AMHERST — There was a different vibe inside the practice bubble as the University of Massachusetts football team returned to practice Tuesday morning. Coming off a first full-contact practice and wearing pads to Tuesday's session will do that for you. "I definitely think the intensity of practice has increased. I think, in the beginning, they were trying to figure everything out a little bit the first week, and coming back after spring break, trying to get back in the flow of it," UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak said. "I think the intensity of practice has been really good. Our guys are competing. "We're taking steps, but consistency will be the key to changing something, so we just have to stay consistent with everything." The Minutemen held a closed practice on Saturday, a practice that was described as full contact with players in full pads. Then, on Tuesday, the players were back in shorts, but wearing shoulder pads. And while the contact was very limited, certainly compared to Saturday, it was a fast-moving, high-intensity morning. After five practices over two weeks, the first year head coach described Saturday's "full contact" practice as "awesome. "It was like why we play. This is like why we do it," Harasymiak said, when he met with reporters following Tuesday morning's practice. "I think we had 24 reps, and we had a two-minute drill. It was good to see them out there because you've got to protect them and not go live all the time. When we do, we're going to cut it loose. "Saturday was the first chance to do that, and we'll do that again this Saturday." One area of football that got a lot of repetitions Tuesday morning was red zone offense. Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian was in the middle of things there, working with quarterbacks A.J. Hairston, Grant Jordan, Ryan Jankowski, Will Perry and Zach Lawrence. "I guess it's all relative," Harasymiak said in response to a question about if the quarterbacks are ahead of where he and Bajakian might have thought. "I guess the thing that I look at is that they're listening. I said that to the staff [Monday]. I think we have a group of guys that are hungry to win. They're listening to what we're asking them to do." The Minutemen don't have their full group of quarterbacks out on the field. Brandon Rose, a junior transfer from Utah, has been without a helmet since spring practice began. Rose, who played for Bajakian last fall at Utah, has been recovering from offseason surgery. He is expected to be ready come training camp this summer. Harasymiak is no different than the two previous UMass coaches. Walt Bell and Don Brown would not commit to a first-string quarterback during their initial spring practices. And like most head coaches anywhere, the first-year mentor at UMass says that he has no timetable on when picking the so-called QB1 happens. "It happens when it happens," Harasymiak said. "There's so much to evaluate. Certainly BRose coming back as well. We have to get the whole group in there to evaluate that. From my standpoint, with Coach Jake and Coach Belch [offensive analyst Drew Belcher] in there, running the operation is what I'm looking forward to." Harasymiak said mistakes will be made, but the head coach said he doesn't try to talk about successes and failures — at least not at this point of practice. "As long as they fall, if you fall you can get back up. We don't talk about failure. We don't talk about performance," the first-year coach said. "We're falling a little bit, but it's good. We're getting back up. I think where we are is relative to where we need to be down the road. I just look at every day, and we're being consistent with our actions. That's always a good thing."