Rebels get clean bill of health

Steve Guiremand

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 9:59 a.m.

John Robinson had several reasons to smile following UNLV's final spring football practice on Saturday afternoon at Rebel Park.

The Las Vegas Bowl champs made it through spring drills without any serious injuries. And more than adequate replacements for star running backs Jeremi Rudolph and Kevin Brown, cornerback Amar Brisco, strong safety Randy Black, wide receiver Nate Turner and offensive tackle John Greer seemed to step forward.

Perhaps more importantly, those dreaded initials "M-R-I" that were being used in conjunction with star quarterback Jason Thomas' throbbing left shoulder a week ago have been placed on hold.

Thomas left Saturday's final workout about 20 minutes early to have ice bags put on his left shoulder and elbow. The 6-4, 235-pound junior All-American candidate, who dazzled fans with his pinpoint 65-yard throws in last December's Las Vegas Bowl upset of Arkansas, was tossing 50-yard wobblers on Saturday.

"I'm just sore and worn down," Thomas said.

Thomas was given anti-inflammatory drugs and exercises to perform after complaining to UNLV's medical staff about shoulder pain following an April 7 scrimmage. At that time he was told that he would have an MRI done on the shoulder.

"They wanted me to wait until (spring practice) was over with before doing anything like that," Thomas said. "Now they have more time to evaluate it.

"I'm not too worried about it. I think it's just from throwing too much. It's like only having two pitchers and throwing them every other day. After a while you're going to get sore and beat up."

Because third-string quarterback Ryan Hanson is catching for the UNLV baseball team this spring, Thomas and freshman backup Kurt Nantkes, who also was plagued by soreness in his elbow and shoulder, had to take all the snaps this spring.

"It doesn't concern me," Robinson said of Thomas' sore arm. "When you throw a lot, you're supposed to have a sore arm. And he threw a lot."

"We'll keep an eye on it the next couple of weeks and see what happens," Rebel trainer Kyle Wilson said. "It seemed to improve a little this week."

The good news is that Thomas' right foot, which was in a cast for almost two months following the bowl win due to the beginning of a stress fracture in the second metatarsal bone, seems to be a non-issue again. Thomas was running and scrambling with the same explosiveness as before he injured the foot in the first half of a narrow loss at Colorado State last Oct. 14.

"From an injury standpoint, we didn't lose anybody for the fall," Robinson said. "(Starting offensive tackle) Brandon Bair (knee ligaments) was our only serious injury. His leg looks very good. He'll be full speed again in a couple of weeks. And (wide receiver) Bobby Nero is going to have a minor surgery for some knee cartilage. But everybody else is okay."

Robinson, who entered the spring with some concern about finding a tailback who could replace the potent one-two punch of Jeremi Rudolph and Kevin Brown, seemed pleased by what he saw.

"I think we made progress," he said. "We have some concerns. But I think in the areas we were alarmed about ...tailback ... we had a good spring.

"Jabari Johnson and Joe Haro can both play. Now we're looking for a third back. We'll give the two freshmen (Tulare, Calif., Union's Dominique Dorsey and Bishop Gorman's Dyante Perkins) a chance to see what they can do in the fall."

The offensive line loses just unanimous all-Mountain West Conference pick Greer from a unit that improved steadily throughout the season. It appeared to be even bigger and stronger with the addition of 6-6, 300-pound junior college transfer Matt Williams.

"I think Matt was probably one of the big surprises of the spring," Robinson said. "I think he did very well."

Nero, who continued to practice despite his sore knee, also opened some eyes at wide receiver.

"Bobby Nero probably excited me the most in terms of the way he came on," Robinson said of the Oregon transfer. "He and Troy (Mason) both did a good job. And (senior) Charles James did a good job late in the spring in terms of being a deep receiving threat. (Sophomore) Michael Johnson reminds me a lot of Troy Mason a year ago in the spring. He's showing signs but is just inexperienced."

Defensively, the Rebels needed to come up with replacements for Black and Brisco in the secondary. Two local products, Jamaal Brimmer of Durango and Ross Dalton of Cimarron, both were impressive at Black's strong safety position.

"They both had very good springs," Robinson said. "I think both will be very good players but they are inexperienced right now."

Junior Jamal Wynn emerged as the front-runner to take over for Brisco despite strong springs by freshmen Joe Hunter and Ruschard Dodd-Masters.

"We kind of hope Jamal can do for us what Amar Brisco did for last year," Robinson said. "With experience, we think he can be a consistent player for us."

The Rebels begin fall practice on Aug. 8 in preparation for the Sept. 1 season opener at Arkansas.