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Sophomore cornerback Ambry Thomas had no shortage of experience going up against excellent receivers before his time at Michigan.
Thomas — a Detroit native who attended Martin Luther King High School — said he's faced sophomore receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones — also a Detroit native who attended nearby Cass Tech — since the two were in Pop Warner football.
“Donovan used to struggle with his release off the line, but now that’s one of his strengths,” Thomas explained. “His first move is just violent. He’s gotten bigger, stronger and faster too. Our new strength coach [Ben Herbert] is developing us the right way.”
In like fashion, the sophomore cornerback said he has improved his own game from his freshman to sophomore year immensely as well.
“I’m just playing now instead of thinking,” he said. “I’d get in the game last year and think about what I had to do — now it’s all just reaction. Coach Z[ordich] implants technique into us every day, and after you do it so many times, it just comes natural.”
That’s not how it was last spring for the young cornerback though. Thomas enrolled for the winter semester last season — a full six months before most other freshmen — and explained that the added experience and coaching paid dividends.
“Enrolling early helped me a lot with both schoolwork and my play on the field,” he recalled. “Me and [sophomore cornerback] Ben [St-Juste] used to get chewed out every day by Coach Z, but now I’m thankful for that.
“I’m just playing now. I was messing up everywhere, but now I know what I’m doing and am more confident. I don’t make the same mistakes twice like I used to.”
While the sophomore said he obviously enjoys the increased action, he still doesn’t like seeing teammate hurt.
“I don’t see it as an opportunity,” he said. “Last year we had a lot of guys get hurt, but I want everyone healthy and in there at full speed. I want us to have that flexibility on the back end of our defense.”
Speaking of the defense, nine starters return from a unit that only allowed 271 yards per game last season, which was third-best in the country.
“This will be a violent, fast defense,” Thomas exclaimed. “I believe we’ll be even better than last year, because we didn’t lose too many guys from it. Everyone knows their role now.
“If something goes wrong on defense with Coach Don Brown, his philosophy is just to come right back at you. Those are the type of coaches I like playing before — aggressive and not scared of anything. He has that dog in him — I want to play on a defense full of dogs.”
Thomas actually has more on his plate than a lot of the players on the team. He returned kicks on a regular basis last season, and is expected to be a full-time kick returner once again in 2018.
He also revealed who has been working back there with him.
“[Sophomore running back] O’maury Samuels is back there — we started seeing him back there some toward the end of last year,” Thomas said. “[Sophomore safety] Brad Hawkins is back there too, along with Donovan Peoples-Jones, [redshirt freshman receiver] Oliver [Martin] and [junior cornerback] David Long.”
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