Friday's Gophers practice was open to the public. Both practices Saturday will be open, as well. The 9:25 a.m., session at the Gibson/Nagurski Football Complex will focus on special teams, and then there will be a 4:45 p.m., scrimmage at TCF Bank Stadium.
First, here are some quick thoughts from today:
* Left tackle Garrison Wright, who had a scheduled light day Tuesday, was back with the first-team offense. But the team's tackle depth has taken a hit with Chad Fahning and Nick Connelly both injured. Newcomer Donnell Greene arrived just in time. He's a transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College and still has three years of eligibility remaining. The 6-7, 345-pound Greene, who was on the field in a helmet (no pads), will be ready for contact Monday.
* Starting middle linebacker Cody Poock remains out with an ankle injury. And starting tight end Brandon Lingen still is being kept away from contact. I've been told there aren't any major injury concerns for the team beyond RB Shannon Brooks being out 3-5 weeks with a foot injury. So I'd expect Poock and Lingen to be full-go soon.
* Other players in orange non-participation jerseys included: WR Isaiah Gentry, WR Eric Carter, DB Antoine Winfield Jr., CB Coney Durr, TE Nick Hart, TE Duke Anyanwu and WR Matt Morse.
* My favorite moment of the day: In the two-minute drill (actually 1:30 drill), Mitch Leidner led the first-team offense about 55 yards into field-goal range. Defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel wasn't pleased. He had the first-team defense doing up-downs on the sideline.
* My favorite moment from Tuesday: The second-team offense had a fourth-and-1 near midfield and didn't get the first down on a dive up the middle. Tracy Claeys started barking at the offensive line about how that wasn't acceptable. It was a freshmen and redshirt freshmen group -- LT Sam Schlueter, LG Ted Stieber, C Jared Weyler, RG Bronson Dovich, RT Quinn Oseland -- and Claeys ordered the same play again. He said it just like that, "Same play again!" So everyone knew what was coming.
The trouble was, this particular defense had Steven Richardson and Merrick Jackson at defensive tackle. Those two aren't easy to move. So this went on and on.
