James Madison held practice Tuesday morning at the team’s practice fields in Harrisonburg. Only four days remain of preseason camp before the Dukes go into their first game-week preparation for their opener at Bridgeforth Stadium on Sept. 3 against Morehead State.

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- Throughout drills on Tuesday, there was one clear standout – cornerback Charles Tutt. The 5-foot-10 sophomore took reps with the first- and second-team defenses, but recorded two pass breakups against two first-team wide receivers. In 1-on-1, Tutt knocked down a throw intended for John Miller on a slant pattern and during the 7-on-7 period, Tutt leaped to swat away a deep ball that would’ve gone for a touchdown to Brandon Ravenel.

- “Charles Tutt has had a good camp,” said cornerbacks coach Tripp Weaver. Tutt is coming off of a broken leg that sidelined him for the final four games of the 2015 season. Weaver said that during the spring he questioned Tutt’s toughness, since the Clifton native had problems adjusting back from the injury. Throughout camp, Tutt has proven to the staff that he is healthy and can contribute, according to Weaver.

- Weaver said Tutt would enter the season in a four-man cornerback rotation. Senior Taylor Reynolds and sophomore Rashad Robinson will start at corner in the base 4-2-5 system and Tutt will play in the nickel package, bumping Reynolds to nickel corner when the Dukes use three corners on the field. Sophomore Curtis Oliver is also part of the four-man rotation.

- Robinson earned the starting role in the base defense during the spring game and held onto it throughout preseason camp, Weaver said. The first-year position coach said throughout the two-plus weeks of practice that Robinson has twice as many interceptions as any corner and has twice as less blown assignments.

- Robinson said that as soon as the season was over last year he knew that he’d be in a competition for a starting role in 2016. Robinson, Tutt and Oliver all came in together at JMU, so Robinson said he knew with three corners on scholarship in the same class that he’d have to separate himself. The Hermitage High product said he gained 10 pounds during the summer and hasn’t letup during camp.

- On offense, coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said he’s seen “vast improvement” from the offensive line and that the running backs have had a “fantastic camp.” Kirkpatrick said he has never had two running backs show up to practice and practice as consistently well as Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson have throughout August.

- The Dukes still have not officially announced a starter at quarterback, so Bryan Schor and Connor Mitch continue to battle for the role at practice. Kirkpatrick said he believes the staff is getting closer to making a decision for Week 1.

- Head coach Mike Houston said Saturday that the timetable for an announcement was by the end of this week. Kirkpatrick said JMU will keep evaluating and re-evaluating the starting spot beyond fall camp and at least until conference play begins. Kirkpatrick also added that he wasn’t opposed to seeing both quarterbacks in game action early in the season.

- On Saturday, the team scrimmaged and Kirkpatrick had time to evaluate the film of both quarterbacks’ performances. Kirkpatrick said he liked that both quarterbacks showed good leadership in the huddle and the ability to run the team. The first- and second-team offenses had no delay of games and no illegal substitution penalties. Schor and Mitch were also accurate with the ball.

- On the negative side, Kirkpatrick said Schor had two bad plays in 24 total snaps and Mitch had one bad play during game-like situations. Schor threw an interception and Mitch made a bad decision on a read option with the offense backed up against the goal line.