Parnell Motley changes his voice
NORMAN — Parnell Motley isn’t a quiet guy.
The cornerback earned a reputation for his trash talk last season, chirping at wide receivers during practice and in games.
But this season, he’s using his voice for something different.
“He’s been the vocal leader the first two days of practice,” defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks said. “He’s always been a talker so let me clarify that. He’s always talking to the wide receivers.
“Now he’s talking to the group, the defense, the defensive backs. He’s talking to young guys about their eyes and what they’re doing fundamentally. He’s being more of a leader from a defensive perspective.”
Motley, who called himself a veteran on Tuesday, recognizes his opportunity to be a leader. With players such as Steven Parker and Will Johnson gone from the secondary, he’s embracing his new role.
“I feel my voice has changed tremendously, especially coming this spring,” he said. “We’ve got young guys in the secondary. In a lot of places, they don’t really know what we’re doing, so I’m just glad to be that vocal leader, be one of the veterans and lead by example, take things under my hands.”
Kelly on the mend
After playing through a torn labrum, linebacker Caleb Kelly is finally getting healthy.
The rising junior, who suffered the shoulder injury in the first quarter of the Tulane win, is sitting out spring practice after having surgery to repair the injury in the offseason.
“I didn’t get it checked out until the end of the season,” Kelly said. “I knew there was something bugging me because it kept on slipping out and in, so I was dealing with that all year. I just was able to push through it and was able to play.”
Though he’s benefiting from a spring away from contact drills, Kelly is also paying close attention to practice from the sideline. This year, he’s making the move inside to be the weakside linebacker opposite of Kenneth Murray at middle linebacker.
“It’s going to be a learning spring for him,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “Caleb is a very intelligent player. He’s able to process everything that we’re trying to do. He just kind of sits back there and stands next to us and tries to process the calls and go through it as he stands back there. He’s still going to get a lot out of this spring.”
Extra points
Baker Mayfield and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo stopped by practice Tuesday afternoon ahead of Wednesday morning’s Pro Day . ... Former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema was also at OU’s second spring practice. ... According to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko, John Elway and other Broncos staff will be at OU’s Pro Day to watch Mayfield.