Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska football team held its first night practice of fall camp on Monday for more than two hours on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice Fields outside of the Hawks Championship Center. Defensive Coordinator John Papuchis spoke to the media following practice.

“After the first three days, I feel good about where we’re at,” Papuchis said. “We still have a long way to go. We’re not ready to play a game yet, but I think the attitude is good, the effort is good, and the energy is good. We just have to keep learning and developing and getting better each day and if we get better as we go along, we’ll be where we want to be.”

Papuchis added that the team has liked the evening practices thus far.
“It gets them off their feet during the day,” Papuchis said. “They have a lot of meeting time during the day, which I think is crucial, obviously. And it gets us out of the hottest time of the day. They’ve had a tough summer working in the heat all summer long. Anything we can do to back off that a little bit will pay dividends in October and November we think.”

Papuchis also said that getting a defensive line set is crucial to the team’s success.

“I think right now we have some pretty good depth, so I’m not as concerned right now about who the ones are but really getting a feel for our rotation that we are going to bring into Sept. 1,” Papuchis said. “We have 26 practices to still let that thing play out, but I think we have a pretty good idea of where we’re at.”

In addition, Papuchis said he likes the way his linebackers are fitting in at this point.

“They’re really athletic guys,” Papuchis said. “I love their athleticism, I love their work ethic, but there’s a lot to learn in a short amount of time and we’re three days in, so we’ll have a much better evaluation as time goes on.”

The Huskers return to practice on Tuesday night in preparation for its season opener against Southern Mississippi on Sept. 1.