At least two questions have been answered about the 2012 Sooners through the first two practices. It had been widely speculated that junior defensive back Aaron Colvin would return to the corner back position, where he shined as a freshman in 2010, and Mike Stoops confirmed the change on Saturday.
Stoops went on to say that the secondary has become more athletic over the summer and is seeking redemption in 2012, even going as far as to say that he'd be surprised if the defensive backs did come back with a vengeance. That would explain why the secondary has decided to ditch the "sharks" moniker they gave themselves last summer. By all appearances this has become very personal for OU's secondary and they want to totally remove themselves from last year's unit.
Earlier in the week Jaz Reynolds, Trey Franks and Quentin Hayes were reinstated to practice only. The trio was not allowed to participate in Saturday's fan appreciation day and will have to earn their way back onto the playing field. While there's no indication as to a time frame for these guys to get back into the game, Bob Stoops said on Saturday that they have a long way to go.
Stoops had also mentioned earlier in the week that he would reevaluate Kameel Jackson's status (fourth player suspended in the spring) after summer classes had wrapped up at the end of the week. Classes are done and Jackson has officially been dismissed from the team, which pretty much tells us all that we need to know about that situation.
When asked about the impact newcomers would have in the return game, Bob Stoops specifically mentioned freshman Sterling Shepard. Quarterback Landry Jones then went on to sing Shepard's praises when he took the podium and then Josh Heupel continued the freshman love-fest by saying that Shepard gets off the line of scrimmage as well as any freshmen he's ever coached. Gabe Ikard then went on to compare him to Ryan Broyles. Shepard has been running with the first team in practice.
Another interesting note is that the Oklahoman's Stephanie Kuzydym reports that junior running back Roy Finch was participating on the practice field despite the reports that he had suffered a sprained ankle days before in a pick up basketball game.
Finally, running back Danzel Williams (who scored the game winning touchdown in the Red/White game) has been moved to safety.
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