Texas A&M Football Notebook

Published Saturday, August 20, 2011 12:30 AM

Practice report: The ninth-ranked Texas A&M football team worked out without pads for 2 hours, 15 minutes Friday morning on the Coolidge grass practice fields.

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Injuries mounting: Again, the main storyline wasn't the happenings on the field but the Aggies in street clothes on the sidelines. Shayvion Hatten, Jeff Fuller, Ben Bass, Christine Michael, Tony Jerod-Eddie, Brandal Jackson, Rhontae Scales, Sean Porter, Trent Hunter and Kenric McNeal didn't participate.

"The guys were banged up. Nobody got the day off," head coach Mike Sherman said. "Christine was sick this morning, so he had the day to get his stomach in order."

Cyrus Gray returned from a lingering hamstring injury.

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Decision time looms: The backup quarterback battle between Jameill Showers and Matt Joeckel looks to be coming to an end. Both players have had strong camps, improving on their efforts during spring practice.

Sherman said he'd like to pick his backup quarterback this weekend but hasn't seen either player separate from the other.

"They're both doing a good job," Sherman said. "Even when we make the decision, it will be 2a and 2b. I don't see it being as big an issue as [the media]."

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Askew continues to flourish: When wide receiver Jeff Fuller suffered a hamstring injury, Nate Askew stepped into Fuller's place and took advantage of the extra playing time. The big receiver again had an outstanding day Friday, making multiple catches in traffic and down the field.

"If Jeff can come back full strength, it was a blessing in disguise that Nate got the reps he's gotten," Sherman said. "Nate's made a lot of progress. The first couple days of practice he jumped out there and has picked it up since Jeff went down."

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More position experiments: On Thursday, safety Howard Matthews got a chance to play running back. On Friday, it was cornerback Dustin Harris' turn to play offense, splitting out wide on several plays as a receiver.

Sherman said Harris will see action at receiver this season.

"He's a talented young man, and it gives us more depth at that position," Sherman said. "He's very fast, capable of playing both sides of the ball and will definitely play some wide receiver for us this year."

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Don't point the finger: With the ongoing scandal at Miami on everybody's mind, Sherman was asked about the difficulty of keeping his program in check. His response: Things aren't as easy as they seem, and the responsibility for running a clean program begins on an individual level.

"It's difficult to be critical of another program simply because it can happen anywhere, anytime," he said. "I don't think you put yourself above the fray. We really haven't had any issues off the field until this summer, so we never beat our chest because it can happen anytime. Individuals have to be responsible for themselves."

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Next: The Aggies will hold an intrasquad scrimmage at 6 p.m. Saturday at Kyle Field. It is open to the public.

-- DAVID HARRIS