As the Jacks wind down their spring practice session, new head coach Rob Smith feels his squad is progressing nicely.

“Without question (it’s been a productive spring session),” Smith said. “There’s only a week to go and you wish you had more than 15 practices, but I think the team has made a lot of progress in a lot of ways. They’re starting to understand our level of expectations for them.”

In particular, Smith has been pleased with the development of the offensive line, a unit that came into the spring as a major concern and a unit that did not possess much depth.

Switching senior defensive lineman Lorenzo Arenas (6-foot, 2-inch, 265 pounds) to offensive tackle has been key to that improvement.

“We’re pleased with the development of the No. 1 offensive line group,” Smith said. “That was a real concern for us coming into spring practice.”

In addition, Smith has liked what’s he’s seen from the running game, particularly in Friday night’s scrimmage in the Redwood Bowl.

“Our running game has been solid with Bobby Thomas and Joevany Cueva,” the new coach said. “And Corey Stollmeyer had a very nice scrimmage (Friday).

“And our top three quarterbacks have adapted well to the system.”

Seniors Brian Hildebrand and Garrett Hubrich have split time at quarterback, along with red-shirt freshman Mike Proulx, and all three, according to the coach, have impressed.

Overall, Smith was pleased with Friday’s scrimmage, the second of the spring for the Jacks.

“I thought offensively we did some things very well,” said Smith, who is less than three months in charge. “We made some big plays, but at the expense of some defensive letdowns. But overall, we ran near 100 plays and it was a good night of work for all the guys.”

The Jacks also received some good news this week with senior linebacker Allen Brunner expected to be back on the field in time for the fall after it was originally feared he may miss the season with a back injury.

“Brunner is in non-contact mode for the spring dealing with a back injury, but certainly we do expect him back in the fall,” Smith said.

Standout receiver Edwin Henry, however, will miss the 2008 season after tearing his ACL late in 2007, but Smith said he hoping to have the sophomore back in time for next spring.

The Jacks will host their Green and Gold Scrimmage to close out the spring practice next Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Redwood Bowl.