Florida State football practice report: NC State week

THURSDAY UPDATE:

Mario Edwards and Mario Pender are ruled out for Saturday's game. Markus Eligwe is also on the list today, but Fisher liked how Eligwe has practiced the last few days and wants to see how he feels after a couple hard days of practice. Seemed pretty confident in Eligwe's progress. Justin Shanks has a green light.

The Florida State Seminoles took to the practice fields once again Thursday afternoon as they wrapped up preparation for Saturday's game against NC State. With the Wolfpack being the team that dished out FSU's last ACC and away loss, Jimbo Fisher and his staff want to make sure their team is prepared for the atmosphere, so they brought speakers out to blast crowd noise all week.

#FSU getting ready to blast more crowd noise today. pic.twitter.com/z3a13DuA7F

— Dustin Tackett (@dtackett_) September 25, 2014

Mario Edwards Jr., Mario Pender and Justin Shanks were not dressed out for practice, with Edwards spending most of his time on the stationary bike.

While we've seen some movement on the offensive line at times this week, Thursday showcased the starting five that we have seen all year long, but with a little twist. With everybody in their rightful position during position drills, including Austin Barron at center and Cam Erving at left tackle, they added a sixth member to the line - Chad Mavety, on the right shoulder of the right tackle.. So, in my mind, this can be one of two things. One, it could be their way of representing the tight end during a heavy set (which I've never seen them do) or, two, it could be their way of getting Chad Mavety reps during a week in which they expect him to play.

It's still yet to be seen whether or not Markus Eligwe will see the field this weekend, but he continues to look more and more comfortable as the days go on.

Jimbo Fisher will speak to the media following practice and will announce the injury report, so we'll bring you those updates when we get them.

TUESDAY UPDATE:

Nile Lawrence-Stample was not at practice, and Fisher confirmed after that he will miss the year, as feared, with a torn pectoral. This is a significant injury for FSU. NLS is a starter for a reason and was being counted on to be a 500+ snap player. FSU does not have great depth at the nose position, and the spot was one of our staff's major worries in our preseason preview.

Bud's note: In the video below, Jimbo Fisher says that they're just continuing to cross train players along the offensive line, and not making a move, but a strong source tells me that Cam Erving did continue to play center throughout practice, and not just in the practice periods the media is allowed to watch. It's very disappointing that FSU is now cutting practice viewing time down to this level.

Mario Edwards Jr., Justin Shanks and Mario Pender did not participate. They all spent time on the stationary bikes.

Cam Erving spent all of his time during Tuesday's practice at center, with Chad Mavety at right tackle and Bobby Hart at left tackle.

While Erving is at the center position, Coach Trickett continued to pile defensive linemen over top of him while he snapped the ball before going to his block. He had linemen coming at him from every possible angle, attempting to give him every look he might see in a game. Kareem Are continued to stay as the backup left guard and Roderick Johnson is behind Bobby Hart as the second team left tackle.

Bud's take: Erving struggled a lot at left tackle against Clemson, as did Barron at center. Barron making mental errors, as opposed to just getting beat physically, though, was a surprise and unacceptable. And if Erving is not going to be a great pass protector, the drop off in pass pro at LT from him to a guy like Hart is simply not as big as it was expected to be, so a move makes a lot more sense now than it did in the preseason. I also wonder if Erving is fully healthy.

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They were also blasting quite a bit of crowd noise during practice, preparing for the trip to Raleigh where the stands sit right on top of the field.

Travis Rudolph returned some kicks during practice along side Karlos Williams, while Bobo Wilson and Kermit Whitfield continue to pair up during those drills. Rudolph actually looked pretty comfortable doing that.

MONDAY:

The Florida State Seminoles took to the practice fields again on Monday afternoon as they began preparation for the next game on their slate, North Carolina State.

The media was informed on Monday that it will no longer have access to FSU's walk-throughs during practice so, as you can see, we'll be doing things a little differently. And since we won't have access to those walk-throughs, some of the previous information that you have become accustomed to on these reports will likely be absent.

We, the media, will still be able to view the flex (stretching) and the position drills, as well as some special teams.

Nile Lawrence-Stample was not at Monday's practice.

Mario Edwards and Mario Pender were not participating Monday after suffering injuries. Edwards, who FSU informed the media Saturday night had sustained a concussion, was wearing sunglasses during Monday's practice while riding the stationary bike. Pender, who was also reported to have had a concussion, was not wearing any glasses or visor on his helmet, and was also riding a stationary bike (not with a helmet lol). These things don't mean anything for certain, but it's interesting to see the difference.

Justin Shanks, who missed a couple weeks of practice, was dressed out again on Monday, although the players were only in shorts and helmets.

Despite all of the dust that has been kicked up over the past few days and today, Jameis Winston was working as the starter today, throwing the football around quite a bit. Also, as much as Winston was throwing, he wasn't catching the ball when it was returned his direction. This typically indicates a starting quarterback, attempting to avoid any unfortunate injuries to the fingers while catching the football.

Jimbo Fisher will not speak following Monday's practice since he had his weekly press conference this morning.