The Troy Trojans football team concluded the unofficial first half of spring practice on Saturday afternoon when they scrimmaged for the first time in front of fans.

The team practiced for about an hour and a half and a half before scrimmaging for the final hour.

“There was a lot of good work today,” said Trojans head coach Neal Brown. “There were some high and lows. The offense looked sharp … I thought the defense really finished well and did some good things.”

The Trojans are nine practices into their spring practice season that runs through April.

“We are getting better,” Brown said. “… Our guys are working really hard. I thought today (Saturday) was really positive.”

Injuries have plagued the Trojans this spring. About 10 players were yellow “no-contact” jerseys during Saturday’s scrimmage.

“Most of they guys that are in the yellow jerseys are out for the spring,” Brown said. “A lot of them had surgery at the end of last year and aren’t quite ready to go full contact.”

Those players included Andrew Flakes, who is coming off shoulder surgery.

The goal for Saturday’s scrimmage was to get each unit about 30 snaps and give starting quarterback Brandon Silvers an opportunity to work with the offense.

“He is really improving,” Brown said. “We have so many new faces. Our guards are getting better and we have so many new receivers. I told him one day after practice from a leadership standpoint he is communicating better than he ever has. He has been sharp all spring with the exception of one practice throwing the ball. I am excited about him. I think he is getting a really good grasp at what we are doing.”

Silvers has had to go up against a defense all spring that also continues to improve, and on Saturday the play of the interior lineman made a difference.

“Our defensive line is going to be one of our stronger units,” Brown said. “At defensive tackle, I think Jordan and Bam are doing a good job at getting those guys ready. I think we are doing a much better job from pass rushing standpoint than we did at any point last year.”

The defensive line has made an impression on senior safety William Lloyd.

“They are big and fast,” Lloyd said. “They are working on their craft each and every day. They are getting a lot better. There are more improved from the first day of practice. It’s a great thing to watch them.

After spending the first nine days of practice working on drills and learning the playbook. The players and coaches were able to see where they are at the first checkpoint of the spring.

“Today we wanted to see where are at,” Lloyd said. “There are a lot of things that we need to work on. Me personally I’m disappointed at a couple things that I did. That is part of getting better. You just find little things to get better.”

The Trojans will practice Tuesday and Thursday before a second scrimmage at 7 p.m. Friday. Spring practice will conclude on with the annual T-Day game on April 23. 12:30 p.m.