CHAMPAIGN — Tuesday's Illinois football practice ended much like every practice does. Wide receivers Sam Mays and Carmoni Green got in extra reps catching balls off the JUGS machine. Several other Illini receivers ran routes for quarterbacks AJ Bush Jr. and Matt Robinson.
Mays was the last player on the field at Memorial Stadium — outlasting even Bush — going through one last tub of balls. Elevating the passing game to where it's an equal of the Illinois run game remains a top priority heading into Saturday's 2:30 p.m. Dad's Day game against Minnesota.
"You see the character of that person or the people that are actually spending time," Bush said about the group taking extra reps after practice.