On a rainy and muddy Thursday, University of Hawaii football player Jalen Rogers could not be more delighted.

“I’m happy to be here and still practicing,” said Rogers, whose Rainbow Warriors are preparing for the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl against Middle Tennessee.

This is a hectic time. Today is UH’s last day of instruction for the fall semester. Final-exam week begins on Monday. Earlier this week, coach Nick Rolovich offered each player an opt-out option.

“I’m not tyrannical,” Rolovich said. “You’ve got to want to be here to be great. I sent them a text the other day, the whole team. If you don’t want to be at the bowl, if you want to go home and see your family, go. Just don’t come to practice so we’ll know. … If going to see your high school buddies that all wish they were doing what you’re doing is more important than this football team, then they should go.”

There were no volunteers.

“They’re all here,” Rolovich said, proudly.

Rolovich excused the players from football activities the week following the Nov. 26 regular-season finale against Massachusetts. That allowed the players to focus on academics. The Warriors missed 16 days of classes because of seven road trips during the regular season.

“I think it was a good thing for us,” Rogers said. “It helped people get over a couple injuries and all the nicks and bruises and catch up on schoolwork.”

This week, the Rainbow Warriors had more technique-based practices. The rotation players were dismissed a half-hour early, enabling redshirts and developing players to work on the Warriors’ schemes.

“It kind of reminds me a little of fall camp, where it’s not as much time dedicated but it’s enough to keep us locked in,” quarterback Dru Brown said.

Rolovich said the Warriors will work practices around final exams next week and then “we get into game week.” The Warriors had a compact regular season, with 13 games — seven on the road — in 14 weeks. Rolovich does not believe shifting to a drawn-out bowl-preparation schedule will lead to competitive atrophy.

“It’s not like we’re not doing anything,” Rolovich said. “We’re not sitting there getting bed sores. They’re still working.”

Rogers has stressed the battery life of his iPad watching videos of Middle Tennessee and the Warriors’ regular-season games.

“I started as soon as I heard it was (Middle Tennessee),” Rogers said. “I watched all the old games, especially the ones we lost to really evaluate what I did wrong. I watch the plays where I do bad and get beat more than my good plays. I want to know what I did wrong so I can fix it.”