Jalen Rivers working at center, guard and tackle, "working at each position to get better"
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At Thursday’s practice, Miami Hurricanes offensive lineman Jalen Rivers was lining up at guard as well as backup left tackle and center. With Zion Nelson out, likely until late in fall drills, coaches are making sure they are cross-training linemen at numerous spots.
So is it possible that Rivers could wind up at tackle, maybe even right tackle once Nelson returns? Sure. Anything is possible Right now Miami’s mixing and matching, and current first team RT DJ Scaife was a starter at guard last season.
For Rivers, the focus is pretty simple: Just work hard and do whatever coaches ask.
After the team’s Friday closed practice he said, “It’s important for me to not feel comfortable at any position, because I’ve been playing left tackle my whole life. I can play left guard. Playing center again today. It’s just working at each position to get better.”
In Thursday’s open practice, the team’s first in full pads, the offensive line fared well in pass protection, but not so much in trying to get the run game going.
Tomorrow night the line will get another crack at it with fall scrimmage No. 1 scheduled.
“Going into that, we’ve been working for the scrimmage day by day,” Rivers said. “Tomorrow is coming up. So not just for me but the whole line, offense, defense, whole team, we’re looking to improve our skillsets, hold each other accountable to achieve greatness in this scrimmage.”
Rivers said in today’s practice that the team faded late.
“It’s important for us to pick that back up,” he said. “Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to come out, `Oh, we had an off day a little bit, but we picked it back up the next day.”
The 6-5, 325-pound third-year redshirt freshman doesn’t have a lot of experience … yet. He played in seven games off the bench in 2020, then this past season started the first three games before suffering a season-ending injury. He was cleared during the spring but only participated on a limited bases; he did get contact work as a guard and then in the spring game as the second team left tackle as well.
When healthy, he’s considered one of UM’s most consistent linemen.
In the end, Rivers says his mentality this fall camp isn’t about winning a job. It’s about doing his part and making the team better.
“We have to come together as an offense, do great,” he said.
*Asked about Miami coach Mario Cristobal, Rivers said, “He demands it, `Hey we’re going to do this. And if we don’t, there’s consequences.”
