2008-08-01 (Fri) Afternoon

>>>>For more pictures from both Randy and myself, click here: 2008-08-01 Afternoon

Back at the lower field. It was pleasantly overcast and windy. The guys were in shorts and shoulder pads. Deuce was not in pads. At first I thought Shockey was not in pads, either. I would come find out that he was simply wearing tiny shoulder pads.

As you might suspect by now, walked up during a break and then they went into 11-on-11. Brees sailed a beauty of a 40-yarder to Meachum on the sideline right below the crowd - they liked it. Once again, they showed the formation with no TE and both tackles in a two-point stance. In this instance it was draw to Reggie. Brunell hit Lance Moore on a nice cross. During Palko’s turn they showed a formation I’d never seen: Staggered backfield with TE Buck Ortega lined up at half back. Interesting. Unfortunately I immediately forgot about the play because it led to a shoving match between Todd Blythe and Wale Dada. [*air horn*]

For teams d’especial they first worked on Weatherford punting out of the endzone. He consistently got it to about the 50. Returning rotation was Reggie, Lance Moore, and Skyler Green – who would end up dropping about three passes on the day. On the other hand, Lance Moore looks better and better. Anyway, back to teams d’especial. Next they moved up for several punts from the 15. But then for two turns they moved to the opponents 45. Weatherford’s made it into the end zone after one bounce. Prather’s bounced on the 4 and rolled back to the 8. During all these punts I tried to keep up with who were the assassins – the two guys whose duty it is to tackle the returner. After 10 different players, I quit trying.

Next was kick coverage with the golf cart tires. Rather than send all 11 on each play, they would only send one side and intentionally sail the ball to the opposite sideline. Smart drill. [*air horn*]

Back to 11-on-11. Meachum (who is also looking better and better) caught two in row. Both routes we straight ahead – one about 10 yards, the other about 30. “Ahhhhhhh.” During Palko’s turn, he was “sacked” two times in a row. One was coverage, one was a blitz. [*air horn*]

Ah yes, the two minute drill. Brees was on fire. Schockey, Copper, Meachum; boom, boom, boom. Once at the goal line, and keeping with the pairs trend, Usama Young batted the ball on two consecutive plays. The first was at the pylon with Meachum. The second was at the back of the end zone with Patten. Brees connected with Reggie, but his momentum took him out of bounds at the one. The touchdown went to Meechum, under the goal posts, on a cross. Brunell did not a have good turn. After three 5 yard completions to Pierre in a row, Skyler dropped one. After two more incompletions the horn blew the end of practice.

At first it looked like the VIPs were to receive the spoils again. But as post-practice wore on, the players stepped up again for the regular joes. Strief (who could double as a component of Stonehenge), Mark Campbell, Cedric Ellis, Antwan Lake, Pierre, Reggie, and Brees all went out of their way. Good job, fellas.

Autograph Props: Lance Moore

Beer Props: Randy

Tomorrow is the scrimmage!