Arizona opened camp for the 2014 season on Wednesday evening with a slightly different set of priorities than in the previous three years of Rich Rodriguez's tenure.
Because the Wildcats play 12 consecutive weeks, starting with their opener against Texas-San Antonio on Sept. 3, conditioning takes on a greater sense of urgency.
"We have to be smart with the way our schedule lines up," Rodriguez said. They're going to have some days off, with their first being Sunday. But, if our guys work like I think they'll work, they'll get more time off than what is scheduled.
"We have to get in shape to play, that's the bottom line. Once we get in shape to play then we can maintain it and try to stay healthy for the 12 games."
Rodriguez said he was generally pleased with the first day of workouts: "It wasn't bad. I thought we were in pretty good shape. It's hard to compare with the last couple of years. but we started practice early and we finished practice on time."
Sophomore quarterback Anu Solomon was comfortable with his first day.
"It was smooth," Solomon said. "Everyone did what they were supposed to do. Obviously the freshmen were running like headless chickens, but all the veterans were finding the click that we're supposed to find, and we did well."
Solomon told Tucson News Now correspondent Anthony Gimino that he's expecting great things from receiver Cayleb Jones.
"He's a combination of Megatron and Dez Bryant," said UA quarterback Anu Solomon. "That guy is something special."
Jones had 73 receptions for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns last year while playing with what Solomon said was a broken hand, though it was never listed on an injury report.
The injury limited Jones' ability to work in the weight room, but he appears to have made up for it in the off-season -- reporting to camp at a chiseled 220 pounds, up about 12 pounds from a year ago.
"Yes, people didn't know, but football comes with injuries and I struggled with it a little bit," Jones told Gimino. "But it's all good now."
