HATTIESBURG — Preparations for the 2020 Southern Miss football season began Wednesday morning with the team’s first official practice of summer camp.

The Golden Eagles, working in helmets and shorts, experienced their first “social-distanced” practice as they worked on position group fundamentals for a good portion of the practice.

It was the first practice for the Golden Eagles since last January as they prepared for the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl to conclude the 2019 season. The school did not go through spring practice due to the COVID-19 outbreak last March that forced college athletics to shut down for the remainder of the academic year.

“As players and as coaches, they have done as good a job as could be expected,” said Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson on having dealt with the pandemic. “We have battled through a lot of unknowns but they have done their best and worked hard. As for practice, we had good energy today. I was pleased with our first day.”

For senior quarterback Jack Abraham, it was great to be back on the practice field.

“I was just happy to be back out on the field with everybody,” said Abraham. “It’s been tough. There have been a lot of different obstacles that we have had to overcome, but I think the guys that have been here during the summer and the whole off season has worked hard.”

The Golden Eagles signal caller said that he and his teammates are taking the safety precautions that have been put in place for their protection very seriously.

“They are very necessary and we need to have them,” said Abraham regarding the safety protocols. “The guys here are taking them very seriously and for us to play a full season we are going to have to take them seriously.”

The Golden Eagles return to the practice fields again Thursday.