A little bit of progress to report from Wednesday's practice, where quarterback Matt Grothe remains a spectator but no longer has a protective boot on his sprained ankle.

Grothe twisted his ankle in the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss to Rutgers and had the boot on at Tuesday's practice, but he's confident he'll be able to play in Sunday's final home game against Connecticut. Senior Grant Gregory was at the helm of the first-team offense during the first half-hour of Wednesday's drills.

Running backs Mike Ford and Jamar Taylor, who have barely played in the last two losses becaus e of ankle injuries, are both looking ready to play in practice. Both backs were running routes to catch passes from quarterbacks, and carrying the ball at full speed in other workouts. Offensive tackles Jake Sims and Danous Estenor were not participating in practice -- they're recovering from ankle and knee injuries.