Sights and Sounds from WVU Football Practice: August 19

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The WVU Football team had an easy practice earlier today. The team split into position groups, as per usual, but the focus was primarily on snap speed and special teams.

A large portion of the practice was spent perfecting the O and D lines’ blocking patterns, working specifically on the few seconds between the snap and Doege and Greene’s releases. Jarret Doege had a great connection with Winston Wright Jr. on a long ball, and Greene and Sean Ryan had a similar connection for the twos during a quick scrimmage.

Evan Staley was back to work today, joining Casey Legg and Tyler Sumpter on special teams. Ten minutes of today’s practice were spent just practicing extra points and red zone defenses.

Tight end Mike O’Laughlin is still in an air cast, and while back-ups TJ Banks and Charles Finley are taking reps for him, tight ends coach Travis Trickett is prepared for O’Laughlin to get right back into the swing of things in the next few days. As of now, he’s still the Mountaineers’ first-string tight end.

“He’s out of the boot right now, moving around,” Trickett said of O’Laughlin’s injury status. “We expect him to go full speed soon. Whenever that is, that’s up to the trainers. Going into camp, one of our objectives was to develop the guys that we have.”

Trickett also mentioned that O’Laughlin’s role on the team, while injured, has shifted.

“He’s been great at being right here, making calls for the guys coming off the field,” he said. “They go right to him, so he coaches them up. If there’s something I say, ‘Did you see this?’ he’ll say, ‘Got it.’ I’ll make sure he understands it and he gets those guys aside and coaches them. It allows growth in the leadership aspect as well. That’s going to pay off dividends too.”