Cody Stoots·
Stroud handled messy pockets well again.
There was less overall success than previous practices. The defense made it tough. Nico Collins had a day off, which made success even tougher to come by for the offense. Stroud found Jayden Higgins a few times as pressure closed in on him. Stroud hit Higgins for a nice gain to start the situational period. A few plays later, he stepped up to avoid pressure and again found Higgins. Stroud had a deep shot down the field fall incomplete when wide receiver Josh Kelly couldn’t reel in a pass through contact. Stroud gets rid of the ball quickly, and it seems like he’s consistently making the correct decision. Stroud’s team performed well in the situational team portion. It wasn’t the best, but they moved the ball. The offense was down by one, with one timeout, 90 seconds on the clock, and starting from about the 30. A Hunter sack forced the offense to burn their lone timeout, but completions to Higgins and Xavier Hutchinson moved the ball into the defense’s territory. Stroud spiked it after the official ruled Hutchinson didn’t make it out of bounds. Davis Mills fared far worse. He fired a pass to Henry To’oTo intended for rookie tight end Marlin Klein. To’oTo’o ran with Klein and ripped the pass out of the air for an interception. Mills was forced into a bad throw or a throwaway four times in five throws at one point. They did not get the first down to continue their drive, but the coaching staff reset the down and distance for them. Mills did have one excellent throw late in practice, firing a pass to Dalton Schultz for a nice gain.