HARRISONBURG – Cornerback Leavander Jones caught back-to-back passes during the 11-on-11 portion of Tuesday morning’s practice. Normally a defensive player getting his hands on two straight passes would be cause for concern for the offense.
In this case, that was the desired result.
With Andre Coble (broken hand) and Quintin Hunter (Achilles) sitting out with major injuries, Rennard Robinson missing Tuesday’s workout with a sore hamstring and Dae’Quan Scott moved to running back, the James Madison football team was feeling a bit thin and unproductive at wide receiver.
So Jones – who had been recruited by Syracuse as a wide receiver out of Atlantic City, N.J. – spent part of Tuesday’s workout running routes for the Dukes.
“I guess it’s just an experiment at the moment,” Jones said. “We’ll see how it goes from here.”
JMU coach Mickey Matthews said – no matter how well Jones plays at wide out – he will remain the team’s starting cornerback. Matthews is just hoping Jones can give the offense a little spark, similar to the lift Champ Bailey gave the Georgia teams Matthews was an assistant for.
“He would play about 30 plays a game on offense,” Matthews said of Bailey, who went on to an NFL career. “He would really help us. He’d give us a shot in the arm at times. We’re nor going to teach Leavander the entire offense. But he’s a very skilled person and we wanted to look at him in camp and see what he does at receiver.”
Tuesday, Jones opened eyes with one catch in particular. He ran a deep out to the sideline and made a diving catch, getting shoved into a water cooler at the end of the play.
“I caught it,” Jones said. “He pushed me into the water cooler but I caught it. It popped out when I hit the ground but it was a catch.”
Quarterback Justin Thorpe, the team’s newly anointed starter, was impressed with what he saw from Jones.
“Leavander looked pretty good,” Thorpe said. “When you go from back peddling every day for two years, it’s kind of difficult to transition to receiver. He looked pretty smooth.”
“When the DBs want me to warm up with them I tell them I don’t practice throwing picks. It’s not quite the same.”
For his part, Jones said he’s comfortable playing either – or both – positions.
“It felt good,” Jones said. “I’m out here trying to help my team to that ultimate goal and that’s a national championship. Anything I can do to help my team I’ll do.”
The he smiled and added, “It’s been a while though.”
Still, Matthews said – for now – the idea of Jones playing wide receiver is just in its infancy.
“I’ve been very unhappy with the way we’ve been playing at receiver,” Matthews said. “I’m not sure it’s a permanent thing. It’s totally experimental. We’ll just see how he does.”
Catch of the day: Wide receiver Arlandis Harvey made a jumping over-the-shoulder catch at the sideline in front of safety Isaiah Wright.
Hit of the day: Running back Jauan Latney flattened defensive end Tyler Snow on a running play to the right side near the end of Tuesday’s workout.
Quote of the day: “That’s why camp hasn’t been camp. There haven’t been any fights. Everybody’s too nice to each other,” said senior defensive end D.J. Bryant.
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