Washington State cornerbacks coach Brandyn Thompson had a small clarification Friday when asked about Jalil Tucker’s claim that he’s not much of a trash talker.
Tucker had told Cougfan.com recently that even at a position known for jawing, he’s not usually the loudest voice. Thompson didn’t dispute that. He just added a twist.
"He talks trash with his facial expressions," Thompson said with a laugh. "Obviously, you can't see it through his helmet, but if you could on a day-to-day basis, he still wears his emotions on his face."
That kind of silent edge can matter just as much as a spoken line, and Thompson said Tucker, the 6-0, 173-pound San Diego product, may have that part of the game figured out.
"Our room in general has a lot of energy," Thompson said. "Our young pups do a lot of the talking.
Khamari (Terrell) will. He definitely will have something to say.
CJ (Solis-Lumar) will have something to say. So we have a lively room.
Everyone kind of does it their way."
Tucker also pointed to Terrell as the team’s top trash talker, and CF.C has seen Solis-Lumar barking at the offense during different practices.
Thompson, though, is just as interested in what Tucker and Terrell bring between the lines. He said both players have the kind of college experience that makes them valuable right away and gives the Cougars a pair they can trust if both remain in the starting mix.
"New day and age: Guys coming in and they're new to this system, but they've played a lot of football," Thompson said. "So you can tell, and that shows in their game.
Formations are new to them. Some of the motion, some of the kind of trick stuff that offenses do, they've seen before.
So the game's a little slower for them. I give them both credit.
They've done a great job of communicating. That's a huge thing on the back end.
So I think they've both done a nice job. We've kept them relatively healthy, which is nice.
And they're hungry, so they do all the other things I ask of them as well."
Thompson also talked about what it’s been like coaching alongside Kirby Moore, calling the chance "Pretty cool." He said he and his family and friends all feel the same way about it, because years ago, when he was 19 to 22, it would have been hard to imagine.
"So it's definitely cool, something that I don't take for granted, kind of getting to coach with an old teammate that you went to war with. So it's been great.
Obviously, Kirby's awesome. He's got a great feel for what we need to do and get done and what we're trying to do."
As for the cornerback group as a whole, Thompson said the progress has been steady and encouraging.
"It's always nice when you feel like that arrow continues to go up. That's kind of always the goal.
Coach Moore does a good job. Coach (Trent) Bray does a good job.
We're kind of staying at it all year long, so these guys kind of understand their roles within the scheme.
"And these guys are hungry, so they do all the technique stuff on their own. And they've been growing."
Friday’s practice came on the eve of Saturday’s first scrimmage of fall camp, but it was only a walk-through designed to mirror game-day operations. The players were not in cleats, no plays were run and there was no live action.
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