Once again Syracuse’s quarterbacks warmed up their arms at the start of practice. And once again, John Kinder was not one of those quarterbacks.

He wore a green No. 14 jersey again at practice on Wednesday, working as a wide receiver for the second day in a row. During a casual toss, Kinder caught passes from freshman quarterback Mitch Kimble and handed the ball to freshman quarterback Austin Wilson instead of throwing it back himself.

Scott Shafer is expected to speak about Kinder’s reason for the switch, and other matters, at a press conference at 6:40 p.m., following the conclusion of Syracuse’s first day practicing with shoulder pads.

Hunt works with first team again

Terrel Hunt worked with the first-team offense and Drew Allen commanded the second. Hunt took snaps from first-team center Macky MacPherson.

In a light drill, he completed three passes to Ashton Broyld and also hit Prince-Tyson Gulley and Jerome Smith.

Hunt and Allen both looked very comfortable. Midway through practice, backup center Jason Emerich approached Allen looking for a high five. Allen finished dancing and then high-fived Emerich. Both quarterbacks have completed the vast majority of passes they’ve thrown through three days and seem jovial yet focused.

Perles digs into offensive linemen

Offensive line coach Pat Perles had his players do a drill where they were cramped under an extended bar. They exploded through the bar, hitting an orange mat and plowing into their teammates.

Early on in the drill, Perles was visibly upset with three players – offensive linemen Jesse Wolf-Gould, John Miller and Jon Burton. He scolded all three players for their laziness.

“They want rookies to be in there before them,” Perles yelled to another coach. “Give ‘em 10 down-ups.”

Two minutes later, he reprimanded Burton and Miller once more and made them do 10 more down-ups.

“I just told them to grab the bags and they didn’t grab the bags,” Perles said.

Published on August 7, 2013 at 6:29 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass