CanesCamp Notebook (August 14)

The Canes were back on the practice field after their Wednesday scrimmage. We learned last night that Rayshawn Jenkins will miss the entire season due to injury. Here are some updates from the practice on Thursday morning.

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Courtesy of the University of Miami

"CORAL GABLES, Fla. – One day after their first scrimmage of #CanesCamp, the Miami Hurricanes maintained a high level of intensity and competition on the Greentree Practice Fields Thursday morning.There were noteworthy plays on both sides of the ball as the Canes continued preparation for their 2014 season opener against Louisville on Sept. 1.“We showed some good signs and some bad signs,” running back Duke Johnson said about the scrimmage. “We came out today trying to clean things up, and we’ll be back out here later today to get the things that we didn’t finish this morning.”In the 7-on-7 period, redshirt freshman Kevin Olsen threaded a pair of passes to freshman Braxton Berrios for first downs.Senior Ryan Williams also turned heads in 7-on-7s, hitting freshman David Njoku twice for big gains. The first completion was the biggest, putting up six points on a 55-yard touchdown, but the second completion may have been more impressive as Williams put the ball between Njoku and the sideline on a perfectly thrown corner route.Once the Canes moved into 11-on-11s, the defense made a significant impact. Linebacker Jermaine Grace jumped an underneath route to intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown. Tyriq McCord, who recovered a fumble in Wednesday’s scrimmage, was putting lots of pressure on the quarterbacks and Olsen Pierre batted a pass at the line of scrimmage to get the defense off the field.“That’s one thing that Coach D’Onofrio preaches to the defensive line, and even with linebackers – whoever is blitzing, make sure you get your hands up,” linebacker Denzel Perryman said.Offensively, senior Jake Heaps had a connection with the running backs early in the 11-on-11 period. Heaps had 15-yard plays to Gus Edwards, Trayone Gray and De’Andre Johnson, but he also found receivers Herb Waters and Braxton Berrios for plays of over 20 yards.The transfer quarterback’s most impressive throw may have been a perfectly threaded pass up the seam to tight end Beau Sandland for a 20-yard gain.“I feel like I did a good job of running the operation and completing passes, but the biggest thing is continuing to get better,” Heaps said about the scrimmage. “At this point, after yesterday and today’s practice this morning, I’m feeling good about where I’m at and the progress that I’ve made. Over the next few days, this is really going to be a big push. We need to get better as a team. This is the last little bit that we have to get better and hone in on our own technique before we start getting ready for Louisville.”Freshman Brad Kaaya also shined during 11-on-11s, hitting senior Phillip Dorsett for a first down and showing poise under pressure when he delivered a pass to Stacy Coley for a 15-yard gain despite having McCord half a step away from him at the time of his release.“The first two weeks, what I see from Brad is his maturity,” Duke Johnson said. “You wouldn’t think that Brad is a freshman quarterback, the way he talks, the way he handles the offense, the way he handles the plays, checks. He’s able to read defenses. He doesn’t do it as well as an older guy like Jake [Heaps], but he does it exceptionally well for a freshman.”The Canes will return to Greentree this afternoon, with practice scheduled to begin at 3:20 p.m. For the latest information on Miami Hurricanes Football, follow @MiamiHurricanes on Twitter and the official blog for Hurricanes Football,www.theufootball.com."