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Takeaways: Ward set for return, Carter named backup and more

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury addressed the media on Sunday afternoon. No players were available after practice. Here are a few notes from the session.

- Kingsbury said having an extra week of practice was definitely longer but that everyone was just trying to different things. He said his players stayed engaged throughout camp with some days being harder while some were lighter.

- The position group that Kingsbury praised on Sunday was his veteran receivers

- “They’ve been through a lot,” Kingsbury said. “They’re all seniors outside of Keke (Coutee) who is as good as anybody in the country. So that’s the group you know what you’re getting every time you put them on the field.”

- Senior receivers Dylan Cantrell and Cameron Batson were two of the five players assigned to be captains this upcoming season. Kingsbury announced the five representatives on Saturday.

- LB Dakota Allen, DB Jah’Shawn Johnson and QB Nic Shimonek are the other three captains this season.

- Kingsbury said all five are leaders and that they do everything right. The captain spots are voted on by the team, which Kingsbury said is a good sign for the program.

- Kingsbury announced on Sunday that QB McLane Carter will be the backup to Shimonek for the first game of the season. QB Jett Duffey is still readjusting into the system so Carter’s spot is good until the bye week which is when Duffey will be pushed more reps, Kingsbury said.

- Kingsbury said he’ll have to see if Carter gets a drive or two on Saturday depending on the game. He is confident in Carter’s preparedness since he’s a JUCO guy and not a freshman coming in from high school.

- When it comes to the offensive line, Kingsbury said that the guard position is going to be a week-to-week assessment but he likes the competition going on for the spot. As far as the tackle position goes, OL Terence Steele and OL Travis Bruffy are the main guys. However, OL Madison Akamnonu will be used to slide in if one gets hurt. So let’s say if Bruffy goes down then Steele will move over to Bruffy’s spot and Akamnonu will fill in for Steele.

- On another note, RB Da’Leon Ward will be back on Monday. Kingsbury said he’s going to take Ward’s status week-by-week. When asked if Ward handled his business off the field, Kingsbury said, “We’ll find out. If he gets back up here and he’s handling his business, like I said, we’ll really take it week-to-week on him.”

- As for the group, RB Justin Stockton will get the start on Saturday. Kingsbury named off RBs Desmond Nisby, Demarcus Felton and Tre King following Stockton and said he would rank them in that specific order.

- WR Xavier Martin will be evaluated the first few weeks to see if he will possibly become a redshirt. Right now, Kingsbury said Martin is not a No. 2 guy and that they’ll choose the best path for him moving forward.

- One area Kingsbury didn’t fill the media in on is who will be lined up beside Johnson at the other safety position.

- “We’ll let y’all see when we role out there,” Kingsbury said. “But we have a good group, an experienced group. We’ll just wait and see on Saturday.”

- There were no injury updates as of Sunday. Kingsbury said everyone gets bumps and bruises this time of year, but he has the guys he started with ready for Saturday’s opener.

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