picked it back up a little bit today," Briles said. "I think if we get through the rest of the spring and then we can get into the summer and put everything else in. Right now, we are still looking at personnel and trying to figure out who can do what."

While the competition is keen on both sides of the ball, much of the focus offensively continues to be on the quarterback battle between senior transfer Kirby Freeman, junior Blake Szymanski, sophomore Tyler Beatty and true freshman Robert Griffin.

"They are developing, but they are not being real consistent across the table and that's understandable," Briles said. "What we have to do is protect the football. We tried to go the entire practice (today) without a pick and we threw one right there at the end. We almost made it, but almost isn't good enough.

"We'll keep banging and they'll keep getting better," he added. "They are fighting hard and competing which is what we all have to do."

The Bears will take Wednesday off, then workout Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m. followed by a 10 a.m. practice on Saturday to finish the week.

Note: Redshirt freshman Matt Singletary, who worked at defensive end a year ago, practiced at inside receiver Tuesday and wore No. 24 ... "In our offense we look for what we call a big slot, a guy from about 250 to 270 that can move, turn up field and get after somebody with a mean look on their face," Briles said. "Hopefully, Matt can do that and fill that void for us."