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Mel Tucker brings heat in 1st Michigan State football practice since season reinstatement

For a brief moment Monday evening, Antjuan Simmons lost his concentration.

His train of thought fizzled, causing him to pause before asking a reporter to repeat his question.

“It’s been a long day,” Simmons said with a smile.

The senior linebacker from Ann Arbor had just finished a practice that was so charged it blindsided him like a blitzing defender he strives to emulate.

Exactly 222 days into the Mel Tucker era of Michigan State football, Simmons’ first true introduction to the new coaching regime resembled a baptism by fire.

There was non-stop running, an accelerated tempo in every drill and no rest for the weary.