Tuesday's practice was the first of the season with helmets, shoulder pads and shorts for the Cougars...as predicted, the intensity picked up with the addition of pads as the sound of pads popping  filled Rogers Field on another warm afternoon on the Palouse...early on the Cougs went through a couple 10-minute segments that focused on special teams, working on blocking kicks, getting off blocks and around defenders while covering kicks...midway through practice, the Cougars held 11-on-11 on both fields with the 1's and 2's facing off on the west field...a couple of receivers had solid afternoons in senior Jared Karstetter and sophomore Marquess Wilson...the 6-4 Karstetter made a number of nice catches in traffic during 11-on-11 sessions as well as during a "skelly" session while Wilson showed his improved strength and quickness by getting open in the flat, catching a pass from Jeff Tuel and then juking a defender before scampering into the end zone, bringing some "oooo's" and yells from the Cougar offense...later on the east field, freshmen wideout from Orlando, Fla. Isiah Myers took a pass from David Gilbertson, side stepped a couple defenders and headed up the sideline for the score that also drew some yells from the offensive players...the Cougar defense answered the offense's big plays with a couple big hits as Tyree Toomer popped Isiah Barton on a pass over the middle and newcomer Tana Pritchard provided a couple loud smacks from his linebacker position, hitting a running back after he came out of the backfield for a pass which brought the defensive players to provide some screams...along with Pritchard, a couple other youngsters made some plays with Darryl Paulo and T.J. Polai seeing a good number of reps on the No. 2 defensive line...fellow newcomer Chester also received some reps at linebacker on the No. 2 defense...two newcomers on the offensive end in wide receiver Dominque Williams and tight end Mansell Simmons made a couple nice catches in traffic during 11-on-11...the day ended with a couple field goal attempts (with a rushing defense) as Andrew Furney had his first 42-yard attempt blocked by Paulo before he connected from 42, 35, 42 and 47...tomorrow will be another day of helmets and shoulder pads before going full pads on Thursday...GO COUGS!