This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There aren't a lot of light moments around BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall. That's just not his way, especially when dealing with the media. But Mendenhall has been noticeably more at ease this spring in talking to reporters, joking around just a little bit and exchanging some friendly banter before getting down to the business of answering questions about practices and his squad. For instance, on Monday the coach joked that he really enjoyed the previous week because a good portion of the reporters who cover the Cougars — like me — were away from spring practices to cover the BYU basketball team's run in the NCAA Tournament. At least, I think he was joking. "There was a reason I was rooting for them. That would mean you guys would still be covering them, which is good for everybody. ... It is good for you, it is good for the basketball team, it is good for me. It is a win-win," he said with a smile. After practice on Tuesday, Mendenhall resorted to a little bit of gallows humor when asked for a response to yet another injury, having watched projected starting cornerback Jordan Johnson limp off the field after tweaking his knee. "Crap, would be what I would say, for lack of a better word," Mendenhall said. A few more odds and ends from Tuesday's practice: * Defensive back Joe Sampson was held out of practice so he could catch up on some schoolwork. "Probably more day-to-day with Joe," Mendenhall said. "We get grade reports and updates each Monday. And if we don't like the way those look, there needs to be something done, and that is usually Tuesday, which is today." * O'Neill Chambers is now working at field corner and nickel back and is doing quite well, but Mendenhall continues to keep expectations low. "We will probably cross-train him when he gets to the point where he can handle field corner. But again, his status is he worked his way through winter to get to spring practice. He still needs to finish spring to then get to summer. Then he needs to finish summer to get to fall camp. And he needs to finish fall camp to get to Week 1. He needs to finish Week 1 to get to Week 2. So this is a work in progress. And that's the way it ought to be presented," Mendenhall said. * Although it has been hard for them to do much in Team (scrimmages) because the offensive line is so porous, BYU's running backs have looked faster and more capable than during any spring in recent memory. "Well, we've got some good players," Mendenhall said. "Mike Alisa, I really like the way he looks. I think Juice [Quezada] has had a better spring than he did fall last year. I think Paul Lasike has shown he is capable. David Foote isn't currently practicing. I like him as well. Then you get to Adam Hine, and then the freshmen coming in. So there will be enough." * Mendenhall said his level of concern that the rash of spring injuries will affect the team's readiness this fall is low. He put it at 2.75 on a scale of 1-10. "Spring practice is hard to manage, but we get them all back healthy in the fall. We have a good team, so we get three tight ends back. We get eight offensive linemen back. We will be adding seven defensive linemen. We will be adding a healthy Iona Pritchard. We will have Ross Apo back by then. We will have our offense back, which will be hard to stop," he said. ————————— Our story in today's Tribune about BYU's backup quarterback situation has proven to be quite popular. I asked starting quarterback Riley Nelson the other day for a quick scouting report on the guys behind him on the depth chart: James Lark, Taysom Hill and Ammon Olsen. "Ammon Olsen has a real good feel. His drive in 7 on 7 [on Monday] was against the ones, got a lot of first downs, moved the ball, and had completion after completion. I was real impressed by that. Taysom has done really well, too. He had a good Friday, and was good all last week. James is just a solid rock, moving the ball up and down the field. He had a great Team drive today. Then, [Alex] Kuresa was back with us. That was nice. He didn't get any reps yet. Hopefully he can have an opportunity to play and have fun, because he is a good playmaker as well." ———————- The go-to guy at BYU spring practice is now head athletic trainer Kevin Morris, who has the skinny on the injury situation. "Like I said at beginning of year: the NCAA shows twice as many injuries in spring ball than during fall football season. So, I don't know why. Is it the intensity? Is it because we don't have a game to play? We are trying to find the facts," Morris said after Tuesday's practice when he was asked why there are so many injuries in spring ball. Here's an update on guys who were injured Tuesday or missed the session due to injury: Cornerback Jordan Johnson: Tweaked his knee during drills on Tuesday. On-field evaluation determined the ACL was good, pending a more thorough examination in the training room. Fullback Zed Mendenhall: Aggravated a high ankle sprain last week, is day to day. OL Walter Kahailii: Ankle sprain last week still bothering him.DL Marques Johnson: Rehabbing a sore shoulder. Safety Jray Galea'i: Has had some lower back issues. Linebacker Spencer Hadley: Still sick; stomach flu going around. OL Famika Anae: Calf strain has slowed his work in practice. ———————- The Cougars won't practice today (Wednesday), but will resume workouts on Thursday in Provo. They will take Friday off, then have the scrimmage at noon on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The event at LES is open to the public, although Mendenhall has said it will be more like a short scrimmage than a traditional spring game. He said it will be over by 1 p.m. Next week, the Cougars will wrap up spring camp with practices on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Pro Day will take place on Thursday (March 29). Friday's final practice will be part of Alumni Day. Speaking of Pro Day and Alumni Day, former BYU offensive center Terence Brown has been attending practices. Brown says he has lost about 30 pounds as he has prepared for Pro Day, going from his playing weight of around 335 pounds to 305.