227's Training Camp Report for 8/1

The weather today was clear, hot and sunny, about 90 degrees in the parking lot by 2PM. It climbed to 92 degrees by 5PM, and the humidity was moderate. There appeared to be a large number of attendants at this practice. As I pulled in at 1:45, buses were unloading hundreds of screaming teenagers, so this added to the numbers. In fact, it made it difficult to find a decent spot today along the fence, which is where I met ThunderbirdJet and Kurt. The cameras were set up on the grassy side, so we found ourselves a spot along the fence in the shade. Mangini didn?t need the loudspeakers today, the teenagers supplied all the background noise you?d ever want.

1 on 1?s were up first and they?re always fun to watch. RB Alvin Banks (34) had some nice moves and escaped being tackled. TE Joe Kowalewski (40), laid a great hit on newly-arrived RB Tony Hollings (32), wearing Cedric Houston?s old number. These drills were all sort of Special Teams stuff? 1 on 1.

They switched to 3 on 3?s and RB Danny Ware (23) got past the 3 and broke free, as did WR Chansi Stuckey (83). Stuckey has some great moves, but more on him later.

Now, the 7 on 7?s, or what some call ?Skeleton Drills.? These are OFF vs DEF but without linemen. The 2nd team started the drills and immediately G Pete Kendall (66) was with them again. The three of us surmised that this would be the case all day again, but not so, because soon after, he was inserted with the 1st team. This was at 3:10, more than an hour into the practice. With the 2nd team, RB Alvin Banks (34) again exhibited great moves and terrific speed to the outside.

With the 1st team, Pennington (10) put up a nice pass to WR/QB Brad Smith (16) but it was nicely batted away by CB David Barrett (36). But Penny came back and completed a really nice pass to WR Cotchery (89) on the next strike. All the while, Kendall was in the 1st team! Unbelievable, right? I speculated to Kurt that maybe Kendall had gone into Tannenbaum's office during lunchtime and said, ?Truce! I?ve had it! Put me back and I?ll shut up!? It just seemed odd to now see Kendall taking this many snaps with the 1st team again. Why? And for what purpose? What?s to be gained? In the meantime, G Adrien Clarke was in with the 2nd team, so go figure.

While the 2nd team was on the field again, Clemens (11) made a terrific pass to Smith (16) and he caught it in stride. New WR Evan Prall (9) fumbled on a reverse during this series, then bobbled a pass, juggling it in midair before losing it. Both of these plays unfortunately took place right in front on one Eric Mangini, who I noticed immediately took out his notebook and began scribbling notes. Kurt and I surmised we had just witnessed one of those rare, moments in time, in which you could almost tell this was a possible death knell for the unfortunate young man. Two screwups in a row, and both happened right in front of ?The Man.? Prall took a lap for this, which didn?t sit well with the woman to my left, who announced to me, ?I think that?s cruel!? I said, ?What, that he?s taking a lap?? She says, ?Yes! My son plays football and I would hate it if his coach made him take a lap!? Well?. Whatever, lady. If you?re reading this and instilling that kind of nonsense into your son?s head, he?ll probably never play professional sports anyway.

Other drills at the far end included field goal kicking and blocking. K Mike Nugent (1) nailed one so hard and so high, that is careened off the scizzor-jacked cage (40? feet up in the air) which contained the cameraman. The look on his face was like, ?WTF??

About this time, it was Punt Return time and RB/KR Leon Washington (29) was sitting on his helmet about 30? from Kurt and T-Bird and I, waiting for it to start. So I yelled over, ?Hey Leon? have a great season. We love you, man!? and Kurt added, ?Great catch yesterday Leon.? Leon acknowledged our comments by turning and giving us a thumbs up. The PR?s were Leon, McCareins (81), Miller (22), Cotchery (83) and Brad Smith (16) again. At some point, Smith has to be removed from this equation. Perhaps when we sign DB/PR Darrelle Revis (24) that will bring about the change.

DE Bobby Hamilton (98) was injured today. At first it looked like his thigh or groin, because he was holding his left arm down in this area. He walked off on his own and spent the next 30 minutes in the trainer?s tent. Through my binoculars, I could see him sitting there. When he got up, I followed him back onto the field and his t-shirt was wet where they had iced his left shoulder. T-Bird and I figured that?s what it had to be. I guess we?ll be hearing tomorrow what the injury was, but here?s hoping it?s minor, because Hamilton has been having a tremendous camp by all accounts.

7 on 7?s, as T-Bird likes to call them, or skeleton drills, which is what some others call them, are drills with the OFF vs the DEF, but with no linemen present. First out of the box is a Clemens (11) pass to somebody, picked off by CB Drew Coleman (30). The rest of the 7 on 7?s went well but took place at the other end, so it was hard to see.

11 on 11?s followed now, and it gets interesting. Clemens let go a good pass with heat on it to Stuckey (83), but he dropped it, which is rare for him. But then Clemens followed it up with a deep, deep pass down the left line to B. Smith (16) who caught it in stride and would have probably gone all the way if this had been a real game. Then Clemens followed this one with an ill-placed pass to WR Wallace Wright (15), which was thrown behind him and which he had no chance of catching.

More 11 on 11?s, this time with Smith wearing his red #16 at QB. He had a great pass to FB Darien Barnes (37). It should be noted that Barnes had a good day in general and is looking pretty good. I haven?t seen it with my own eyes, but reports are that he?s run-blocking well and blowing some holes open. Smith (16) also had a couple of good handoffs to RB Danny Ware (23), who is having a good camp also. Ware is showing some pretty good moves. In fact, Kurt and I commented that our offense seems to be loaded with guys who are making good moves. Stuckey, Ware, Jones, Washington, even Barnes and Banks are all excellent ?jukers.?

It?s 4:25PM! They?ve been at it for 2 hours and 25 minutes. Time to quit? Nah?. Back to the 1st team with the 11 on 11?s. Pennington is out there again and heaves an absolutely beautiful pass to none other than my guy this year, TE Joe Kowalewski (40). I?m high on this guy? don?t ask me why. I guess it was Sunday morning that caught my attention. Always catching the ball solidly? terrific hands? gets the yards after. I?ll tell you, there?s a real battle going on for the #2 TE spot. Jason Pociask (82) and James Dearth (85) have to be looking over their shoulders. But that?s what camp is all about? competition for the job. Penny?s pass to Kowalewski, by the way, was as nice a Pennington pass as you?re ever going to see. Really pretty. Just enough heat on it to get the job done. Touch and accuracy and just enough zip to be there on time. And Kowalewski was there to snatch it in and run with it.

4:35PM ? back to the 2nd team again. Clemens (11) to Stuckey (83) this time. Clemens put some heat on this one and Stuckey pulls it in and then jukes a couple of guys to get some good yardage. Stuckey is becoming a favorite target of Clemens, it became obvious to Kurt and I. And why not? This guy has great hands, rarely misses a catch and jukes almost as well as Leon Washington. This guy is the real deal for us and T-Bird even envisions him the possible replacement for Coles! It remains to me to be seen if he?s got that same tenacious toughness that Coles is known for, but I hope he?s right! At any rate, Chansi Stuckey will make the team, IMO.

A general comment about camp. T-Bird and I are in general agreement that this camp so far is ?softer? than last year?s Mangini camp (the 1st one). While it?s slower and softer (easier) than last year, in our opinion, it?s still a more strenuous camp than Camp Marshmallow ever was under Herm. It looks like Mangini?s camp this year has longer sessions on the field than last year (certainly longer than any Herm Edwards sessions) so it appears Mangini has somewhat traded rigorous physical activity with longer practice. The session this afternoon broke up at 4:50PM, which may be the longest camp session so far this year (2 hours, 50 minutes).

Hope this report helps you get a better idea of TC this year. I'm not as mechanical as ThunderbirdJet or as technically knowledgable as Kurt is with the linemen. I specifically tried to concentrate on things other than the linemen and the DB's, because I know you'll be hearing a lot more about them from Kurt and T-Bird. At any rate, hope you enjoyed my report.

 

Thanks guys...

MM: I agree on the length of this camp compared to Herm. I specifically remember Herm's camps having been scheduled for 2 hours. With the two-a-days, the morning session would be from 8:45 to 10:45. Then the lunch break, followed by the afternoon session from 3:00 to 5:00 or so. He seemed to time them around lunch and dinner. But the thing I remember most was that some of them never even made the full 2 hours. I remember one that ended in about 1 hour, 45 minutes, with guys wandering off the field to the showers and then over to The Netherlands for a leisurely lunch. Players were in there for over an hour in some cases.

So yeah, Herm's camps were not only softer, they didn't last as long. This year Mangini seems to have slacked off on the rigorous drills a little bit but extended the time out on the field.