TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With only six days until the 2016 season opener against Ole Miss, fourth-ranked Florida State began game-week preparations Tuesday at the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility. Monday’s Labor Day game against the 11th-ranked Rebels will be the Seminoles first chance to display the hard work of the spring and the past three weeks of fall camp.
“Good work day,” head coach Jimbo Fisher told the media after practice. “Liked the tempo of today’s practice. I thought the young guys played well, mixing guys around. Defensively, it looked like they flew around, had a good day. Kickers kicked the ball pretty well – so, a pretty good day.”
The Seminoles will open the season against Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, one of three signal-callers the Florida State defense will face in 2016 that is ranked among the NFL’s ‘Top Quarterbacks to Watch’. Among the defenders that are positioned to face a daunting attack is redshirt junior linebacker Matthew Thomas. The Miami, Fla., native has stood out all fall and has shown the skills that made him one of the nation’s prized recruits in 2013.
“He’s flashed at me,” Fisher said of Thomas. “I mean when he takes off, man he can move. What I like, he’s triggering downhill, reading, making good, disciplined reads inside. When we’re playing and all of a sudden he’ll go make that play that others don’t. [He can] run guys down in space and track them. Really good cover skills, athletic – I mean, he’s just playing good football right now.”
Fisher also mentioned that sophomore center Alec Eberle should be back on Wednesday or Thursday after dealing with migraine-related issues.
