While most football teams across the nation are itching to kick off the 2013 season this weekend, Stanford will remain on the practice field as the team anxiously waits for its Sept. 7 season opener against San Jose State.

Head coach David Shaw sees the delay as both a blessing and a curse.

“We get a chance to see other people, and as I told the guys, we get a chance to see them have their first-game jitters,” Shaw said. “Maybe lose some games that they shouldn’t because of turnovers, penalties and being sloppy, so hopefully we can learn a lesson from watching other people. Negatives are that we basically got 12 games in 13 weeks after this bye.”

After sitting out Saturday’s open scrimmage, senior running back Ricky Seale returned to the field on Monday while senior tailback Anthony Wilkerson caught the end of the afternoon practice session. Fifth-year senior nickelback Usua Amanam, junior wideout Ty Montgomery and senior free safety Ed Reynolds were sidelined today with minor injuries, though Shaw stated that the measure was mostly precautionary.

Under the watchful eyes of sports performance coordinator Shannon Turley, it’s hardly a coincidence that no Stanford player has suffered a major injury thus far in camp. Still, Shaw wasn’t a fan of answering injury-related questions when he was swarmed with them by reporters on Monday.

“It’s a little early to be worried about injuries, isn’t it? We don’t play for two weeks,” Shaw said.

The intensity of fall camp has already reached its peak. Though the players still have two more two-a-days this week, Shaw stated that the afternoon practices will be shortened and geared towards more situation-specific plays.

Contact George Chen at gchen15 “at” stanford.edu.