Dude
Seasoned Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2003
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Today’s practice was HOT! Not hot as in great throws and catches all over the place, but hot as in it was like 120 degrees out there. Fortunately it was not very crowded and the stands were less then 25% full.
You could see the heat take its toll on the players today. In the beginning of the O vs D team drills the energy level was high. There was good hitting at the line and bodies were flying around all over the place. And by the end of practice (which was a full 2 hours) the intensity had noticeably gone down. The guys looked a little sluggish. Even to the point where about 15 min till the end of practice, you could hear Wanny yelling ‘ Let’s pick up the Tempo!... Tempo! Tempo!â€Â.
#64, 82, 66, 3 & 95 practiced
#33 Dyer worked with a trainer and didn’t practice
#23 Surtain was out there working with one of the trainers a little bit
#44 Konrad had a sling & cast on and watched
Drew Rosenhaus was there.
Play of the day - #84 Chambers streaking down the near sideline and running under a perfectly placed pass from Fiedler over #29 Madison who had great coverage. That was the only real deep connection from Jay today, but it was great.
Fiedler – this was not one of Jay’s best practices. He had several over throws and in general, more balls then normal hit the grass. He especially had a problem with the long ball in the full team drills including one that was very off and looked like it went over the fence on a deep sideline pass. He wasn’t by any means horrible. He definitely had his share of good throws also, but he did not look near as sharp as the last couple of practices I attended.
Griese – had a good day today. He seems to be getting rid of the ball quicker and continues to show good touch on the ball on intermediate and long passes.
Sage – limited reps looked good.
Sheriff – who?
They spent almost the first half of practice working on special teams:
Punting – They practiced all kinds of punting situations including being backed up in their own end zone. In all the full team 11 vs 11 drills, #3 Royals handled the punting and looked pretty good. He had several booming punts about 50 yards with great hang time and only a few kicks that were less then 45 yards. He also looked good pinning the runner to the sideline on the directional stuff. He did have one shank that was screaming New England and only went about 25-30 yards off the side of his foot.
With just the punters practicing Royals and #1 Stemke were trading good kicks back and forth. Stemke’s kicks went a few more yards then Royals, but he definitely struggled with the directional ones. He had a couple that went out of bounds up field including one ugly wobbler that was so wide it went into the fence.
One rep on the punting out of their own end zone drill #19 Hooks jumped offsides and got reamed by one of the coaches. “This is the same bullsh*t we had yesterday with the f*ckin penalties.†(Obviously he meant Friday but no one dared correct him, “Didn’t losing because of them teach you anything!?†He was pissed!
Field goals – Mare did the kicking from 35 and 45 yards and was perfect every time. Right down the middle of the narrow goal posts. They split the holding between Royals and Stemke and there were no problems. All the reps were smooth. The one exception was #36 Donaldson getting around the corner and getting a hand on one of Mare’s kicks batting it down.
For all the special team drills #40 McDermott handled most of the long snapping and looked perfect again. His snaps are crisp and on target every time. I also noticed him a couple of times warming up snapping with his helmet. He’s officially listed as a TE but obviously he knows why he’s here. I have not seen him line up as a TE yet…
#92 Zgonian got 1 or 2 reps long snapping in each drill and looked good also. No problems.
Middle Drill:
RW – they are still really limiting his reps. He bounced one outside with a nice move but otherwise was quiet on only a few caries. Again our first team rushing D is like a wall. No room to run even for RW.
#47 Edwards had a good run up the middle.
#28 Minor looked good on a couple of runs. He looks a little bigger and seems to power through small holes better then I remember. He defiantly still has the speed to get to the outside. He had a good practice.
#26 Nothing special on very few reps.
In the middle drill it’s hard to tell exactly what’s happening, but on more then one occasion I heard Tony Wise yelling “Atta boy Smitty, way to get on himâ€Â, so I assumed that Wade Smith was doing well.
11 vs 11:
#74 Smith did not do as well in pass protecting as he did on running plays today. JT beat him to the outside for 2 sacks and also had 1-2 QB hurries. For the most part though he was holding his own, but it is Jason Taylor…
#93 Wally & #91 Williams also each had a sack.
#84 Chambers looked impressive and caught everything thrown his way. He is getting separation from the DB’s and looks great going up high for the ball.
#80 McKnight - caught a couple of ball quietly. One was a nice catch on a throw that was behind him and low he reached back for nicely.
#88 Thompson - had a couple of drops. One especially was real bad and hit him square in the chest. The other he looked like he was peaking where the DB was and took his eye off the ball… Not good…
#87 Tolver – had a couple of nice catches and looked good. He caught a great deep ball from Griese that was an especially tough catch he had to adjust for. He has been looking better the last few practices.
#17 Simmons – quiet again today. Since the injury to him vs. the Bucs, he has not had any receptions to speak of. His best play since then was a 10 yard reverse he ran vs. Jax on Friday… I would not be surprised if Tolver passes him for the 4th WR spot.
#82 Bataglia – had a drop on a tough but catchable ball in the middle of the field and I don’t think I saw him make one catch today.
#85 Lee had two nice catches
RW, #28 Minor, #30 Femi & #35 Irving all looked catching short dumps from the QB’s in the flat.
#95 Tim-Bo almost ate the ball on one play. Fiedler tried to get a screen to Rogers and couldn’t get the ball over Tim’s head. He reached up with those paws and looked like he tried to bring the ball to his mouth as it bounced off his facemask. Almost a pic. On the next play the same screen was run and Rogers picked up 10-15 darting around the middle of the field
Seau – another practice w/ Jr living in the backfield. He is quick and disruptive. Even the plays he doesn’t to the QB he destroys the pocket. I foresee a few sacks this year for Seau and a few more from him flushing the QB out of the pocket and right into Taylor’s or Wally’s arms.
After the team meeting when practice ended the TE’s, RB’s and then joined by Seau leading the LB€™s all ran sprints. Well, the work ethic was nice to see, but they had nothing left as all of them were jogging by the end of the 2nd rep.
I walked by the fence on my way out and passed by T-Buck who was signing autographs and heard him bitching about the heat. I joked about it being our home field advantage, an he agreed, â€Âit’s a killerâ€Â. Did I mention it was hot?
You could see the heat take its toll on the players today. In the beginning of the O vs D team drills the energy level was high. There was good hitting at the line and bodies were flying around all over the place. And by the end of practice (which was a full 2 hours) the intensity had noticeably gone down. The guys looked a little sluggish. Even to the point where about 15 min till the end of practice, you could hear Wanny yelling ‘ Let’s pick up the Tempo!... Tempo! Tempo!â€Â.
#64, 82, 66, 3 & 95 practiced
#33 Dyer worked with a trainer and didn’t practice
#23 Surtain was out there working with one of the trainers a little bit
#44 Konrad had a sling & cast on and watched
Drew Rosenhaus was there.
Play of the day - #84 Chambers streaking down the near sideline and running under a perfectly placed pass from Fiedler over #29 Madison who had great coverage. That was the only real deep connection from Jay today, but it was great.
Fiedler – this was not one of Jay’s best practices. He had several over throws and in general, more balls then normal hit the grass. He especially had a problem with the long ball in the full team drills including one that was very off and looked like it went over the fence on a deep sideline pass. He wasn’t by any means horrible. He definitely had his share of good throws also, but he did not look near as sharp as the last couple of practices I attended.
Griese – had a good day today. He seems to be getting rid of the ball quicker and continues to show good touch on the ball on intermediate and long passes.
Sage – limited reps looked good.
Sheriff – who?
They spent almost the first half of practice working on special teams:
Punting – They practiced all kinds of punting situations including being backed up in their own end zone. In all the full team 11 vs 11 drills, #3 Royals handled the punting and looked pretty good. He had several booming punts about 50 yards with great hang time and only a few kicks that were less then 45 yards. He also looked good pinning the runner to the sideline on the directional stuff. He did have one shank that was screaming New England and only went about 25-30 yards off the side of his foot.
With just the punters practicing Royals and #1 Stemke were trading good kicks back and forth. Stemke’s kicks went a few more yards then Royals, but he definitely struggled with the directional ones. He had a couple that went out of bounds up field including one ugly wobbler that was so wide it went into the fence.
One rep on the punting out of their own end zone drill #19 Hooks jumped offsides and got reamed by one of the coaches. “This is the same bullsh*t we had yesterday with the f*ckin penalties.†(Obviously he meant Friday but no one dared correct him, “Didn’t losing because of them teach you anything!?†He was pissed!
Field goals – Mare did the kicking from 35 and 45 yards and was perfect every time. Right down the middle of the narrow goal posts. They split the holding between Royals and Stemke and there were no problems. All the reps were smooth. The one exception was #36 Donaldson getting around the corner and getting a hand on one of Mare’s kicks batting it down.
For all the special team drills #40 McDermott handled most of the long snapping and looked perfect again. His snaps are crisp and on target every time. I also noticed him a couple of times warming up snapping with his helmet. He’s officially listed as a TE but obviously he knows why he’s here. I have not seen him line up as a TE yet…
#92 Zgonian got 1 or 2 reps long snapping in each drill and looked good also. No problems.
Middle Drill:
RW – they are still really limiting his reps. He bounced one outside with a nice move but otherwise was quiet on only a few caries. Again our first team rushing D is like a wall. No room to run even for RW.
#47 Edwards had a good run up the middle.
#28 Minor looked good on a couple of runs. He looks a little bigger and seems to power through small holes better then I remember. He defiantly still has the speed to get to the outside. He had a good practice.
#26 Nothing special on very few reps.
In the middle drill it’s hard to tell exactly what’s happening, but on more then one occasion I heard Tony Wise yelling “Atta boy Smitty, way to get on himâ€Â, so I assumed that Wade Smith was doing well.
11 vs 11:
#74 Smith did not do as well in pass protecting as he did on running plays today. JT beat him to the outside for 2 sacks and also had 1-2 QB hurries. For the most part though he was holding his own, but it is Jason Taylor…
#93 Wally & #91 Williams also each had a sack.
#84 Chambers looked impressive and caught everything thrown his way. He is getting separation from the DB’s and looks great going up high for the ball.
#80 McKnight - caught a couple of ball quietly. One was a nice catch on a throw that was behind him and low he reached back for nicely.
#88 Thompson - had a couple of drops. One especially was real bad and hit him square in the chest. The other he looked like he was peaking where the DB was and took his eye off the ball… Not good…
#87 Tolver – had a couple of nice catches and looked good. He caught a great deep ball from Griese that was an especially tough catch he had to adjust for. He has been looking better the last few practices.
#17 Simmons – quiet again today. Since the injury to him vs. the Bucs, he has not had any receptions to speak of. His best play since then was a 10 yard reverse he ran vs. Jax on Friday… I would not be surprised if Tolver passes him for the 4th WR spot.
#82 Bataglia – had a drop on a tough but catchable ball in the middle of the field and I don’t think I saw him make one catch today.
#85 Lee had two nice catches
RW, #28 Minor, #30 Femi & #35 Irving all looked catching short dumps from the QB’s in the flat.
#95 Tim-Bo almost ate the ball on one play. Fiedler tried to get a screen to Rogers and couldn’t get the ball over Tim’s head. He reached up with those paws and looked like he tried to bring the ball to his mouth as it bounced off his facemask. Almost a pic. On the next play the same screen was run and Rogers picked up 10-15 darting around the middle of the field
Seau – another practice w/ Jr living in the backfield. He is quick and disruptive. Even the plays he doesn’t to the QB he destroys the pocket. I foresee a few sacks this year for Seau and a few more from him flushing the QB out of the pocket and right into Taylor’s or Wally’s arms.
After the team meeting when practice ended the TE’s, RB’s and then joined by Seau leading the LB€™s all ran sprints. Well, the work ethic was nice to see, but they had nothing left as all of them were jogging by the end of the 2nd rep.
I walked by the fence on my way out and passed by T-Buck who was signing autographs and heard him bitching about the heat. I joked about it being our home field advantage, an he agreed, â€Âit’s a killerâ€Â. Did I mention it was hot?
