Aug. 14, 2004

Champaign, Ill. - The Illini football team held its first practice in full pads and its final practice on campus this morning at the Memorial Stadium East Practice Fields. Following practice, the Illini moved to Rantoul where practice will begin Sunday afternoon at the former Chanute Air Force Base. Below is a transcript of selected quotes from Head Coach Ron Turner and wide receiver Kendrick Jones following this morning's practice. Head Coach Ron Turner
On today's practice:
"There were some good things and some bad things. I like the way we handled some adversity that came at us. I thought that early, the defense was a little sharper than the offense. Offensively we were out of sync for a while, but I like the way the guys fought. They didn't put their heads down and they ended up making some plays before it was over. Obviously we have a lot of work to do to get sharp and get in sync because we're not there yet." On the first practice in full pads and whether or not the contact is full speed yet:
"It takes a while to get to full speed, just like anything. They haven't hit with pads on since April, so it takes a little while. We don't need any bone-jarring hits right now. We want them to play hard and be very, very physical, but we also want to protect them when they're out there." On the improvement of wide receiver Kendrick Jones:
"He's a little more mature. He's a lot more confident. He thinks he had confidence before, but it was false confidence. Now he's starting to develop confidence. He's a little bit stronger, so physically he's matured and mentally he's matured a little bit. He's always had tremendous ability. He would show signs of Brandon Lloyd-type of ability, but they were flashes that didn't come around very often. Now they're coming around just about every day." On the recruitment of freshman place kicker Jason Reda:
"The first thing I noticed about Jason, before I even saw his leg was his cockiness. He was a very, very confident kid, which is the way you need a kicker to be, and he had a tremendously strong leg. I went out and watched our kicking camp and I didn't have to ask (special teams) coach McMahon which one he was, and they weren't even kicking. I walked onto the field and pointed at him, asked if it was Reda and he said yeah. He didn't even have a Rock Island shirt on, but I could just tell by the way he carried himself, the way he stood, the confidence he showed and then I saw him kick one and I knew it was him." On the different mentality of kickers:
"Kickers have to be a little weird, which they all are, but I don't know him well enough yet to know if he's weird. They have to be a little cocky, which he is. I don't know if he's weird, but he is cocky." On Reda:
"He's got a great leg, but what we're stressing to him is make everything 40 (yards) and in. He's got a big enough leg where he can make it from farther than that, but right now we want someone who can make 100 percent inside of 40 yards." On making the decision of who will be Illinois' kicker:
"That will be made down the road." Wide Receiver Kendrick Jones
On camp so far:
"I'm feeling pretty good. Coming in I had a good feeling because I had a pretty good spring and a pretty good summer. I'm working hard now to try and make things easier for me later. I'm trying to put myself in the hardest possible position that I can so I can be ready to make plays in the games." On his expected contribution:
"I just pray for my health and hopefully everything falls into place. Personal numbers don't matter to me. As long as it contributes to the win; it's all good with me." On Kelvin Hayden moving from receiver to cornerback:
"Kelvin was a good receiver and a good athlete, we just needed a lot of help on the other side of the ball and he was athletic enough to move. When coach moved him, that tells us he knows there are people behind him who can make plays and fortunately, I'm one of those guys." On his relationship with quarterback Jon Beutjer:
"I felt like over the spring and summer, Jon and I built a close relationship as far as quarterback and receiver go. He felt like he could go to me and I just try to make him happy when the ball gets in the air."