University of North Carolina Athletics
Practice Notes - Monster Monday
August 10, 2009 | Football
Aug. 10, 2009
Today is the first day of a new format for practice notes during training camp. On 'Monster Monday,' we'll focus on the defensive side of the ball. Tomorrow, it's 'Trenches Tuesday,' with a look at the offensive line. We know you're as interested as we are, so these themes are a way for you to know what to expect every day of the week from TarHeelBlue.Com.
Deunta Williams was thrilled to be back at practice after missing the spring with a wrist injury. "It doesn't really feel like training camp - it just feels like I'm in-season right now, like we have a bye-week or something," Williams said. He is still wearing a protective soft cast/brace on the wrist, but he said he spent the summer catching balls without it and the brace is a precaution during contact drills.
The defense is known for having close-knit position groups, but it seems to be coming together as a unit. Leaders that were freshmen and sophomores not long ago are stepping up to replace the presence of guys like Mark Paschal and Trimane Goddard. "We've all been here three years, so we can relate to each other, what buttons to push if we need to fire it up," Williams said.
Williams said the veteran-laden defense is focusing less on the little things and more on one theme: domination. "We have the talent to go out there and dominate all the time. So potential, that's a word I'm getting sick of hearing, really," Williams said. "We need to capitalize on all that potential and go out there and dominate and play like we're supposed to play."
Cornerback Kendric Burney said that while the defensive backs and the defensive linemen might good-naturedly talk a little trash, there is quite a bit of mutual respect. "I've been watching Carolina football for awhile and the d-line reminds me of the year that (Julius) Peppers and all those guys were here," Burney said. "They've got the potential to be one of the best d-lines in the nation if they just get their minds to do it."
Burney also said that while the receivers are a raw group, they have challenged the secondary quite a bit already. They spent the summer going at each other in drills and, knowing the "young bucks" didn't see much physical play in high school, they did their best to prepare them.
Still, the DBs have faced the kinds of challenges that few other units in the country face in fall practice. Burney and Charles Brown are listed at 5-9 and 5-10, respectively, while the shortest wide receiver is 6-2 and the tallest is 6-5. "We had to pull out a couple tricks as far as just giving them a little push here and a little push there," Burney said, mimicking little pushes at waist-level that would go unseen by most officials.
"It comes down to fundamentals. You've just got to know exactly when to attack the ball. With a big receiver, you've just got to have the heart to know that you can guard any and every body, whether they're tall or short. With me, I can jump so that helps me out a little bit when it comes to a deep ball."
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly. Follow the THM staff on Twitter.
