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Nebraska didn't practice Thursday, but defensive coordinator Mark Banker still met with the media. Here are the main nuggets to pass along from what he had to say:

***Banker's explanation to why the team didn't practice: "We've been pretty regular from a standpoint of scheduled practices and coach Riley felt the guys had done everything they'd been asked to do and they're working hard. We've had a couple major things go on from a standpoint of injuries, nothing too terribly bad, and we've got just enough muscle strains and things like that that we thought it would be a good idea to just spend the day with some meetings, wrapping up where we're at schematically."

***Banker said that no final decision has been made on who will receive Blackshirts yet or when they will be handed out, but the coaches are "getting pretty close." The staff has discussed the matter about once a week since the start of fall camp, constantly evaluating who could get the coveted practice jerseys.

***The Huskers want to be able to rotate liberally at defensive end, but Banker said if no backups step up they will rely more heavily on starters Greg McMullen and Jack Gangwish.

***Banker said sophomore Kieron Williams has made a real jump at safety over the last week. He's made a jump mentally that's allowed him to factor into the discussion of who will play alongside Nate Gerry.

***Freshman Antonio Reed won't redshirt this year but he likely won't play much if at all on defense. He'll be mainly a special teams guy, but Banker sees him as a contributor down the road and wants him to have the experience of going on road trips, dealing with crowds, etc.

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