Your weekly edition of Tuesday notes:

• Scott Lutrus' situation hasn't changed. He's still practicing during non-contact drills only and is 50-50 for this week. Lutrus again said he hasn' t experienced any pain or limitations with his range of motion. It's simply the medical staff be cautious with what could turn into a serious injury. Considering the opponent this week, and the fact the Huskies are on bye the following week, don't expect to see Lutrus in the lineup against URI.

• There's not a lot to complain about with UConn's defense. But the Huskies have failed to come through in a couple of 3rd-and-long situations, one of which played a big part in the loss to North Carolina. "It's just execution," Edsall said. "The biggest thing is we have to do a better job as coaches to get those kids to understand that when it's 3rd-and-20, you don't take a 5-yard drop. You get back deeper and make them throw the ball underneath and then you rally to it and make the tackle. We have to do a better job of emphasizing 'know the down and distance'; 'get deeper in your drops'. We've played zone, we brought four, we brought five; we haven't gone to an all-out blitz, but we have to do a better job of coaching them up."

• The defensive calls were no different on those big third down plays. UConn has never played a prevent defense, Edsall said. "First of all, I don't know what a prevent defense is," he said. "I have no idea what a prevent defense it. All I know is, all the calls we made in the first three quarters, we were making the same calls in the fourth quarter." UConn has been in its nickel package making the same calls.

• Cody Endres graded his performance Saturday as "average, maybe a little better than average." His biggest problem was trouble with reads early, but "that got better as the game went on." Edsall concurred, saying he needs to be a little more precise with his short passes. Edsall also addressed the lack of deep balls. "Everyone wants to see you chuck it and all that stuff," he said. "But the farther you throw it, the harder it is to complete it. It's not so much about about throwing deep, it's about throwing effective. If you throw effective, you create more opportunities. Yeah, we want the ball to go down the field, but there might be teams that take that away by the way they play." He also mentioned one play against Baylor that went down field, a completion called back because of an illegal formation penalty.

• Edsall said there are 68 guys competing to make the travel roster, either on offense, defense or special teams. "I've never had that luxury with so many guys," Edsall said. "Part of it is guys understanding the importance of special teams."

• Erik Kuraczea said the offensive line was very happy with it's performance against Baylor, and that it didn't think it would be as easy to create space and opportunities against the Bears. "It makes you realize how good (UConn defensive tackles) Kendall (Reyes) and Twyon (Martin) really are," Kuraczea said. "Going up against them in practice every day tells me how good they are compared to other defensive tackles."

• Kuraczea and Mike Ryan worked their way into the rotation at Baylor, and Edsall said he'll keep it the same this week. The plan is every third series will go to the young linemen.

• Andre Dixon on the offensive line, "Coach Foley is an amazing coach, but those guys really busted their humps in the weight room and during drills. They went out and did the work. You saw guys like Hurd, Dan Ryan, Mike Hicks, Olivier and Moe amping themselves up . It was a huge challenge in Waco, and they were up to it."

• Where were you when Donald Brown scored his first NFL touchdown last night in the Colts slim victory over the Dolphins? It seemed to have caught some of the Huskies off-guard. Edsall said the game was on in his bedroom, but he was sound asleep "face down in the pillow". His son came in and woke him up just in time for the groggy coach to see the replay. Andre Dixon was watching the game, but happened to be in the bathroom when Brown scored. But, he said he didn't waste any time sending Donny a text message (no word on whether Dixon sent it from the throne. Let's hope he waited).

• File this in the category "things you won't see anywhere on the planet aside from a football training table". In the UConn football dining room today, sitting on each table in a lovely plastic frame, was advice on how to make the best of "the training table experience". One section was devoted the best ways to avoid hunger. Another provided tips on how to prevent weight loss. And don't we all need help keeping those excess pounds on? Among the ingenious tips...eat, play a game of billiards in the lounge, then come back for seconds. (I, for one, never would have thought of that). It also suggested peanut butter and jelly as an alternative to "a meat sandwich". (Such as bacon, which you might find in a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich). Another novel concept was to purchase food at a local store and then stow it in your room, preferably in a refrigerator. I can make copies for anyone looking to balloon up like Kevin Federline. As the great Thornton Melon, CEO of Tall and Fat Stores once said, "if you want to look thin, you hang out with fat people."

Hi there. Are you a large person? Pleasantly plump? A little on the hefty side, perhaps? Well, let's face it: Are you FAT? When you go jogging, do you leave pot-holes? When you make love, do you have to give directions? At the zoo, do the elephants throw YOU peanuts? Do you look at a menu and say 'OK'? The UConn training table can help you keep that rotund figure.

Hope to see you on the live chat Thursday at 2 p.m.

Post practice updates...

• The injuries to Lindsey Witten and Mike Hicks aren't believed to be serious. Edsall expects them both to be back by Saturday. Receiver Kashif Moore didn't practice as a precaution with a tweaked hamstring. Erik Kuraczea is back at practice after having "his bell rung" last week.

• Kijuan Dabney was hurt during a blitz drill Wednesday. His status is unknown, pending more examinations, but in the meantime David Kenney has been moved up from defensive back to back-up Husky position. He'll remain there as long as Dabney is out.

• Michael Smith's grandmother passed, and he left campus to attend her funeral.

• Linebacker Jerome Williams suffered a burst appendix earlier in the summer, and underwent a difficult surgery that was touch and go. He is slowly working his way back, and will be limited much of this fall.

• Those who were at practice got to see how exciting a player Dwayne Difton really is; the rest of you will be pleasantly surprised this season. Difton evoked images of Donald Brown by stiff-arming Jasper Howard to the turf on one play. Howard got up and drilled Difton, who was already out of bounds, with Difton laughing at his "big brother". Howard has taken Difton, a fellow south Floridian, under his wing, and the two have become close. "It's the same thing Darius Butler did with me," Howard said. "I want to make him feel at home." Still, the pair like to go at it in practices. Howard has been impressed with Difton's ability. "Whatever he was, 4-star, 5-star, he's living up to the billing," Howard said. "He's doing a tremendous job."

• I, for one, keep forgetting Howard isn't a captain. He's such a natural leader, and has really been working with many of the younger players, not just Difton. He also wants to keep the UConn cornerback tradition of heading to the NFL alive. Bigger and stronger this fall, Howard also seems faster. "I can't slack off," Howard said, speaking about leadership as well as pro aspirations. "Tyvon did it, Darius did it. It's up to me and Reggie."

• There was a full referee crew on hand for today's practice, and if I didn't know better I swear the umpire was Tom Morello, the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine. Could have been his twin brother.


Bulls, err...Huskies on parade?



• Michael Box and Cody Endres got more action this afternoon simply because it was the second session of the day, so Zach Frazer got a bit of a break. Both looked good, Box in particular. He seems to be a heady player with lots of potential.

• Netflixed Iron Maiden: Flight 666 last night (which I watched by myself...the wife isn't as enamoured with 80s metal as I am). Great documentary. Iron Maiden is truly a global band, drawing crowds in excess of 100,000 for concerts in places like India, Costa Rica, Mexico and Columbia. In Brazil and Argentina, the band is revered as true rock gods. They were greeted by tens of thousands of fans both at the airport and hotel...incredible. The coolest part is lead singer Bruce Dickinson is also a commercial airline pilot, and personally flies the group and their entire road crew and equipment on a customized 757, known as Ed Force One. Worth watching if you're into that kind of thing. If not, I'll stop now.

Two .... minutes....to touch down...