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Sorry for the late post today, I'll get right to it with the big news of the day. The Post-Gazette's Sam Werner reported that tentative starting running back Isaac Bennett participated, if only partially, in practice today:
"Running back Isaac Bennett ditched the brace he has been wearing for over a week now and took part in position drills with the running backs. He did not, however, participate in 11-on-11 drills, indicating that he's still not quite 100 percent back yet."
To say this is a huge relief would be an understatement. Yes, freshman back James Conner has been impressive in camp thus far; however it would be much more comforting to have Bennett available to play. After all, Bennett has game experience. It is not guaranteed that Bennett will be back for Florida State, however it is quite possible. Coach Paul Chryst did not have much to say on the subject:
“He’s moving alright. There’s a lot he’s got to keep doing, but it was good to get him back.”
Position battle wise the starting spot to snap the ball to Tom Savage still seems very much up in the air. Gabe Roberts and Artie Rowell have been rotating heavily at center, it is sounding like this is a battle that will go down to the wire. Coach Chryst referred to this as a "good competition." Personally, I'd prefer to see this settled soon, giving the offensive line time to gel. I'm not the coach though, not even close. Gabe Roberts had this to say about the competition:
“There hasn’t been a declared starter, but Artie [Rowell] and I keep rotating in. Artie was getting some one-reps and I get a little bit of one-reps, and we both get the twos, which is nice. It really puts pressure on both of us to do our best. I was kind of falling down a little bit, not doing as well, so we put Artie in with the ones and it kind of motivated me to get back up with the ones. Today we did speed offense and I was in with the ones the whole time, and the next group Artie was with the twos, so it just happens how it happens."
As far as injuries, aside from Bennett losing the knee brace, kicker Chris Blewitt sat out practice with a boot on his right foot. It sounds pretty minor, Coach Chryst stated pretty succinctly:
“He’s going to be fine.”
That's all for tonight, check back with us as camp winds down.