Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Spartans Enter Final Week of Spring Practice
4/10/2019 9:25:00 AM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State football team is in the final week of spring practice as the Spartans prepare for the annual Green-White spring game, presented by McLaren Health Plan, on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Spartan Stadium.
Prior to the team's 12th spring practice on Tuesday, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio met with the media to give an update on the team.
The Spartans will also practice on Thursday before Saturday's spring game. The 15th and final practice of the spring is scheduled for Tuesday, April 16.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio:
On what he's looking forward to this weekend...
I think we've had a good spring and we have been able to get outside more than I can remember. We've gotten a lot of work done and have a lot of things going on.
On the second scrimmage…
Yeah we went on Friday night as a matter of fact. Finished at 11:50. We for about 130 plays, got a lot of things done and got a lot of work in. With the Final Four going on we went under the lights, wanted to give our guys a chance to go to the Final Four. We had about 20 guys bus up and I wanted to go as well, so we made that a priority. We were going to (scrimmage) Saturday morning, so I thought why not go Friday night. We play some games under the lights, so that's what we did and that
was a great experience.
On the experience at the Final Four…
It was a great opportunity for our guys to sit in a championship venue and see the importance and significance of being in that game, much like we were in 2015 as a football program. Some guys remembered that opportunity and others maybe look forward to possibly creating that opportunity for ourselves, but then also just to be there, be a part of it all and be a Spartan.
On learning from the resiliency the basketball team showed…
Yeah, absolutely. I think that they faced injury after injury and different things going on. So just like any football or basketball, or any major college team in any sport, I thought they did an unbelievable job of handling the adversity and I thought their leadership showed. It was amazing how every single game there was somebody different who stepped up.
On being involved in the day-to-day parts of spring practice…
I think every spring you sort of start fresh a little bit to reaffirm what you've done well and change things that you haven't, so that's what we do. We go about our business, immerse ourselves and sort of stay after it.
On the format of the spring game…
We're going to figure that out. Will probably make that decision here today.
On the competition at running back…
I think we have four guys maybe five who are playing in there and they've all had their opportunities. They've all done some good things, but I think Anthony Williams has taken a step forward, Elijah Collins looks good and La'Darius (Jefferson) looks good, Connor Heyward looks good. Those four guys are sort of domino figures right now.
On if anyone has emerged as a leader…
I don't know that it's fair to answer that question right now and single someone out. I think there are a lot of guys who have taken steps in that direction.
On visiting Alabama's coaching staff…
I had been down there one other time, I think maybe in '07 or '08. It was good to go down and see coach Saban, and anytime you go to a place you get a chance to bring a little bit back with you, whether it's a drill or the way they do something. Maybe something relative to the facility or something like that. It was good. We took some assistants down there as well and so four or five of us got an opportunity to walk around and see things.
On Antjuan Simmons…
Antjuan's had a tremendous spring, he's played very very well. He's out today, nicked up a little bit, but he's had a great spring. Outstanding.
On how Brian Lewerke has looked...
Good, his arm strength is very, very good. (Rocky) Lombardi as well, I think Theo Day has taken a step forward as well. It's all reps and experience, if you don't give players an opportunity especially when you're younger players.
On format of the spring game…
That's sort of a decision we have to make. I don't know whether to draft them up or what. We got until this weekend to figure it out amongst ourselves. I might talk to our players about it a little bit, we'll see what we do. I think there's benefits to doing it every different way, we'll weight the benefits and figure it out. It'll be a scrimmage though, it's not going to be a tag you off, touch you deal.
On players that travelled to the Final Four…
I gave everybody an opportunity, whoever wanted to go got an opportunity to go. We had about 20 guys, could've taken more if we wanted to. We were well represented.
On how the coaching staff is settling into new roles…
Very, very well. I think what we've done is we've changed up some things and it shows quite a few things. It should also have some kind of relationship in place so guys know where to go, who's who and who's what. There's some familiarity with it as well.
On if there will be anything different offensively during the spring game…
Yeah, I think you're going to see some things. We're not going to just go out there and do what we've been doing all spring. I think we have to use this opportunity to play in front of people to create a little bit more pressure on the players to perform in front of the crowd. It's meaningful, it's a meaningful scrimmage.
On how some of the freshmen are acclimating…
They're going a great job academically and also on the field. Some guys are a little bit farther ahead than others, but they've all had an opportunity. Nick Samac's doing a nice job. I think he's the guy that really stands out. Anthony Williams who we talked about, Tre Mosley has made his presence. So there are some different guys who are stepping up.
On having one last practice after the spring game…
It's a chance to do some things that we haven't done maybe, or a chance to look at a football team that we're playing next year. As much as anything it's a chance to really evaluate what happened on Saturday and watch that film. So many times you have that game and you go off recruiting, you never really view it sometimes. There's importance placed on it, we're going to watch it and go over it with our players and that will give us an opportunity to do that.
On what's impressed him about Nick Samac…
He's very athletic, he's quick, he's a freshman. He really should be a second semester senior, but he's played pretty well.
Prior to the team's 12th spring practice on Tuesday, MSU head coach Mark Dantonio met with the media to give an update on the team.
The Spartans will also practice on Thursday before Saturday's spring game. The 15th and final practice of the spring is scheduled for Tuesday, April 16.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio:
On what he's looking forward to this weekend...
I think we've had a good spring and we have been able to get outside more than I can remember. We've gotten a lot of work done and have a lot of things going on.
On the second scrimmage…
Yeah we went on Friday night as a matter of fact. Finished at 11:50. We for about 130 plays, got a lot of things done and got a lot of work in. With the Final Four going on we went under the lights, wanted to give our guys a chance to go to the Final Four. We had about 20 guys bus up and I wanted to go as well, so we made that a priority. We were going to (scrimmage) Saturday morning, so I thought why not go Friday night. We play some games under the lights, so that's what we did and that
was a great experience.
On the experience at the Final Four…
It was a great opportunity for our guys to sit in a championship venue and see the importance and significance of being in that game, much like we were in 2015 as a football program. Some guys remembered that opportunity and others maybe look forward to possibly creating that opportunity for ourselves, but then also just to be there, be a part of it all and be a Spartan.
On learning from the resiliency the basketball team showed…
Yeah, absolutely. I think that they faced injury after injury and different things going on. So just like any football or basketball, or any major college team in any sport, I thought they did an unbelievable job of handling the adversity and I thought their leadership showed. It was amazing how every single game there was somebody different who stepped up.
On being involved in the day-to-day parts of spring practice…
I think every spring you sort of start fresh a little bit to reaffirm what you've done well and change things that you haven't, so that's what we do. We go about our business, immerse ourselves and sort of stay after it.
On the format of the spring game…
We're going to figure that out. Will probably make that decision here today.
On the competition at running back…
I think we have four guys maybe five who are playing in there and they've all had their opportunities. They've all done some good things, but I think Anthony Williams has taken a step forward, Elijah Collins looks good and La'Darius (Jefferson) looks good, Connor Heyward looks good. Those four guys are sort of domino figures right now.
On if anyone has emerged as a leader…
I don't know that it's fair to answer that question right now and single someone out. I think there are a lot of guys who have taken steps in that direction.
On visiting Alabama's coaching staff…
I had been down there one other time, I think maybe in '07 or '08. It was good to go down and see coach Saban, and anytime you go to a place you get a chance to bring a little bit back with you, whether it's a drill or the way they do something. Maybe something relative to the facility or something like that. It was good. We took some assistants down there as well and so four or five of us got an opportunity to walk around and see things.
On Antjuan Simmons…
Antjuan's had a tremendous spring, he's played very very well. He's out today, nicked up a little bit, but he's had a great spring. Outstanding.
On how Brian Lewerke has looked...
Good, his arm strength is very, very good. (Rocky) Lombardi as well, I think Theo Day has taken a step forward as well. It's all reps and experience, if you don't give players an opportunity especially when you're younger players.
On format of the spring game…
That's sort of a decision we have to make. I don't know whether to draft them up or what. We got until this weekend to figure it out amongst ourselves. I might talk to our players about it a little bit, we'll see what we do. I think there's benefits to doing it every different way, we'll weight the benefits and figure it out. It'll be a scrimmage though, it's not going to be a tag you off, touch you deal.
On players that travelled to the Final Four…
I gave everybody an opportunity, whoever wanted to go got an opportunity to go. We had about 20 guys, could've taken more if we wanted to. We were well represented.
On how the coaching staff is settling into new roles…
Very, very well. I think what we've done is we've changed up some things and it shows quite a few things. It should also have some kind of relationship in place so guys know where to go, who's who and who's what. There's some familiarity with it as well.
On if there will be anything different offensively during the spring game…
Yeah, I think you're going to see some things. We're not going to just go out there and do what we've been doing all spring. I think we have to use this opportunity to play in front of people to create a little bit more pressure on the players to perform in front of the crowd. It's meaningful, it's a meaningful scrimmage.
On how some of the freshmen are acclimating…
They're going a great job academically and also on the field. Some guys are a little bit farther ahead than others, but they've all had an opportunity. Nick Samac's doing a nice job. I think he's the guy that really stands out. Anthony Williams who we talked about, Tre Mosley has made his presence. So there are some different guys who are stepping up.
On having one last practice after the spring game…
It's a chance to do some things that we haven't done maybe, or a chance to look at a football team that we're playing next year. As much as anything it's a chance to really evaluate what happened on Saturday and watch that film. So many times you have that game and you go off recruiting, you never really view it sometimes. There's importance placed on it, we're going to watch it and go over it with our players and that will give us an opportunity to do that.
On what's impressed him about Nick Samac…
He's very athletic, he's quick, he's a freshman. He really should be a second semester senior, but he's played pretty well.
Players Mentioned
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