Football completed its ninth practice of the spring Wednesday, wearing full pads and scrimmaging for about half the workout.

Zook said he would have liked the practice to have been cleaner, as the team seemed to have trouble staying focused.

“I think today we had a lot of little mental mistakes,” said runningback Pierre Thomas. “We’ve just got to get back to the films, get back to the notebooks, and just clean that up. That’s what the coaches are here for, to help us do that.”

But having completed two practices in a row and doing a one-hour workout before starting a scrimmage, Zook said he was satisfied that the team was able to get through everything it planned.

Thomas said the difference between last season and this have made most practices run more smoothly.

“We’re a lot smarter. We know the plays,” Thomas said. “We just have to come out here and execute with perfect technique. You’ve got to come out fast, keep up the tempo, but I think we’ve improved a lot since last season.”

INJURY REPORT

Zook said he is happy with the way the team has avoided injury through the spring season. The head coach attributed the ability to avoid injury to the team’s off-season conditioning and taking the proper precautions during spring practice.

One player who was hurt Wednesday was wide receiver Kyle Hudson, who Zook said “got dinged in the head” in Tuesday’s practice. Hudson dressed for practice, but did not participate fully as a precautionary measure.

RECEIVER ROUNDUP

Junior Jacob Willis and sophomore Jody Ellis led Illinois wide receivers on Wednesday, getting the bulk of the reps. Zook said the receivers are looking strong this off season; he said he’s happy with freshman Hudson’s performance as well as that of junior Frank Lenti, Jr.

Zook said Ellis has shown great improvement since breaking his collarbone in the fall.

“He’s starting to act like you’d want an wide receiver to be,” Zook said. “He’s tough, he’s blocking well, and he’s a guy you want to get the football in his hands.”

SCRIMMAGE TO BE BROADCAST

The Orange and Blue scrimmage, scheduled for April 22, will be carried live on www.coachronzook.com. It will also be tape-delay broadcast on Insight cable in Champaign, Decatur and Springfield. The TV date has yet to be determined.