March 26, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team went through its fifth practice of spring drills, and third in full pads, here Wednesday.

Unlike the first two workouts in pads that left head coach Neil Callaway generally pleased with his team's efforts, he wasn't too happy with Wednesday's performance. In fact, he thought his squad took a bit of a step backward.

"I was disappointed in today," said Callaway. "I thought the first two days in pads were really pretty good, but today, I thought we really got off to a sluggish start. We picked it up a little bit as we went along, but we have to come out here ready to go everyday.

"I think we lost a little focus today," Callaway said. "The first two days were good, we bragged on them, but it wasn't the same today."

Callaway said the biggest differences from the first two practices in full pads were effort and intensity. "I thought the effort, intensity and competition were great the first two days," he said. "We had good attitude, the work ethic was there. Today, we looked at times like we were just going through the motions."

Callaway said there hasn't much movement in the depth chart at this point. "We're experimenting with different guys in different places," he said. "I think after Saturday, we'll kind of re-evaluate and see where we're at. We're playing some guys, particularly in the offensive line, in a couple different spots. We want to get the best five on the field."

The Blazers will practice again Friday before holding their first spring scrimmage Saturday.