Clemson Football Practice Brief for Wednesday

Aug. 13, 2003

Clemson, SC – Clemson held its second two-a-day practice of the preseason on Wednesday on the practice fields behind the Jervey Athletic Center. The Tigers practiced for a total of five hours between the two practices combined, working in full pads in the morning and shorts and shoulder pads in the early evening.

The Tigers will practice once in the morning on Thursday, then twice on Friday before holding a full scrimmage on Saturday afternoon.

“We had a good day of practice,” said Bowden. “The offense showed improvement over the last few days. We had some good performances from the receivers and the quarterbacks, especially in the morning. We did a lot of short yardage and red-zone work and the offense did a good job. We saw some receivers make some plays today.”

Bowden noted that there is still strong competition for first-team assignments at a number of positions. “The running backs have been battling. Reggie Merriweather broke a 70 yard run on short yardage today, and Duane Coleman has been doing well. Chad Jasmin is probably our most effective back in goal line and short yardage. Yusef Kelly has been injured (pulled groin since early in camp) and has not had the work the others have had. On the offensive line Nathan Bennett and Chip Myrick have been battling, that is just about a 50-50 situation. Airese Currie and Derrick Hamilton have been very close in our two wide-receiver lineup.”

Bowden continued to praise Tramaine Billie when he was asked about the progress of the first-year freshmen. “Billie had another big hit today. He seems to do that every day. We will have to make some decisions about the freshmen shortly. Brandon Pilgrim (Lilburn, GA) have been getting a lot of work on the second team offensive line.”

Two players were in yellow jerseys and did not practice in full gear on Wednesday. Donnell Clark suffered a bruised hip in the Tuesday scrimmage, while Ben Hall missed time with a bruised knee. Both injuries are not serious.

At the conclusion of practice, Clemson Associate Athletic Director Phil Grayson announced that the Medical Absence Waiver filed on behalf of Roscoe Crosby with the ACC on Monday had been approved by he conference office on Wednesday. “This means Roscoe Crosby will be able to continue his career as a student-athlete at Clemson University this year and will be able to participate during the 2003 football season,” said Grayson, who is in his first year with the athletic department.

Crosby was informed of this decision today. It is not known when he will report for practice. Bowden said he would make a comment on Thursday after he had spoken with Crosby.

Crosby, who will be a red-shirt sophomore in 2003, had 27 catches for 465 yards and four touchdowns in 2001. He started four games, including wins over Duke and Louisiana Tech at the end of the season when he had a combined 10 catches for 208 yards and three touchdowns. He did not play last season.