Jayden Reed and the Spartans wrapped up spring practice on Saturday.
Spartans Finish Spring Practice
4/16/2022 6:36:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State football team wrapped up spring practice on Saturday afternoon with an open practice and scrimmage held at Spartan Stadium. It marked the 15th and final practice of the spring.
The event, which was televised live on the Big Ten Network, began with nine periods of drills and individual position work, and concluded with six periods of live scrimmage situations.
"I just want to thank everyone for coming out – the fans were great today," said third-year MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "It was good to get back in the Woodshed. It was the first time some of our guys got a chance to actually get in the stadium because we haven't been in there the entire spring, so it was really good.
"We got a lot of good work in today. Practice 15 – it's what we expect from our guys, they worked hard to get better today. It was a good effort from the guys that were out there."
Michigan State is looking to keep the momentum from last season's 11-2 record and Top-10 finish in the national polls.
"I like the way they work," said Tucker on how his team handled spring practice. "The guys that have been available have gotten better. Every guy that has practiced has improved. We didn't have our full unit out there today. We have some more guys joining us in May. Just the way they work in the weight room and they work with what the nutrition staff has for them, and how we are holding each other accountable.
"We are coming together as a team. We have really good energy and a really good connection, and it's only going to grow throughout the summer. I anticipate we will have a very good summer program where our guys will be in great shape going into fall camp. It will be very competitive, we will be healthy. And we will have a strong team."
The Spartans will open the 2022 season against Western Michigan on Friday, Sept. 2 in East Lansing.
WR Jayden Reed and QB Payton Thorne Quotes
On Darius Snow…
Thorne: "I'm not really looking where a certain guy is (lined up on the field). I'll see him out there when he's in a different spot. Obviously, like you guys heard him talking about, he's playing a lot of different positions. He's a guy who has the ability to play a lot of positions. It's a good guy to have on our defense, but in terms of looking for him, not really. I'm looking at the player on the team. Some guys will play differently than others but he's not a guy who has been tagged as a guy who plays completely different as some, like he doesn't have tendencies.
"I think as the season progresses he's a guy that can cause problems for offenses. He's a good player, like you heard. He hits hard. He's very capable on his pass rush. Like Xavier (Henderson) said, he's very disciplined with what he does. I can see that down the road."
On the back-up quarterback position…
Thorne: "I thought Noah Kim had a really solid spring. It was fun playing with him and talking with him on certain things. He was very crisp the whole spring, he didn't really have an off day. Hamp (Fay) did a good job, he's coming along. He's doing things that coach wants to see. Then Katin (Houser) is good to see. He's a good dude, he's fun to have around. Obviously he has a lot to learn in terms of the offense because he just got here, but he's picked up on it well. He's doing a good job, he knows what he's looking at for the most part on a lot of stuff. He's a quick learner and he's a very talented passer. It's a lot of fun playing with those guys."
On improvements during spring practice…
Reed: "Yeah, there's a reason I came back. I feel like I had to develop on a lot of things, getting in the routes, tempo changes and routes, things like that. Little discipline things. Definitely secondary, I'm really looking forward to seeing Ameer Speed go against competition. Really excited for that. He's impressed a lot of guys this spring, he's impressed me. I'm really excited to see him in action, I think he's going to create problems for the opposition."
On playing on a windy day, and how they can help prepare the team for playing in the different elements…
Reed: "Yeah, I think that's just what comes with football. Snow games, rain games, windy games, sunny games. We experienced that throughout the whole season last year. Miami, played in the super scorching game. Penn State, played in the snow game, which I'd never done. You've just got to be prepared for whatever. That's definitely something that can help prepare us coming up for the season."
Thorne: "Like Jayden just said, we played in every condition you could imagine last year. It was fun playing those games. I felt like we were weatherproof last year. Today, was a little different. Usually when you play those games, it's getting colder and you're getting used to it. Whereas the spring, we've been practicing inside all spring. Then boom all of a sudden its freezing. Today was a little different than what it would normally be like, but you practice a snow game if it's not snowing. So I guess that's kind of similar."
On playing against a guy like Ameer Speed, and how that improved your game during the spring…
Reed: "You typically don't see a corner that's that tall and long. That's definitely the one thing that can help me."
The event, which was televised live on the Big Ten Network, began with nine periods of drills and individual position work, and concluded with six periods of live scrimmage situations.
"I just want to thank everyone for coming out – the fans were great today," said third-year MSU head coach Mel Tucker. "It was good to get back in the Woodshed. It was the first time some of our guys got a chance to actually get in the stadium because we haven't been in there the entire spring, so it was really good.
"We got a lot of good work in today. Practice 15 – it's what we expect from our guys, they worked hard to get better today. It was a good effort from the guys that were out there."
Michigan State is looking to keep the momentum from last season's 11-2 record and Top-10 finish in the national polls.
"I like the way they work," said Tucker on how his team handled spring practice. "The guys that have been available have gotten better. Every guy that has practiced has improved. We didn't have our full unit out there today. We have some more guys joining us in May. Just the way they work in the weight room and they work with what the nutrition staff has for them, and how we are holding each other accountable.
"We are coming together as a team. We have really good energy and a really good connection, and it's only going to grow throughout the summer. I anticipate we will have a very good summer program where our guys will be in great shape going into fall camp. It will be very competitive, we will be healthy. And we will have a strong team."
The Spartans will open the 2022 season against Western Michigan on Friday, Sept. 2 in East Lansing.
WR Jayden Reed and QB Payton Thorne Quotes
On Darius Snow…
Thorne: "I'm not really looking where a certain guy is (lined up on the field). I'll see him out there when he's in a different spot. Obviously, like you guys heard him talking about, he's playing a lot of different positions. He's a guy who has the ability to play a lot of positions. It's a good guy to have on our defense, but in terms of looking for him, not really. I'm looking at the player on the team. Some guys will play differently than others but he's not a guy who has been tagged as a guy who plays completely different as some, like he doesn't have tendencies.
"I think as the season progresses he's a guy that can cause problems for offenses. He's a good player, like you heard. He hits hard. He's very capable on his pass rush. Like Xavier (Henderson) said, he's very disciplined with what he does. I can see that down the road."
On the back-up quarterback position…
Thorne: "I thought Noah Kim had a really solid spring. It was fun playing with him and talking with him on certain things. He was very crisp the whole spring, he didn't really have an off day. Hamp (Fay) did a good job, he's coming along. He's doing things that coach wants to see. Then Katin (Houser) is good to see. He's a good dude, he's fun to have around. Obviously he has a lot to learn in terms of the offense because he just got here, but he's picked up on it well. He's doing a good job, he knows what he's looking at for the most part on a lot of stuff. He's a quick learner and he's a very talented passer. It's a lot of fun playing with those guys."
On improvements during spring practice…
Reed: "Yeah, there's a reason I came back. I feel like I had to develop on a lot of things, getting in the routes, tempo changes and routes, things like that. Little discipline things. Definitely secondary, I'm really looking forward to seeing Ameer Speed go against competition. Really excited for that. He's impressed a lot of guys this spring, he's impressed me. I'm really excited to see him in action, I think he's going to create problems for the opposition."
On playing on a windy day, and how they can help prepare the team for playing in the different elements…
Reed: "Yeah, I think that's just what comes with football. Snow games, rain games, windy games, sunny games. We experienced that throughout the whole season last year. Miami, played in the super scorching game. Penn State, played in the snow game, which I'd never done. You've just got to be prepared for whatever. That's definitely something that can help prepare us coming up for the season."
Thorne: "Like Jayden just said, we played in every condition you could imagine last year. It was fun playing those games. I felt like we were weatherproof last year. Today, was a little different. Usually when you play those games, it's getting colder and you're getting used to it. Whereas the spring, we've been practicing inside all spring. Then boom all of a sudden its freezing. Today was a little different than what it would normally be like, but you practice a snow game if it's not snowing. So I guess that's kind of similar."
On playing against a guy like Ameer Speed, and how that improved your game during the spring…
Reed: "You typically don't see a corner that's that tall and long. That's definitely the one thing that can help me."
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