The Gophers returned to practice today and were in full pads. Here are some notes and quotes after Tim Brewster’s post-practice media session:

– Practiced started a little slow but became more competitive during an inside run period. They also worked on a lot of short yardage situations and finished with a live two-minute drill. Adam Weber took the offense down the field for a score.

“I thought Adam really handled himself very well,” Brewster said.

– Brewster continues to push Weber to become a vocal leader. “To me, that’s what the quarterback position has to be,” Brewster said. “It’s not, Adam we want you to do that. We’re demanding that of you. He’s working himself into being that type of leader.”

– I had a chance to talk to DE Ray Henderson, who lost 40 pounds last summer because of a heat-related illness. He got down to 220 pounds. Henderson said he’s still not quite 100 percent but is close. Brewster said he’s done some good things this spring. I’ll have more on him later.

– Brewster talked a lot about Ted Roof and his defense. He said his defense is not overly complicated for the players. I asked Brewster whether the defense last year was too complicated. “We may have tried to do too much early, too much at different times,” he said. “But that’s all trial and error. You have to see what exactly your kids can do. Obviously we played better when we did less.”

– In our daily Tramaine Brock update, Brewster said Brock is also returning kickoffs. He said a number of players will get a chance to return kicks and punts, including Harold Howell, Brock, David Pittman, Tim Dandridge, Marcus Sherels and Brandon Green. He said Jay Thomas will be in that mix once he gets healthy but he indicated Duane Bennett probably won’t return kicks again because he is the starting tailback with thin depth behind him.

– Clarification on Friday scrimmage: I was told by a school official that Friday’s scrimmage is closed to the public and media. However, high school coaches are invited to attend.

– A school official said the new uniforms will be unveiled at a press conference on April 23. The team is not expected to wear them during the spring game, according to the official.

– I had a chance to visit with Eric Decker last week for a feature that is running in Wednesday’s paper. Decker is enjoying playing baseball and has surprised everyone by how fast he has developed at the plate.

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