DeKALB, Ill. – After another early morning practice at Huskie Stadium, the Northern Illinois University Huskies held the last of their preseason media/photo days Tuesday in the Barsema Hall of Champions as Head Coach Rod Carey, Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier and a pack of NIU players met with the local media.
 
While the Mid-American Conference and Chicago media days took place during the preseason, the DeKalb gathering occurred on the Huskies' fourth day of preseason practice, with this week's practice sessions taking place at 5:30 a.m. while student-athletes complete the last week of summer school classes.
 
"We're five days (four practices) into [preseason camp], and I've been really happy with the last two practices in the morning," Carey said.  "We put the shoulder pads on and for 5:30 in the morning, I like the effort and I've seen improvement the last two days. I like where we're at.  We have some bumps and bruises as you might expect.  We have to finish school strong this week, and then I'm looking forward to getting into a more normal camp schedule."
 
The Huskies practiced in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts for the second consecutive day Tuesday after an initial off-day on Sunday as NCAA rules have altered the practice schedule.  In addition, training camp on Wednesday will consist of meetings, lifts and walk-through sessions only.  Carey said he was pleased with the way the Huskies have dealt with the schedule adjustments.
 
"Friday was not good, I was honest about that," Carey said. "They responded Saturday, came back got an off day and Monday and Tuesday strung a couple of good [practices] back to back.  Guys used [the off day] right.  You want an off day for rest. We talked to the team and they used it correctly because they came back Monday ready to go. 
 
"We're still knocking off the rust.  When I'm saying good practices, it's all in context of where we should be."
 
Carey mentioned field linebacker and cornerback as two examples of positions where competition is taking place, along with the back-up quarterback spot behind starter Marcus Childers.
 
"We have a lot of experience coming back, but that doesn't mean we don't have competition," he said. "You don't want a whole team of unsettled positions, but you do want the competition because iron sharpens iron, and that's how we've approached it.  We know what we've got at some positions, but I think there's good back and forth."
 
Asked which areas on offense and defense are the biggest priorities this training camp, Carey – a former offensive line coach himself – singled that group out on offense.
 
"The o-line is the number one priority," Carey said. "We did not play well enough there last year. We have everybody back, and they've improved.  They're bigger, they're stronger, they're faster and they have a cohesion – now they need to play like that.
 
"Defensively, the No. 1 priority is keeping [the pressure on]. We have a lot of experience back. They produced at a fantastic rate last year and I want to see us on defense really produce that way again."
 
The Huskies scored a school-record five defensive touchdowns a year ago and led the nation in tackles for loss behind consensus All-American Sutton Smith at defensive end.  NIU returned six starters and 25 letterwinners on defense for 2018.
 
Overall, Carey likes the attitude he has seen from the 2018 Huskies and likes the intangibles the team has displayed.
 
"I like this team, they're a tight-knit group," he said. "More than the fact that they like each other, they're holding each other accountable, and when you get that, you've got a shot. As far as personality, it's business-like right now, but you can tell they've got a little something underneath the collar.
 
In addition to Carey, Smith, offensive tackle Max Scharping and quarterback Marcus Childers were among the most popular Huskies at media day.  Linebacker Kyle Pugh and tailback Marcus Jones received their fair share of attention as well, while several other players attended at the request of their hometown media.
 
With the media days, photo day and Saturday's fan day behind them, the Huskies' will "lock in" to camp mode for the next 17 days with Thursday's 5:30 am practice the first full-pads session of the preseason.
 
Full season and single game tickets, as well as three-game mini-plans, for 2018 NIU Football games are on sale now through the NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the Convocation Center, online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets and by calling 815-753-PACK (7225). Season tickets start at as little as $55 each (via the Family Pack) and mini-plans, featuring two Saturday and one #MACtion game, are $70. Single game tickets are also on sale.  See all the options here and get your tickets today.
 
-- NIU --