DURHAM – Mike Elko could hear a difference in Duke’s football practice Wednesday morning and, for a coach who said last week he wanted his team to ramp up the physicality last week, that was a good sign.

“I think they’ve done a really good job of picking things up and trying to get better at them, so you certainly see a lot of areas of improvement,” Duke's first-year coach said. “Physicality today, I thought was the one that really stuck out.

“That was the loudest practice that we’ve had this spring.”

Elko said during Duke’s Pro Day last week that he was looking for more physicality as the Blue Devils went deeper into spring ball – Wednesday marked the 10th of 15 allotted practices.

He was pleased to see that come to fruition Wednesday morning in part because when Duke scrimmaged Friday of last week, the staff challenged the Blue Devils to be more physical.

“The one thing we challenged them on coming out of it was just physicality,” Elko said. “I thought we had to be a more physical team altogether to get where we want to go, and I think the last two practices, they’ve kind of responded to that.”

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Here are some notes from Wednesday morning’s practice:

- It seemed like offensive coordinator Kevin Johns was doing a lot more hands-on coaching than he was at the previous two practices I’ve attended.

Not sure there’s anything more to that than just observing and filing away.

- It’s hard to get too excited about plays against “air” – offense against no defense, or vice versa – but walk-on receiver Edwin Barnes III had a fantastic one-handed catch in the back of the end zone early in practice.

- In receiver/defensive back one-on-ones, Jordan Moore had a sharp completion on a deep out route to Malik Bowen-Sims.

- Soon after that, Riley Leonard hit Jalon Calhoun on a back shoulder throw down the sideline.

Here’s an extended Elko response on the two scholarship QBs:

“I think each of them … are tremendous workers and tremendous competitors, so when you have that at the quarterback spot, that’s a good starting spot. I think each of them have gotten better in their own ways.

“I think Riley is more athletic than people think he is, so he’s done a good job in that part of it. And I think his command of the passing game has continued to improve each day of spring.

“Jordan obviously is a tremendous athlete, I think everybody knows that, everybody saw that last year. But his ability to kind of command the offense and run efficiently as a quarterback, I think gets better every time he comes out here.

“I think we’re happy with both of those kids, I think they’re both trending in a really good direction.”

- This was not the best of practices for sophomore cornerback Cameron Bergeron – he was called for holding.

- Jontavis Robertson ran a really crisp out route, but Leonard didn’t lead him enough and the pass was broken up.

- Moving into 11-on-11 work, redshirt junior running back Jaylen Coleman had a nice burst around the right side of the line.

- Soon after, fellow running back Eric Weatherly busted loose up the middle.

- A lot more running highlights than passing ones in this segment … Moore turned the right corner on a keeper for a big gain.

- In 7-on-7 work, Robertson had a step on a DB but Moore overthrew him.

I made note of this: Moore was not particularly sharp throwing the ball. I’d say it was his first bad day (out of three) that I’ve seen.

- Leonard, a few plays later, overthrew Bowen-Sims, who was open down the sideline.

- It wasn’t all bad for Moore: He dropped in a deep pass to Robertson that was lofted perfectly, and Robertson caught it looking over his shoulder.

- Back in 11-on-11 segment, Leonard dropped a nearly identical throw to Robertson, who again made an over-the-shoulder grab on a deep, perfectly lofted pass.

- Bowen-Sims – it was a big day for him, I thought – made a sliding catch across the middle on a low throw from Leonard.

- Moore threw a bit of a dying duck down the sideline to Darrell Harding Jr., who made a great adjustment to make a catch between two defenders.

- There’s a yin and yang with Moore: A few plays later, Moore made a great read that his receiving options were covered and tucked it, darting through the left side of the second for a touchdown.

Moore hit 20 miles per hour while running, according to the Catapult system. Strength and conditioning coach David Feeley was celebrating the players hitting that speed again. Elko said Duke has had Catapult systems before his staff’s arrival, but that there were limited numbers of them available.

“I just know it was very limited. We did not have the amount of units to put on all of our team,” Elko said of past Duke teams and their Catapult usage. “So that’s one of the things from an administration standpoint that they approved with the new hire.”

- Duke got some goal-line work in 11-on-11 segment, and the first notable play was a fumble at the goal line by Coleman.

He was doing down-ups – just as it sounds, drop to the ground, then get up – for, let’s just say, a considerable amount of time.

- R.J. Oben had a really nice play to beat Moore to the corner for a TFL. If Duke’s defensive ends can contain Moore, they should be able to contain most QBs they face next season.

- Da’Quan Johnson tipped a pass, which allowed Placide Djungu-Sungu to come up with an interception.

- We’ll end on another defensive standout play: Defensive tackle Michael Larbie blew up an inside run for a TFL.