What are your first impressions of Tyler Russell after watching him the first couple of days of practice?
"We have thrown a lot at him. Mentally, we have strained him a bunch. The first day we came out here (during the freshman-only practice Monday morning), because there wasn't a lot on him, you could see his abilities show up. He threw the ball really, really, really well."
Did it surprise you that he threw the ball so well that first day of practice?
"No, his high school coach was Larry Weems and I know him well as a coach. And I had seen (Tyler) before and I was really impressed with him as a high school player."
I saw all of Tyler's game tapes from his senior season. One thing I noticed after watching him in Tuesday's practice is he actually looks like he has gotten a little quicker with his feet. Strength coach Matt Balis appears to have done a good job in helping Tyler improve his foot quickness.
"Coach Balis has done a great job. (Tyler's) done a good job of rounding his body off and he's getting stronger every day. But any freshman, when they go to college, will change their demeanor and body because they are growing up. And Tyler is one of those freshman. He's getting bigger, stronger and faster because of all the weight lifting that (our strength coaches) put him through."
Gene Swindoll is the publisher of the GenesPage.com website, the source for Mississippi State sports on Scout.com sports network. You can contact him by emailing swindoll@genespage.com.