It’s fun to be back, I think that’s the biggest thing. So, we’re trying to take advantage of everything, not just me but some of the other guys who had to sit out due to injury. – Chuckie Keeton

LOGAN – The timing of Utah State's football team couldn’t have been more perfect Friday afternoon.

Not necessarily with the play on the field.

It was, after all, the first practice of fall camp, so there were certainly plenty of misconnections between quarterbacks and receivers, and moments of indecisions by linebackers and defensive backs.

But weather-wise, the Aggies’ timing was spot on.

Rather than open preparations for the 2015 season on a 90-plus-degree day under a blazing sun, the temperature was in the mid-70s under gray, overcast skies. And while rain ended up hitting the USU campus, it didn’t start until practice was wrapped up and the Aggies were heading back to the locker room to take a shower anyway.

“How about that? I’ve never been somewhere where it was 72 degrees and cloudy, and now it’s starting to sprinkle,” USU head coach Matt Wells said of the unusually comfortable weather for the first week of August.

“I’ve never seen it like this before. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” seconded junior linebacker and Utah native Nick Vigil. “It feels great out here.”

While Friday’s practice marked a return to work for the entire USU program, it was also a return to action for a number of Aggies who sustained season-ending injuries during the 2014 season, most notably the senior trio of quarterback Chuckie Keeton (knee), wide receiver Brandon Swindall (Achilles) and linebacker Kyler Fackrell (knee).

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Fackrell declared when asked what it felt like to be back on the playing field for the first time since tearing the ACL in his right knee in last year’s season-opening loss at Tennessee.

“The brace is a little bit annoying, but I think I’ll just have to adjust it a little bit. But it feels great to be out here with these guys and playing football again.”

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Fackrell said he wasn’t tentative during Friday’s practice, and that he’s “close” to feeling how he wants to.

“I think the conditioning could be a little bit better; I was dying out there a little bit,” admitted Fackrell, who was selected as the Mountain West Preseason Defensive Player of the Year a couple of weeks ago. “But I think the speed of my play and the mentality I have feels good. It’s like where I’ve been in the past.”

Keeton, who received a medical hardship after playing just two and a half games last year, looked strong on Friday. But the senior QB was also able to play in practices last spring, something neither Fackrell nor Swindall, who tore his Achilles in USU’s second game of 2014, had the luxury of doing.

“I thought they both ran around pretty good,” Wells said of Fackrell and Swindall. “I haven’t seen nine (players) out there for a while — the big 9 — so that was good to see Fackrell back.”

Swindall appeared to tweak a hamstring about halfway through Friday’s two-hour-long practice, but Wells seemed confident that the 6-foot-4 wideout would be back in action during the Aggies’ second practice Saturday morning.

“It was fast and it was energetic, which is exactly what I expected it to be,” Wells said of USU’s inaugural practice. “Now I want to see them come back tomorrow. They have one chance to make a first impression, and that’s this weekend. I want to make sure that they understand that.

“I thought it was good, but we’ll know more next week.”

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Friday’s practice was also the first since December for Vigil, who was held out of action in the spring after reinjuring a hamstring in USU’s Gildan New Mexico Bowl victory over UTEP. Sophomore Alex Huerta also practiced after missing all of 2014 with a shoulder injury, while Keeton, who tore his left ACL midway through the 2013 season, played with protective sleeves on both knees but no braces.

“It’s fun to be back, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Keeton said. “So, we’re trying to take advantage of everything, not just me but some of the other guys who had to sit out due to injury.

“But overall, the offense is looking alright right now. We’ve got a lot of work that we can do, but I’m excited to see what these guys are about and now is the time to really find out what this team is made of.”

The Aggies will practice in helmets and shorts through Saturday, then add shoulder pads on Monday before going in full pads for the first time on Wednesday. Utah State’s first two-a-day practices are slated for Aug. 14, followed by the team’s first scrimmage of fall camp at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at Maverik Stadium.

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