With every assertive, powerful run up the middle or out wide, Keon Williams looks less and less like a player the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga can afford to redshirt this season.
If Williams, a freshman running back from Red Bank, is part of the immediate future in the Mocs' backfield, Bryan Fitzgerald is now officially the past.
Fitzgerald quit the team Wednesday, ending his attempt to return from last season's foot injury, which required two surgeries. Fitzgerald originally quit in April after the second surgery, but decided this summer to give it another shot.
Mocs coach Russ Huesman said the decision was Fitzgerald's, though he didn't mince words about the effort he thought Fitzgerald put into his return.
"He doesn't want to get treatment, he doesn't want to get in shape, he doesn't want to work at it," Huesman said following Thursday morning's practice. "I guess he just thought we were going to hand the ball to him on Sept. 4, the first play of the game.
"Right now Fitz, all he needs to concentrate on is getting his degree, that's it. We're going to do everything humanly possible to help him get a degree, and other than that, we've got too many good backs, too many good players out here for us to have that type of distraction."
Fitzgerald did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The bad left foot limited Fitzgerald's participation during the first week of practice - he hobbled after every run and never was comfortable in the brace he had to wear - and sat out most of Wednesday morning's practice after the heat got to him early.
Fitzgerald was granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA after going down against Samford last October. He was leading the Southern Conference in rushing at 109.3 yards per game when he got hurt.
The Mocs have four running backs on their roster: fifth-year senior Erroll Wynn, sophomores J.J. Jackson and Chris Awuah and Williams. All four have run well so far in practice, Huesman said, and how they stack up on the depth chart when UTC opens its season against Appalachian State remains to be seen.
"That whole group's going to get evaluated," he said. "They all looked good today; every one of those guys looked real good, ran downhill, pad level down - Fitz might have been fifth team anyway coming in."
Williams said he's happy with how he's performed in practice thus far. He said running backs coach Jamaal Fobbs is making sure he studies and learns the offense.
"He's got me coming in 30 minutes before our meetings and he's quizzing me," Williams said. "He's really helping me out a lot and I feel like I'm getting it."
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said Williams is being brought along slowly, but he has been very impressed with what he's seen thus far.
"We have to be smart and not ask him to know every protection in the book," he said. "We need to allow him to go in there on first down and run the ball and get us four or five yards, and go in there on third-and-short and get us a first down. I'm proud of the way he's playing."
Extra points
Nick Craig (plantar fasciitis) returned to practice Thursday morning but did not practice in the afternoon. Fellow defensive linemen Jaron Norfleet and Nick Davison were held out of both practices with concussions. ... Thursday was the Mocs' second of three two-a-days; their last is Tuesday. ... South Carolina transfer Jarrett Burns has been moved from safety to wide receiver. ... The Mocs will scrimmage today (2:30 p.m.) at Finley Stadium.