Good news on the injury front

The injury bug has wreaked havoc with some of Yale's most promising freshmen with running back Kahlil Keys (knee), defensive back Ethan DeSilva (knee) and defensive end Max Fink (hip) among those expected to miss the season. When offensive lineman William Chism suffered a hand injury in Saturday's scrimmage against Dean College, the original fear was that Chism would be sidelined for a while. However, he was back at practice in a limited fashion and Yale coach Tom Williams is expecting to give Chism some snaps in Saturday's season opener against Georgetown.

"He got about 10 reps today," Williams said after Wednesday's practice. "What they told us is they think they will be able to cast his hand, hard cast it and wrap it really tight and he should be able to get some reps on Saturday. All those guys who went down where guys we figured had a chance to play for us so it is nice to get good news on one of those guys. They'll have a chance to do something (surgery wise) at the end of the season but right now he is good to go."

Another freshman sidelined is former Staples star Chris Coyne, who is dealing with concussion-like symptoms. It is not a good sign that Yale gave Coyne No. 99 and then assigned that number to fellow defensive end Carter Deutsch.

The last item on the freshman for today is that Williams believes that Chism, fellow offensive lineman Ben Carbery, defensive backs Charles Cook and Nick LaTesta, running back Wynston Bouknight and linebacker Will Vaughan are the freshmen expected to see action against Georgetown. Plenty of their classmates should see action when the Yale JV team hosts Dean College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

MORE VISITORS AT PRACTICE
If you head to a Yale practice, the odds are pretty good that you will see an NFL scout or two in attendance. Wednesday was no different as representatives from the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals were at Clint Frank Field to see Yale's pro prospects up close and personal.

Both were there to see senior quarterback Patrick Witt but the Atlanta scout inquired about linebacker Jordan Haynes and safety Geoff Dunham while the rep from Arizona was asking about defensive tackles Pat Moran and Jake Stoller.

The season has yet to begin and scouts of New England, both the New York Giants and Jets, Carolina, Cleveland, Washington (twice), Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Houston, Jacksonville, St. Louis, San Francisco and now Atlanta and Arizona have been at a Yale practice. To say it is a major jump from the last couple of years would be an understatement of immense proportions.

"First year, I don't think we had anybody who came through," Williams said. "Last season we had a couple of teams that came through to see Tommy (McCarthy) and (Shane) Bannon but it was really more during the end of the season and not at this time. I think they all come because Pat (Witt) is on the radar screen. When they watch practice, they have those other guys on their sheet and then they watch those guys and say 'tell me more about this kid.' We've had that happen almost every day, a guy will say 'I came for your quarterback but I want to know about Stoller, Moran, Haynes, Dunham.'"

Alex Thomas is also on the radar of some NFL teams.

"I think a lot of his looks will depend on his season," Williams said. "If they look at the stat sheet, the stats are good but they are going to compare him to an SEC running back who has 1,000 yards rushing. If he has the season I think he can have (he'll get a shot at the NFL)."

CHANGE IN PLAY CALLING
As I mentioned in a blog post yesterday, receivers coach Kefense Hynson is now calling the offensive plays, a duty which Brian Stark handled the last two seasons. Hynson and Stark are now listed as co-offensive coordinators.

I asked Williams about the reason for the switch.

"There was a medical situation with Coach Stark," Williams said. "It happened during fall camp. We didn't make a big deal out if but one of the things I wanted to make sure I did is to help him (Stark) in terms of taking some responsibilities that he didn't have to worry about and concentrating on his health. At the same time, I wanted to reward a guy on our staff who I felt like was the right guy to take that step. Coach Hynson has been an offensive coordinator at Western Washington, he has called plays so to me it was the logical choice. Coach Stark is still very much in support and still very much another voice in our room but I think it has worked out for our entire football team and we haven't missed a beat."

The natural follow-up question was how would Yale's offense be different with a new person calling the plays.

"He (Hynson) has been trained in the Boise offensive scheme," Williams said. "Chris Petersen, when he was the offensive coordinator at Boise was one of the best play callers I had been around. I think play calling is an art. It is something a guy can either do or not. Kefense is a guy who definitely can do it and he has been around guys who are really good at it. I think that will add a different dimension to the plays that we run. It is when we run them and I think if you are the casual fan looking at Yale football this year, you probably will notice a difference in that aspect."