LB Lewis improves mental game

Drew Lewis could make a case for being the best athlete on the Colorado football team.

With the season opener — and Lewis’ first-ever start at CU — coming up next weekend against Colorado State, he’s trying to get the mental aspect of the game down, too.

Junior inside linebacker Rick Gamboa has been limited in practice the past several days, which has forced Lewis, also a junior, to sharpen up his game.

“With (Gamboa) not practicing too much right now and me taking more reps with (freshman Akil Jones) at inside ’backer, it’s helping me to be on my own and make the calls on my own,” Lewis said. “That’s definitely one place I need to improve.”

This month, CU linebackers coach Ross Els raved about the athleticism of Lewis but said Lewis “relies on Rick a little bit too much.”

This week, he hasn’t been able to do that.

“That’s exactly what I need, to be able to become independent and be able to do it myself,” Lewis said.

While Gamboa and Lewis are likely to be on the field together a lot this year, Gamboa knows how vital it is for each player to be sharp mentally.

“That’s one thing I learned the past two years with injuries and people going down, you can’t always rely on one person,” Gamboa said. “There’s times you have to rely on yourself and figure things out. Right now, those reps are definitely helping him.”

Lewis said that at the beginning of camp “there were times I found myself not doing too well or lacking from play to play.”

With the opener less than 10 days away, he said, “I can see the whole big picture coming together right now. I feel a lot more comfortable out there, everything is a lot more smooth, even making the checks.”

Prepping for the Rams.

Coach Mike MacIntyre said his staff has studied all 13 of Colorado State’s games from last year in preparation for the opener on Sept. 1 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The Buffs are building their game plan off of last year’s games but will be prepared to make adjustments after watching the Rams take on Oregon State on Saturday in Fort Collins.

“We’ll see this next game to see if they changed anything,” MacIntyre said. “Everybody changes a little bit, but as well as their offense was clicking (last year), I don’t how much they’ll change.”

Tough break for Sanchez.

Last year it was a torn ACL. This year it’s a torn pectoral muscle.

Safety Jaisen Sanchez, a junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, will miss his second full season in a row because of injury.

“He was doing really well,” MacIntyre said. “He had jumped to another level than I had ever seen him, and I was really excited what he could do to help us this year.”

Because this will be Sanchez’s second full season missed, MacIntyre said he could try to get a waiver and earn a sixth season of eligibility. If he does, Sanchez, who redshirted in 2014 and played all 13 games in 2015, could have two more seasons to play.

“Hopefully next year he’ll be able to stay healthy and be able to help us,” MacIntyre said.

Footnotes.

On Wednesday, the Buffs spent more time on game situations with special teams and MacIntyre was pleased with that progress. “You just keep repeating them, repeating them, repeating them so they’re ready for the situation and they know exactly what we’re supposed to do in those situations,” he said. ... The Buffs have not decided if any veteran players might redshirt this season, but said, “We’ll go into the first few games and if we’re thinking about that, we might not play those guys.” ... The Buffs will practice in the evening Thursday and then in midafternoon Friday. Friday is also the kickoff luncheon at Balch Fieldhouse.