Taking care of your body a premium during two-a-days; Reese Morgan update

IOWA CITY - After nine straight days of practice including several two-a-day sessions, Iowa players face the traditional soreness associated with a grueling training camp.

At times one could tell training camp legs have caught up with the players running pass routes. Acceleration comes in smaller doses, and mental toughness is vital toward overcoming the aches and bruises.

"It's camp," Iowa senior wide receiver Keenan Davis said. "Your legs are going to be tired, you're going to be tired but you've got to fight through it. It's football."

"You kind of get used to it," Iowa senior cornerback Micah Hyde said. "You get used to having sore legs, just getting your second wind and keep working hard."

Part of taking care of their bodies is to stretch before and after practice. They also get about 10 minutes of time in an ice tub to keep their muscles from swelling.

"We plunge," Hyde said. "We have a plunge pool, so we all hop in that cold tub and we definitely stretch after that, too."

"Ice and rest," Davis said. "When you're not playing football, sit down and if you can lay down, lay down. What we try to do especially when we get back to the hotel over break is just taking a nap. A good 20-minute (nap), just staying off your feet when you're not playing football and then icing after practice."

During training camp mental fatigue is just as difficult to combat as the on-field workouts. There's plenty of video to break down, which almost makes on-field work preferable for the athletes.

"You kind of get tired of the meetings," Hyde said. "You just want to get on the field to run around, and a lot of those guys are visual guys. They see it on paper, but they want to get on the field and work."

Morgan injured

Iowa defensive line coach Reese Morgan was injured in a collision between players while standing along the sidelines during Saturday's practice.

"I hope (he's) OK," Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. "He got run over here on the sidelines, and it looks like he might have injured his left leg, maybe tore a hamstring. I don't know yet."

Morgan, 62, was on the field for around 15 minutes before he was helped off the field by the training staff. Morgan previously was the head coach at Benton Community (1978-91) and Iowa City West (1992-99) before joining Ferentz's staff in 2000.

According to UI sports information director Steve Roe, Morgan was "resting comfortably at home" by early Saturday evening.