BLITZKRIEG
~LACUNA LEGIONS~
Just to start things off, this had to be one of the largest crowds I've seen in quite some time out at the Phinz training facility. Only a few open seats in fact. The weather was hotter than hades, but I managed to prepare well enough to stick it out. Not a comfortable situation for the less prepared at all....
When I first sat down, they were running what looked to be some kind of 11-11 drill. Beck was QBing, but it only lasted a few minutes at best. I guess I missed something short where they were going head to head for a few minutes or something. Anyway, back to the report..
During this short drill, Beck looked decent, but still had one of this passes batted down at the line. Nothing major, but still, a small reminder of the rookie woes that haunted him. One positive thing I noticed right off the bat was his size. He looks beefier, and his frame looks stronger this year. Good news there....
QB / VARIOUS TEAM DRILLS
------------------------------
Right after the first action, they all split off, and went separate ways. I was mainly focused on the QB's....
They began throwing, but these were mostly basic warm up drills. It mainly consisted of all the QB's throwing high lob spirals down the sidelines, and hitting the WR's in stride. Like I said however, these were basic, no pressure, no coverage, just the QB's going to the WR's. I will say that Beck / Henne both had tight spirals while this was taking place....
The OL at this time was over by themselves working what looked to be mostly tech / conditioning drills. The DL was on the opposite field doing the same. Not much action / somewhat boring, but still a very crucial factor on the field. These types of drills build strength in the trenches....
QUICK STRETCH
OL starts working with the sleds. It's tough to make any accurate assumptions while watching this kind of thing. We'll have to wait until the end of the practice session to see if they can move the ball against the defense or not. Speaking of the defense, they're over on the opposite field working on pass rush against the dummies. As for LB's / DB's, all are working on fumble recovery...
On a side note really quick, I see tons of hustle going on out there everywhere. It's nice to have a certain kind of tempo, and just from watching, you can see that these guys are out there to practice hard. Great news....
Now the QB's start drilling again, and this time it's over the middle / quick outs being conducted. Very simple stuff in my opinion, but like I've stated, these things are necessary in order to build confidence / timing. Everyone looks very sharp so far, no dropped balls as of this time....
The DB's are over on the opposite field working on some INT drills. More of the same stuff all around, just drilling...
The WR's start running some 5 yard turnaround routes. The QB's are practicing what looks like some "in your face" passing drills. Interesting, but not much to write about. Basically a coach coming through the line with his hands up in the QB's face. Very short throws over the middle to left side...
The QB now begin practicing some 3 step passes. These are short / quick passes that will connect if there's a blitzing MLB coming on. Both Beck / Henne are showing solid zip, but McCown hasn't been looking so hot. Beck / Henne are clearly showing more promise at this early stage. They just look better than McCown....
PASS DRILLS NO PRESSURE
-----------------------------
Beck - Beck goes deep to WR D. Kircus, excellent diving catch on what looked to be a tad overthrown. Still, the best connection of the day in my opinion. That play went for about 50 yards from where I was sitting, it could have been more....
Beck - Beck then overthrows, it looked like a misread. There were crossing patterns, and the timing was off. Your typical TC mistake. Better to have it now than later right??...
Beck - Beck throws outside to RB J. Parmele for approx 10 yards. Much better timing on that one...
Henne - Henne completes one to WR E. Wilford for 15, on a simple turnaround route. Nice timing though...
Henne - Henne executes a short dump off to RB R. Brown. Nothing special, just going to the RB to get use to it....
Henne - Henne throws incomplete to FB R. Mauia. He never turned for the ball, and the pass was bad as well....
Henne - Henne throws short underneath for about 5. No big deal since there is no pressure.....
McCown - McCown executes a fake handoff to Brown, and then throws opposite side to Ginn on sidelines, while the WR blocks outside for Ginn to cut in. Very good excution on this play, they ran it like they've been doing it for years....
That was it for McCown during that particular drill, and to be honest, I was shocked....
-----------------------------------------
I now notice the OL / DL going at it in head to head leverage drills. These guys are really going at it, and I love the attitude I'm seeing out there from both sides. They look very hungry, and have been playing after the whistle. Nobody wants to show any signs of weakness that's for certain...
------------------------------------------
To keep things simple, I'm now going to skip over a few "not so interesting things" and go straight onto the 11-11 drills. First however, I'd like to say that the starting QB battle appears to be all Beck / Henne today. McCown should be named the invisible QB, because he's done basically nothing all day. I guess time will ultimately decide his fate....
Now, onto the moment of TC that we all love, the last 11-11 drills....
Beck - Hands off to Brown, he goes right for minimal gain....
Beck - SACK! He held the ball way too long, and he couldn't find an open WR. He does attempt a pass after the whistle, and throws directly into double coverage. It falls incomplete, but should have been picked....
Beck - He then throws one of the worst deep passes I've ever seen. This pass was the true definition of "dead duck", and it was picked off easily. Horrible pass....
Beck - Hand off to Ricky, fights hard and gains a few. Ricky is playing so well, and so hard, it's tough not to have some high expectations under Sparano. He looks better than ever, and he's constantly giving everything on every play....
Beck - Another sack. It appears that the left side of the OL is getting pushed around, and it's causing problems. I'm not positive if it's Long, but I see most of the 1st team out on the field so it likely is....
Beck - He attempts to go deep, but it's way too long and into double coverage. The WR saved Beck from another pick on that one in my opinion....
Henne - FUMBLE!! The QB / RB exchange was muffed, and the ball got loose. Not a good start....
Henne - Awesome hole up the middle for Brown to race through. It's about a 25 yard gainer....
Henne - Play action, goes over the middle about 15 yards, but get picked by R. Hill in the process. There was a lot of pressure coming at Henne as well. Not a good decision or protection...
Henne - Ricky runs to the right side for a solid 4-5 yard gain. He's really standing out more than anyone at this point...
Henne - SACK Again, the pressure is coming in, and he's also holding the ball too long. Then there's always the WR's who aren't getting open. It's an all around poor play, and it's something that they'll have to work on. Poor....
Henne - Ricky goes to the left side for another decent 4 yard gain....
Both QB's looked very uncomfortable during these drills, and I wasn't at all impressed with what I saw. I think in time we'll get a better idea of who will emerge as our man, but today they were just too inconsistent for my liking in this drill session....
MORE HEAD TO HEAD {looks like 8-8, could that be correct??}
-----------------------
Beck - Throws to the right sideline, good pass, but even better coverage. Incomplete....
Beck - Quick sideline pass for about 5 yards. Nothing special, but still good timing....
Beck - Throws short outside to Ricky, he takes it up for about 3-4....
Beck - Throws over the mid / side to Ginn for about 20, but the pass is behind him. Not a good throw there....
Beck - Short underneath to Hagan complete. That was an easy pass....
Beck - Short over the middle to WR D. Bess. No big deal really, but this kid Bess looks like a real gamer....
Beck - Very nice throw over the side / middle to WR S. Lymon. It looked like about a 15 yard gain, and Beck hit him as he was turning in. That's another solid pass right there....
Henne - Short, outside pass to TE Fasano. He was solid all day, and I like his athletic abilities as our future TE....
Henne - Nice throw over the mid / side to Fasano again. Goes for about 10, and Henne had some nice zip....
Henne - Throws about a 20 yard sideline pass, but it falls incomplete. Maybe a little over thrown, but the coverage was on top of it as well...
Henne - Play action, short sideline pass that gets broken up. It was a late throw by Henne....
Henne - Nice pass for about 15 yards to Fasano, he was open over the middle, and Henne placed that pass into stiff coverage. Positive news....
I'm sure most of you have noticed, well maybe you haven't, but McCown hasn't done anything all day. Well here we are, in the final 5 minutes of practice, and McCown get his number called....
McCown - Short completion over the middle to FB B. Grigsby. Easy stuff in my opinion..
McCown - He now throws a nice pass down the sideline for about 20 yards. The timing on this play was perfect....
McCown - Quick outside throw to WR J. Foster. Again, very good timing, and although it doesn't look fancy, these kinds of plays take precision in execution. Nice job....
McCown - He hits TE S. Ryan for about 15 yards down the side / mid. I will say this about McCown, he looked much better at the end of today's practice session than he did at the start. He was sharp that final 5 minutes....
OVERALL THOUGHTS....
-----------------------
There is no question that this team is working very hard. They looked focused, and they played beyond the whistle many times throughout what was an extremely hot day today. I have to give these guys a lot of credit for going out there and working their tails off like they have today. It seems almost impossible at times....
Standouts - There were a few, I'd say guys like Ricky / Ronnie / Kircus / Bess / and Fasano played very well. The guys in the trenches were battling extra hard out there as well, so I have to give them some props today too. Great job guys...
Well, I'd call it a very productive day. A very well conducted practice session, and the team looks well disciplined in my opinion. Thanks.....
IN TUNARANO WE TRUST.....
When I first sat down, they were running what looked to be some kind of 11-11 drill. Beck was QBing, but it only lasted a few minutes at best. I guess I missed something short where they were going head to head for a few minutes or something. Anyway, back to the report..
During this short drill, Beck looked decent, but still had one of this passes batted down at the line. Nothing major, but still, a small reminder of the rookie woes that haunted him. One positive thing I noticed right off the bat was his size. He looks beefier, and his frame looks stronger this year. Good news there....
QB / VARIOUS TEAM DRILLS
------------------------------
Right after the first action, they all split off, and went separate ways. I was mainly focused on the QB's....
They began throwing, but these were mostly basic warm up drills. It mainly consisted of all the QB's throwing high lob spirals down the sidelines, and hitting the WR's in stride. Like I said however, these were basic, no pressure, no coverage, just the QB's going to the WR's. I will say that Beck / Henne both had tight spirals while this was taking place....
The OL at this time was over by themselves working what looked to be mostly tech / conditioning drills. The DL was on the opposite field doing the same. Not much action / somewhat boring, but still a very crucial factor on the field. These types of drills build strength in the trenches....
QUICK STRETCH
OL starts working with the sleds. It's tough to make any accurate assumptions while watching this kind of thing. We'll have to wait until the end of the practice session to see if they can move the ball against the defense or not. Speaking of the defense, they're over on the opposite field working on pass rush against the dummies. As for LB's / DB's, all are working on fumble recovery...
On a side note really quick, I see tons of hustle going on out there everywhere. It's nice to have a certain kind of tempo, and just from watching, you can see that these guys are out there to practice hard. Great news....
Now the QB's start drilling again, and this time it's over the middle / quick outs being conducted. Very simple stuff in my opinion, but like I've stated, these things are necessary in order to build confidence / timing. Everyone looks very sharp so far, no dropped balls as of this time....
The DB's are over on the opposite field working on some INT drills. More of the same stuff all around, just drilling...
The WR's start running some 5 yard turnaround routes. The QB's are practicing what looks like some "in your face" passing drills. Interesting, but not much to write about. Basically a coach coming through the line with his hands up in the QB's face. Very short throws over the middle to left side...
The QB now begin practicing some 3 step passes. These are short / quick passes that will connect if there's a blitzing MLB coming on. Both Beck / Henne are showing solid zip, but McCown hasn't been looking so hot. Beck / Henne are clearly showing more promise at this early stage. They just look better than McCown....
PASS DRILLS NO PRESSURE
-----------------------------
Beck - Beck goes deep to WR D. Kircus, excellent diving catch on what looked to be a tad overthrown. Still, the best connection of the day in my opinion. That play went for about 50 yards from where I was sitting, it could have been more....
Beck - Beck then overthrows, it looked like a misread. There were crossing patterns, and the timing was off. Your typical TC mistake. Better to have it now than later right??...
Beck - Beck throws outside to RB J. Parmele for approx 10 yards. Much better timing on that one...
Henne - Henne completes one to WR E. Wilford for 15, on a simple turnaround route. Nice timing though...
Henne - Henne executes a short dump off to RB R. Brown. Nothing special, just going to the RB to get use to it....
Henne - Henne throws incomplete to FB R. Mauia. He never turned for the ball, and the pass was bad as well....
Henne - Henne throws short underneath for about 5. No big deal since there is no pressure.....
McCown - McCown executes a fake handoff to Brown, and then throws opposite side to Ginn on sidelines, while the WR blocks outside for Ginn to cut in. Very good excution on this play, they ran it like they've been doing it for years....
That was it for McCown during that particular drill, and to be honest, I was shocked....
-----------------------------------------
I now notice the OL / DL going at it in head to head leverage drills. These guys are really going at it, and I love the attitude I'm seeing out there from both sides. They look very hungry, and have been playing after the whistle. Nobody wants to show any signs of weakness that's for certain...
------------------------------------------
To keep things simple, I'm now going to skip over a few "not so interesting things" and go straight onto the 11-11 drills. First however, I'd like to say that the starting QB battle appears to be all Beck / Henne today. McCown should be named the invisible QB, because he's done basically nothing all day. I guess time will ultimately decide his fate....
Now, onto the moment of TC that we all love, the last 11-11 drills....
Beck - Hands off to Brown, he goes right for minimal gain....
Beck - SACK! He held the ball way too long, and he couldn't find an open WR. He does attempt a pass after the whistle, and throws directly into double coverage. It falls incomplete, but should have been picked....
Beck - He then throws one of the worst deep passes I've ever seen. This pass was the true definition of "dead duck", and it was picked off easily. Horrible pass....
Beck - Hand off to Ricky, fights hard and gains a few. Ricky is playing so well, and so hard, it's tough not to have some high expectations under Sparano. He looks better than ever, and he's constantly giving everything on every play....
Beck - Another sack. It appears that the left side of the OL is getting pushed around, and it's causing problems. I'm not positive if it's Long, but I see most of the 1st team out on the field so it likely is....
Beck - He attempts to go deep, but it's way too long and into double coverage. The WR saved Beck from another pick on that one in my opinion....
Henne - FUMBLE!! The QB / RB exchange was muffed, and the ball got loose. Not a good start....
Henne - Awesome hole up the middle for Brown to race through. It's about a 25 yard gainer....
Henne - Play action, goes over the middle about 15 yards, but get picked by R. Hill in the process. There was a lot of pressure coming at Henne as well. Not a good decision or protection...
Henne - Ricky runs to the right side for a solid 4-5 yard gain. He's really standing out more than anyone at this point...
Henne - SACK Again, the pressure is coming in, and he's also holding the ball too long. Then there's always the WR's who aren't getting open. It's an all around poor play, and it's something that they'll have to work on. Poor....
Henne - Ricky goes to the left side for another decent 4 yard gain....
Both QB's looked very uncomfortable during these drills, and I wasn't at all impressed with what I saw. I think in time we'll get a better idea of who will emerge as our man, but today they were just too inconsistent for my liking in this drill session....
MORE HEAD TO HEAD {looks like 8-8, could that be correct??}
-----------------------
Beck - Throws to the right sideline, good pass, but even better coverage. Incomplete....
Beck - Quick sideline pass for about 5 yards. Nothing special, but still good timing....
Beck - Throws short outside to Ricky, he takes it up for about 3-4....
Beck - Throws over the mid / side to Ginn for about 20, but the pass is behind him. Not a good throw there....
Beck - Short underneath to Hagan complete. That was an easy pass....
Beck - Short over the middle to WR D. Bess. No big deal really, but this kid Bess looks like a real gamer....
Beck - Very nice throw over the side / middle to WR S. Lymon. It looked like about a 15 yard gain, and Beck hit him as he was turning in. That's another solid pass right there....
Henne - Short, outside pass to TE Fasano. He was solid all day, and I like his athletic abilities as our future TE....
Henne - Nice throw over the mid / side to Fasano again. Goes for about 10, and Henne had some nice zip....
Henne - Throws about a 20 yard sideline pass, but it falls incomplete. Maybe a little over thrown, but the coverage was on top of it as well...
Henne - Play action, short sideline pass that gets broken up. It was a late throw by Henne....
Henne - Nice pass for about 15 yards to Fasano, he was open over the middle, and Henne placed that pass into stiff coverage. Positive news....
I'm sure most of you have noticed, well maybe you haven't, but McCown hasn't done anything all day. Well here we are, in the final 5 minutes of practice, and McCown get his number called....
McCown - Short completion over the middle to FB B. Grigsby. Easy stuff in my opinion..
McCown - He now throws a nice pass down the sideline for about 20 yards. The timing on this play was perfect....
McCown - Quick outside throw to WR J. Foster. Again, very good timing, and although it doesn't look fancy, these kinds of plays take precision in execution. Nice job....
McCown - He hits TE S. Ryan for about 15 yards down the side / mid. I will say this about McCown, he looked much better at the end of today's practice session than he did at the start. He was sharp that final 5 minutes....
OVERALL THOUGHTS....
-----------------------
There is no question that this team is working very hard. They looked focused, and they played beyond the whistle many times throughout what was an extremely hot day today. I have to give these guys a lot of credit for going out there and working their tails off like they have today. It seems almost impossible at times....
Standouts - There were a few, I'd say guys like Ricky / Ronnie / Kircus / Bess / and Fasano played very well. The guys in the trenches were battling extra hard out there as well, so I have to give them some props today too. Great job guys...
Well, I'd call it a very productive day. A very well conducted practice session, and the team looks well disciplined in my opinion. Thanks.....
IN TUNARANO WE TRUST.....
