Aug. 8, 2012

Coach McNeill and Player Post-Practice Interviews

GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina continued its preseason camp progress Wednesday by completing its first two-a-day schedule on Hight Field inside the Cliff Moore Practice Complex. The Pirates spent a little over two hours wearing full pads during the morning workout before returning to shells for the hour-and-a-half session in the afternoon.

ECU, which has two more double practice days remaining during camp, used the morning for measurable special teams work and continued its emphasis on head coach Ruffin McNeill's offensive and defensive packages during both outings.

"The two-a-day went well and we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish," McNeill said. "We wanted to make sure we had a heavy day this morning with the full pads, and with shells in the afternoon, we were able to expose the group to different looks from opponents we'll be facing, and I thought the guys did a good job grasping that."

McNeill was also able to get some valuable evaluation tape during a combined 50-minute team-on-team segment that included competition between his squad's No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 offenses and defenses in the day's initial practice.

The battle in the Pirates' secondary, which features only one returning starter in free safety Damon Magazu, remains competitive. After opening the afternoon workout with individual periods such as square-up, man-to-man drills and one-on-one coverage, ECU's cornerbacks and safeties played active roles in both skeleton and team segments.

"We had some group reaction and group interaction today in skelly and group periods," McNeill added. "Our offense is doing a good testing our DBs and they are doing the same thing to our offense, so there has been a great competitive spirit among those two groups. They are really pushing one another."

NOTES: RB Vintavious Cooper, a signee from Southwest Mississippi CC, arrived on campus late Tuesday and was present for both practices Wednesday ... After completing an NCAA-mandated acclimation period for two days, Cooper is expected to begin participating with ECU by Friday ... Redshirt freshman IWR Donte Sumpter (right foot) and junior DE Matt Milner (left foot) missed both practices Wednesday because of injury ... McNeill was hopeful of having both back Friday or in time for Saturday's scrimmage ... The Pirates return to the single-workout schedule Thursday and Friday in preparation for the program's first intra-squad scrimmage Saturday morning at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium ... Thursday's Practice Time: 8:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.; Season Opener: Sept. 1 vs. Appalachian State in Greenville (12 noon).