8/15 Practice Report: Byerson Cockrell Gets Looks At Nickel, A New Name at DE

Your Nebraska Cornhuskers went for 90 minutes this afternoon at Memorial Stadium and in and around the Hawks Championship Center. Originally scheduled for a 2 workout day, the Huskers went with one instead.

After practice. Defensive Coordinator John Papuchis talked to the media. Some things he stated:

- In the wake of losing Charles Jackson to a knee injury for the season, JUCO Byerson Cockrell has stepped up his game this week. Cockrell, who shined in the Spring Scrimmage at Corner, has stepped up into the spot. Papuchis also mentioned that true Freshman Josh Kalu is getting some looks at Nickel.

- When the subject of Defensive Ends was brought up, the first name mentioned was Junior walk-on Jack Ganguish, who was mentioned before AJ Natter and Greg McMullen. Behind all B1G Randy Gregory and JUCO transfer Joe Keels, Nebraska is somewhat thin at DE if injuries should bite. If push came to shove and there were depth issues, Maliek Collins could serve at DE.

- With the injury to Michael Rose, Senior Trevor Roach has seen some time and could be in the mix at Middle Linebacker. Right now, it would appear that Josh Banderas, who did start 4 games for the Huskers last year, would be starter by default. However, if the staff wanted to go in a direction with a older player, Roach could be the man to take that role.

- At Safety, Nathan Gerry seems to have a leg up on a starting role, although Fr Kieron Williams was spoken highly of. This group is also fighting the loss of a player, as LeRoy Anderson was suspended for the '14 season last week. Gerry's previous experience last year in playing all 13 games and starting 3 helps tremendously in this aspect.

- There was an injury, however it's not a player:

#Huskers fall camp injury bug claims the first student manager with a dislocated knee cap. pic.twitter.com/BaiTWt3MjW

— Riley Herchenbach (@Herchenjerk) August 16, 2014

Nebraska will have a workout Saturday morning before taking Sunday off.