Practice Notes 8/6

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson spoke with the media on Monday after the Jackets completed the fourth practice of Fall Camp. Johnson talked about transitioning to full pads on Tuesday and ramping up competition while still evaluating the true freshmen and overall depth.

"They gone well and guys have pushed through (practice). It has been a little warmer the last two days which has been gone and for the most part guys have pushed through and you can't complain about the effort," Johnson said.

Senior offensive lineman Andrew Marshall is one of the players thankful to be back on the field after he missed his senior year last year with a foot injury. Marshall is working at both right tackle and center and Johnson said his veteran lineman has some rust to knock off after not practicing in over a year.

"He is rusty," Johnson said. "It is going is going to take him a little time, but he is getting reps and the more reps he gets, the more it will come back to him."

Johnson admitted they may have rushed Marshall back too soon last season trying to get him ready in the middle of the year.

"It might have been too early getting him ready for Miami," Johnson said. "This time we took a good long time off so he was completely healthy."

For Marshall, the start of camp marks an anniversary of his foot injury in camp.

"It was about a year ago today, we were in camp and doing one-on-ones and it happened, just doing one-on-one and put my foot in the ground and it popped. It happened again in October and had the surgery then, since then it has been a long road, but a good road," Marshall said.

After the season, Marshall could've left to play elsewhere as a grad student, but he elected to come back for one more go-round.

"I thought it was 50/50 (Marshall) would come back to school. A lot of guys want to play that last year and he knows this is probably it for him football wise and he didn't want to go out that way and wanted to play," he said.

With Marshall back on the field, the Jackets have some flexibility moving guys around.

"He is playing tackle and center and we are moving guys around to find the best eight offensive linemen," Johnson said.

With Kenny Cooper sidelined, Marshall and Jahaziel Lee have split time with the first team offense at center.

"(Jahaziel) is doing great, I think he does well with it (playing center)," Johnson said.

Cooper's status remains a key question because he is so important to the offense. Coach Johnson said they still do not have an exact date set for when his starting center will be a full go.

"(Kenny) should be back, I don't have a magic wand. He is weight bearing and running so I think he will be back practicing by the first game," he said.

The Jackets strap on the full pads on Tuesday.

To read more of Monday's notes CLICK HERE