Tuesday Quick Hits: Notes From the First Day of Practice

• MGoBlue has posted an article detailing some of the notable things from Michigan's first day of practice. Also included in the article is a link to audio from Rich Rodriguez and a few players discussing yesterday's practice.
  
• Freshman quarterback Justin Feagin switched his number twice before settling on wearing the #3 jersey. Feagin was originally #5, but switched to #14 and then made the move to #3.
• With the #5 jersey opening back up, tight end Carson Butler decided to switch his number from 85 to 5.
• Despite being suspended indefinitely, Kevin Grady practiced with the team. Rich Rodriguez stated in his press conference that Grady is still suspended from playing in actual games, but is being allowed to practice.
  
• Carlos Brown finally returned to practice after suffering a finger injury, and in his return he took some snaps at quarterback. Although Brown is a running back, he lined up at QB in high school. Brown is someone that could come in at QB a few times a game to mix things up a bit as he has great speed and can throw the ball as well.
• Michigan won't practice in pads until Friday and won't get into a two-a-days format until Saturday.
  
• Ever since signing day came and went, much has been made about what ever happened to long snapper George Morales. Morales accepted a scholarship offer from Lloyd Carr just days before he retired, and the new coaching staff was expected to honor that. However, there was never any confirmation that Morales signed his letter of intent and up until yesterday nobody really knew whether or not he was coming to Michigan.
  
  As it turns out, Morales is in fact at Michigan and according to Rich Rodriguez he is on scholarship and is the backup long snapper. I have no idea why it took until now for Morales to show up on the official roster, but I'm glad he did as the mystery of what happened to him is solved.
• Utah is expecting Michigan to run a spread offense that is similar to theirs. Also, Utah may want to work on its conditioning as there was lots of puking going on during their first day of practice.
  

  And behind me there's a lot of puking, which is a little disconcerting considering the practice seemed relatively easy. There was no hitting. It was basic drills and the ones and threes didn't even do conditioning after the practice. I'm told defensive back Lamar Champman, a junior college transfer, was given chocolate milk after practice and it didn't agree with him. I'm not versed in college football nutrition, but chocolate milk after a practice in the heat? Some of the players tell me it's a proven recovery drink, but that seems like a recipe for disaster. All I know is it was the longest puking series I ever heard. Sorry for being so graphic, but it's Division I football.

  It's interesting to read that Utah is giving its players chocolate milk as Mike Barwis does the same thing after sessions in the weight room. I have no idea if Michigan's players get chocolate milk after practice as well, but it does seem to work if you can keep it down.
• ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg did a great job of covering practice yesterday as he had loads of info about Michigan. Specifically, he interviewed offensive coordinator Calvin Magee and defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, and posted some observations from his day in Ann Arbor. One of those observations included a look at how Michigan's players have been progressing in the weight room, and the numbers were very interesting.
  

  Walking through Michigan's weight room on the way out, I stopped to check out the team-high totals for several categories. Johnson tops the bench-press chart at 500 pounds, Taylor squatted a team-best 625 pounds and cornerback Morgan Trent ran a 4.13 in the 40-yard dash.

  I have to assume that Morgan Trent's time in the 40-yard dash is a misprint. Either that or it was a time for some other drill (shuttle?), but there is no way that Trent could have run a 4.13.
• To simulate crowd noise, external relations/administrative assistant Dusty Rutledge acted as the DJ and played Motown music.
• The Free Press and Detroit News both have photo galleries up from yesterday's practice. I have to say, the new road jerseys actually don't look that bad in action. I still need to see them on padded players before forming a final opinion on them, but I'm coming around to them.
• Via MVictors, a video from WDIV (Channel 4 in Detroit) has been uploaded to YouTube that features interviews with Bill Martin, Red Berenson, and Lloyd Carr regarding them being diagnosed with melanoma. It sounds as though all three were diagnosed early on, which is great news. You can watch the full video below.
• My first ever set of Michigan football season tickets arrived in the mail yesterday. All season ticket holders should be getting theirs soon if they haven't already as my dad's tickets came last week.
  
• Michigan will face off against Texas in the quarterfinals of ESPN's Helmet Clash on Wednesday.
  
  UPDATE: A reader has pointed out that voting is already going on despite the date being listed as August 6. Michigan is down right now, so cast a vote for the Wolverines.
  
• Jake Long is already starting for the Miami Dolphins at left tackle.
• Michigan hosted a hockey alumni weekend, and Kevin Porter enjoyed it. He, Chad Kolarik, and Matt Hunwick have actually been in Ann Arbor this summer training with, you guessed it, Mike Barwis.
  
• If you were to look up the term "douche bag" (in name-calling context) in the dictionary, I'm pretty sure you would find these pictures of Jimmy Clausen.