Part one!
First of all I got a 200 dollar ticket by an idiot police officer for not stopping at a stop sign and I know did stop. I started out a little pissed off today. I kind of let him have it too. He started trying to be nice to me after he gave me the ticket and I stopped him short and said can I leave.
I'll say one thing about the new coaching staff, they are very organized. If they're going to practice FG's they separate units into groups by positions first and have them practice on what they should be doing at that position. The DT's practice how they want them to push, the DE's practice how to seal off the ends, the flyers practice their angles, and the Lb's practice filling the gaps. Then after ten minutes they get all groups together and put the plan into motion. This is done quite a few times thruought practice, and in many different areas such as pass plays, outside runs, cutback lanes, and more. This is not exactly new to practices for sure, but the way they go about it, and the way they know exactly what they want each individual to be doing is really refreshing from the last 3 coaching regimes.
Other things to note before I get started is that there is a lot of nice crisp hitting going on, and this looks like the most in shape team I've seen in a few years!! Also and I like this one, there is NOT ONE PLAYER riding stationary bikes!!
Lets start with the Qb's.
First of all, it looks like one of the Qb's will betting getting a day off from TEAM drills for each practice. Today McCown got his time on the sidelines. All three participate in all unit drills and individual stuff but only two Qb's practice against the defense. I might be wrong but it looked like that today.
Enough of that.
John Beck had an absolute horrible practice this afternoon. He threw back to back int's and 3 overall. All three were terrible decisions. He was throwing very erratic all day. One pass was a wounded duck, then another was an overthrow. Mix in passes thrown behind, then to far out in front, and I would say he got a good butt chewing after practice. Even though I'm a fan of John Beck there is no way to hide the facts here. He had one real nice pace for about 40 yd gain to I think Kircus.
McCown did nothing great and even though he did not go against the defenses today, he probably took the lead in the Qb battle.
Henne looked very calm and used to practicing under pressure. He throws with nice touch too, and has an exceptional arm. By far the strongest arm on the team. He made some bad throws today as well, but for a Rookie, I was slightly impressed with his poise.
Wr's
I loved this part. The coaches line up cones about 8 yds wide and 10 yds long, and have a Db going up against a Wr and have a man behind the Wr with the ball. The Db and Wr clash and the Wr is not supposed to stop until the man with the ball goes past the 10 yd cones. I'm sure the idea behind this was to have a man out in front for the quick out passes but will also work on runs to the outside very well. The one Wr I was disappointed in was Derek Hagan. I'm not sure why but he got his butt handed to him every single time, and took a good lecture from it at the end. Tedd Ginn, who looks a little more buffed in his upper body, actually did fairly well. I'm not saying he was great at it but he did not shy away from contact and the man he was blocking for actually gained about 7-8 yds before being touched. Wilford needs to learn some balance but his initial contact was real good. Bess went at it like he was going to run right thru his man, which made a nice sound on contact but he bounced back a few feet the first two times. The Wr who impressed me the most was none other than the smallest Wr on the roster. Jayson Foster took the initial hits and kept driving. He went at it with Will Allen, and actually won the first time. Allen did not take too kindly to this and tried roughing him up the next time. Foster took it though and put up a decent fight the second time as well.
As for catching the ball
All the Wr's caught some balls but the ones who stood out were Camarillo, who made a nice diving catch, and Davis Kircus made one as well, and had a couple of nice grabs. Jon Dunlop and Justin Winn both made some nice grabs, as did Mathew Mulligan (nice one handed spinning catch). Wilford looks nice running routes, as does Ginn. Then there is Bess, who still has not dropped one pass that I've seen thrown to him. That's playing catch or against a defense. If he gets his hands on it, its caught. He uses his hands and with a nice soft touch. He almost seems like he is in a zone with himself. Nice route runner, with fluid speed and great hands. Now teach him to block a little more and it could get interesting.
It's kind of sad that after two practices, the Wr making the most noise, and this is not just from me, is an undrafted rookie free agent from Hawaii....
Ok now some Rb's
I'm getting right to the point here.
Ricky Williams looks absolutely fantastic! He's running real well to the outside and using his vision to make some big gains. On one play he gets to the outside, and just as he's about to take a hit, he sticks his forearm in the chest and face of the defender. He wants contact! Another play he sets out to his left, sees a nice hole and BLOWS by the entire front 7. Nice burst, great vision and about a 35 yd run. He also looked pretty decent catching balls out of the backfield in drills. I never thought I'd be praising Ricky Williams like this but it is what it is, and he seems really focused. He's even going over to the crowd afterwards and giving Autographs to the kids, who are probably getting them for their dads....
Ronnie is not pushing it too much. But on a couple of occasions you could see him use that little side step, and give it a little burst. He's still not 100 percent. No way no how, but it's good that they are not pushing him to do anything. Now he did make a couple of nice runs today so don't get me wrong here, but it's obviously going to take a little time. Good thing they have Ricky, who should see plenty of time.
Cobbs made a nice run, as did Parmale. As a matter of fact all the Rb's are kind of similar. All look in great shape, all of them have big thighs, and use cutbacks real well. The running game should be very strong, and it's going to be interesting as to what Rb's they keep after Ricky and Ronnie.
OK I'm starving and have a dinner date so I'll be back in an hour and give you guys one for the offensive line, and one for the defense.....
First of all I got a 200 dollar ticket by an idiot police officer for not stopping at a stop sign and I know did stop. I started out a little pissed off today. I kind of let him have it too. He started trying to be nice to me after he gave me the ticket and I stopped him short and said can I leave.
I'll say one thing about the new coaching staff, they are very organized. If they're going to practice FG's they separate units into groups by positions first and have them practice on what they should be doing at that position. The DT's practice how they want them to push, the DE's practice how to seal off the ends, the flyers practice their angles, and the Lb's practice filling the gaps. Then after ten minutes they get all groups together and put the plan into motion. This is done quite a few times thruought practice, and in many different areas such as pass plays, outside runs, cutback lanes, and more. This is not exactly new to practices for sure, but the way they go about it, and the way they know exactly what they want each individual to be doing is really refreshing from the last 3 coaching regimes.
Other things to note before I get started is that there is a lot of nice crisp hitting going on, and this looks like the most in shape team I've seen in a few years!! Also and I like this one, there is NOT ONE PLAYER riding stationary bikes!!
Lets start with the Qb's.
First of all, it looks like one of the Qb's will betting getting a day off from TEAM drills for each practice. Today McCown got his time on the sidelines. All three participate in all unit drills and individual stuff but only two Qb's practice against the defense. I might be wrong but it looked like that today.
Enough of that.
John Beck had an absolute horrible practice this afternoon. He threw back to back int's and 3 overall. All three were terrible decisions. He was throwing very erratic all day. One pass was a wounded duck, then another was an overthrow. Mix in passes thrown behind, then to far out in front, and I would say he got a good butt chewing after practice. Even though I'm a fan of John Beck there is no way to hide the facts here. He had one real nice pace for about 40 yd gain to I think Kircus.
McCown did nothing great and even though he did not go against the defenses today, he probably took the lead in the Qb battle.
Henne looked very calm and used to practicing under pressure. He throws with nice touch too, and has an exceptional arm. By far the strongest arm on the team. He made some bad throws today as well, but for a Rookie, I was slightly impressed with his poise.
Wr's
I loved this part. The coaches line up cones about 8 yds wide and 10 yds long, and have a Db going up against a Wr and have a man behind the Wr with the ball. The Db and Wr clash and the Wr is not supposed to stop until the man with the ball goes past the 10 yd cones. I'm sure the idea behind this was to have a man out in front for the quick out passes but will also work on runs to the outside very well. The one Wr I was disappointed in was Derek Hagan. I'm not sure why but he got his butt handed to him every single time, and took a good lecture from it at the end. Tedd Ginn, who looks a little more buffed in his upper body, actually did fairly well. I'm not saying he was great at it but he did not shy away from contact and the man he was blocking for actually gained about 7-8 yds before being touched. Wilford needs to learn some balance but his initial contact was real good. Bess went at it like he was going to run right thru his man, which made a nice sound on contact but he bounced back a few feet the first two times. The Wr who impressed me the most was none other than the smallest Wr on the roster. Jayson Foster took the initial hits and kept driving. He went at it with Will Allen, and actually won the first time. Allen did not take too kindly to this and tried roughing him up the next time. Foster took it though and put up a decent fight the second time as well.
As for catching the ball
All the Wr's caught some balls but the ones who stood out were Camarillo, who made a nice diving catch, and Davis Kircus made one as well, and had a couple of nice grabs. Jon Dunlop and Justin Winn both made some nice grabs, as did Mathew Mulligan (nice one handed spinning catch). Wilford looks nice running routes, as does Ginn. Then there is Bess, who still has not dropped one pass that I've seen thrown to him. That's playing catch or against a defense. If he gets his hands on it, its caught. He uses his hands and with a nice soft touch. He almost seems like he is in a zone with himself. Nice route runner, with fluid speed and great hands. Now teach him to block a little more and it could get interesting.
It's kind of sad that after two practices, the Wr making the most noise, and this is not just from me, is an undrafted rookie free agent from Hawaii....
Ok now some Rb's
I'm getting right to the point here.
Ricky Williams looks absolutely fantastic! He's running real well to the outside and using his vision to make some big gains. On one play he gets to the outside, and just as he's about to take a hit, he sticks his forearm in the chest and face of the defender. He wants contact! Another play he sets out to his left, sees a nice hole and BLOWS by the entire front 7. Nice burst, great vision and about a 35 yd run. He also looked pretty decent catching balls out of the backfield in drills. I never thought I'd be praising Ricky Williams like this but it is what it is, and he seems really focused. He's even going over to the crowd afterwards and giving Autographs to the kids, who are probably getting them for their dads....
Ronnie is not pushing it too much. But on a couple of occasions you could see him use that little side step, and give it a little burst. He's still not 100 percent. No way no how, but it's good that they are not pushing him to do anything. Now he did make a couple of nice runs today so don't get me wrong here, but it's obviously going to take a little time. Good thing they have Ricky, who should see plenty of time.
Cobbs made a nice run, as did Parmale. As a matter of fact all the Rb's are kind of similar. All look in great shape, all of them have big thighs, and use cutbacks real well. The running game should be very strong, and it's going to be interesting as to what Rb's they keep after Ricky and Ronnie.
OK I'm starving and have a dinner date so I'll be back in an hour and give you guys one for the offensive line, and one for the defense.....
