Linebackers drawing praise of coaches in fall camp

The Cougs have entered the home stretch of their time in Lewiston, and Thursday the offense was able to capture the win for the team period. The defense had put together a bit of winning streak in the days prior. After practice the linebackers were a large subject of conversation as both Roy Manning and Ken Wilson did interviews that Jacob Thorpe, of the Spokesman-Review was kind enough to upload online.

Manning's interview started off with discussion on the development of nickel Parker Henry's leadership. "I've seen (Henry) rally the troops more, obviously a guy who played for us a bunch last year so this year coming out he knows what the coaches expect" Manning said. "I think he's doing a good job of bringing those young guys or guys that don't have as much experience, along."

The outside linebackers coach also discussed his plans for the rush position in 2016 and the play of Justus Rogers in the video below.

Rogers, who played as a quarterback in the spring, has had a nice start on defense. The freshman from Bellevue forced a fumble on his first day at nickel and then picked up an interception a day later. Rogers also spoke with Thorpe, and seemed enthusiastic about his new spot on the field and position coach.

Finally, inside linebackers coach Ken Wilson was enthused with the quality of play during team periods, and was happy to have a new player in his group too. In 2015 Isaac Dotson started multiple games early in the season at nickel before being sidelined with injuries. Dotson has now made the move to WIL, and Wilson indicated in his interview that he could be in a competition for playing time with Frankie Luvu and Chima Onyeukwu.

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