University of North Carolina Athletics
Monday Practice Notes
August 15, 2005 | Football
Aug. 15, 2005
By Adam Lucas
The Tar Heels will go full pads on Tuesday for the first time. With the Chapel Hill weather continuing its typical summer pattern--hot and humid--that's a day that isn't always greeted happily by some players. But for senior defensive end Tommy Davis, it's a day he's been eagerly awaiting. Davis had foot surgery in January and had to miss all of spring practice.
"Tomorrow is going to be a happy day for me," Davis said after Monday afternoon's practice. "I've been out for eight months so I'm ready to finally get back in the flow of things. I've knocked some rust off these first couple of days. Missing the spring game killed me inside so I'm ready to be fully back."
Davis is somewhat of a forgotten man among Tar Heel football fans, but good play from him will be essential if Carolina is to achieve John Bunting's goal of getting off the field on third downs. Davis was a force in the Tire Bowl last year (8 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack) and his 7.5 tackles for loss led the 2004 squad...
Xavier Rainey will not report with the rest of the squad after training camp. "He's been declared a medical hardship," John Bunting said. "He had a severely broken leg last spring. He's somebody we will stay in touch with and try to help as much as we possibly can. He'll get his degree."...Joe Kedra's status is still uncertain. "He is somebody who also is a possibility (for a medical hardship). I'll talk to him in the next couple days," Bunting said...Jacoby Watkins sat out again and Khalif Mitchell was limited. "Jacoby has a viral thing, we believe, and usually those go away," Bunting said. "He's suffering right now not being able to practice." David Wooldridge was at practice in street clothes as he continues to bounce back from an illness...
We never realized how much some fans love uniform updates. After our note on the stripe that's been added to the pants we got several emails about the 2005 uniform. For the record, the stripe that's been added is Carolina blue, the Tar Heels will wear black shoes this y ear, the size of the name on the backs of the jerseys is unchanged, and the color of the helmets is unchanged. This fashion report is brought to you by assistant equipment manager Jason Freeman...Monday saw many Tar Heel alums attend practice. Jason Stanicek, Russell Babb, Don McCauley, Ted Elkins, Moyer Smith, David Bomar, and Doug Leonard all stopped by to watch the Tar Heels. Stanicek will be profiled in the October issue of Tar Heel Monthly...Freshmen are required to take some grief from the seniors. So it was no surprise that during a break on Monday, Doug Justice was still in disbelief over the source of quarterback Cameron Sexton's ankle injury (he broke his ankle near the Kenan Stadium hedges): "Let me get this straight," Justice said. "You ran into the hedges? How slow are you?"...
A loyal reader asked the source of the term "Mayday," which he noticed in Joe Bray's excellent practice photos that run on this site. That's the word the Tar Heels use when they want to simulate an end-of-game situation in which the team has to run on the field and quickly attempt a field goal with no timeouts remaining...Nick Starcevic showed a willingness to hunt for contact during a passing drill, lowering his head and taking on a Carolina linebacker...
Jesse Holley has only been back in camp for two days and he's already got a television crew following him around. A crew from CSTV was in town on Monday following the loquacious junior for a feature that will air this fall...Bunting was very pleased with Monday's practice, calling it a "great practice" on the practice field and again during his post-practice interview with reporters. He singled out one of the receivers for some praise. "We saw Brooks Foster come out of his shell today," the head coach said.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
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