Dude
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- Joined
- May 5, 2003
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They began practice with field goals and Mare was nailing 35 yarders like automatic. They were kicking into the regular width goal posts. #56 Mallard (DE) was splitting long snapping duties with Ed Perry and both looked pretty good. All snaps looked on target and easy to handle
Next they moved on to punting. #83 Simmons, #86 Wilkins and #45 Roundtree were the returners. Initially they were punting and putting one in the punting machine at the same time for the returners to catch, but eventually they let the returners catch the balls from the live punters. This is also the first time they let the returners return the punt a little after making the catch. They were wearing red flags like in flag football days to avoid too much contact. Both Wilkins & Simmons looked good returning. Both showed good hands and nice moves. Roundtree bobbled a couple and didn’t look as comfortable. They were also practicing covering the punts and almost everybody got a shot as flyers. Lots of special teams work early on this year…
When the QB’s were warming up, Sage and #5 Stoerner got some reps. Boy when they got in there things went south fast. The first 4-5 reps of the set they were splitting were incomplete and the few after that were complete really made the WR’s work for it. The balls were all over the place. I will say that Sage really looks the part though. He stands tall in the pocket and can fire 40 yard lasers when he tries. There is no doubt he has the strongest arm on the team, but inaccuracy and bad decisions are what keep him as 3rd string. #5 Stoerner is camp fodder, nothing more.
#9 Fiedler – struggled at times with the deeper passes, with both overthrows and underthrows. He missed an open Simmons one play with an overthrow after he beat Madison in coverage and it looked like a definite TD. He underthrew to Boston in double coverage on another… Jay did, however, really look sharp on the shorter stuff. He also took good command of the team in the Red Zone and 2 min drills and made a few TD throws including a well place ball in the corner of the end zone to Chambers beating Surtain in coverage.
#7 Feeley – His best play was probably made with his feet today when he avoided the rush and scrambled for big yards after finding no one open. He showed great awareness on that play. With his arm he had an ok day. He mostly hit open receivers for short gains but he struggled in both the Red Zone and 2 minute work.
#84 Chambers – sounds like a broken record, but he is really looking great beginning with a beautiful one-hander in warm-ups. I heard someone ask Tolver about Chambers at the fence after practice and he responded “Yeah, I guess that cat can play. Actually, he might be the best WR in the league and look for him in the pro-bowl this year†– Nice words JR!
#83 Simmons – Had a GREAT practice! Looked good as a PR. Solid technique and fast with shifting moves in the open field. Caught every punt smoothly. Also looked very good as a WR with a few nice acrobatic catches including a TD.
#19 Minnis – laid out on a diving attempt of an overthrown Feeley ball. Great effort – no catch. – Quiet today.
#87 Tolver – looked great in camps last year, and has almost disappeared this year. He showed up a little today with one nice grab splitting 2 defenders, one other catch.
If we played in a game tomorrow, this is where I have the WR’s ranked
1) Chambers
2) Boston
3) Thompson
4) Minnis
5) Simmons
6) Newson
7) Tolver
8) Wilkins
#99 JT – Great practice, very active. Got sacks on both the left and right side destroying anyone in front of him. Met RW in the backfield twice for definite losses on running plays.
#55 Seau – had a nice play batting down a ball at the line from Feeley
#31 Morris – a couple of nice catches out of the back field and also looked good on a couple of draws. He continues to show great quickness in the open field
#46 Wilkins – looked good as a punt returner, but struggled a little as a receiver today. He had one obvious drop from Sage, and then couldn’t bring down a very high ball from Fiedler after getting both hands on it. Typical Jay overthrow, but he had a real chance to make a great play (35+ yards) and didn’t
Well, since the last QB school is not open to the public, I guess its back to work for a month until training camp opens and the world stops!
The biggest news of all my reports so far is that there were no real injuries at any of the camps and guys like Eddie Moore are healing nicely. That’s a great off-season in my book!
Photos: Click Here
Videos: Click Here
Enjoy!
Next they moved on to punting. #83 Simmons, #86 Wilkins and #45 Roundtree were the returners. Initially they were punting and putting one in the punting machine at the same time for the returners to catch, but eventually they let the returners catch the balls from the live punters. This is also the first time they let the returners return the punt a little after making the catch. They were wearing red flags like in flag football days to avoid too much contact. Both Wilkins & Simmons looked good returning. Both showed good hands and nice moves. Roundtree bobbled a couple and didn’t look as comfortable. They were also practicing covering the punts and almost everybody got a shot as flyers. Lots of special teams work early on this year…
When the QB’s were warming up, Sage and #5 Stoerner got some reps. Boy when they got in there things went south fast. The first 4-5 reps of the set they were splitting were incomplete and the few after that were complete really made the WR’s work for it. The balls were all over the place. I will say that Sage really looks the part though. He stands tall in the pocket and can fire 40 yard lasers when he tries. There is no doubt he has the strongest arm on the team, but inaccuracy and bad decisions are what keep him as 3rd string. #5 Stoerner is camp fodder, nothing more.
#9 Fiedler – struggled at times with the deeper passes, with both overthrows and underthrows. He missed an open Simmons one play with an overthrow after he beat Madison in coverage and it looked like a definite TD. He underthrew to Boston in double coverage on another… Jay did, however, really look sharp on the shorter stuff. He also took good command of the team in the Red Zone and 2 min drills and made a few TD throws including a well place ball in the corner of the end zone to Chambers beating Surtain in coverage.
#7 Feeley – His best play was probably made with his feet today when he avoided the rush and scrambled for big yards after finding no one open. He showed great awareness on that play. With his arm he had an ok day. He mostly hit open receivers for short gains but he struggled in both the Red Zone and 2 minute work.
#84 Chambers – sounds like a broken record, but he is really looking great beginning with a beautiful one-hander in warm-ups. I heard someone ask Tolver about Chambers at the fence after practice and he responded “Yeah, I guess that cat can play. Actually, he might be the best WR in the league and look for him in the pro-bowl this year†– Nice words JR!
#83 Simmons – Had a GREAT practice! Looked good as a PR. Solid technique and fast with shifting moves in the open field. Caught every punt smoothly. Also looked very good as a WR with a few nice acrobatic catches including a TD.
#19 Minnis – laid out on a diving attempt of an overthrown Feeley ball. Great effort – no catch. – Quiet today.
#87 Tolver – looked great in camps last year, and has almost disappeared this year. He showed up a little today with one nice grab splitting 2 defenders, one other catch.
If we played in a game tomorrow, this is where I have the WR’s ranked
1) Chambers
2) Boston
3) Thompson
4) Minnis
5) Simmons
6) Newson
7) Tolver
8) Wilkins
#99 JT – Great practice, very active. Got sacks on both the left and right side destroying anyone in front of him. Met RW in the backfield twice for definite losses on running plays.
#55 Seau – had a nice play batting down a ball at the line from Feeley
#31 Morris – a couple of nice catches out of the back field and also looked good on a couple of draws. He continues to show great quickness in the open field
#46 Wilkins – looked good as a punt returner, but struggled a little as a receiver today. He had one obvious drop from Sage, and then couldn’t bring down a very high ball from Fiedler after getting both hands on it. Typical Jay overthrow, but he had a real chance to make a great play (35+ yards) and didn’t
Well, since the last QB school is not open to the public, I guess its back to work for a month until training camp opens and the world stops!
The biggest news of all my reports so far is that there were no real injuries at any of the camps and guys like Eddie Moore are healing nicely. That’s a great off-season in my book!
Photos: Click Here
Videos: Click Here
Enjoy!
