Saturday, August 9, 2008

2008-08-09 (Sat) Afternoon

>>> For more pictures of today, click here: 2008-08-09 Afternoon

With this being the first day of open practices since Tuesday, I was pretty fired up about going to practice. As I’ve done the past two Saturday’s, I pre-game mealed with an oyster po-boy, dressed, with lemon and hot sauce, at Good Time Deli. Hell yes. Back at the upper fields, it was sunny but breezy. Really nice, actually. I later found out it was 94 degrees. Sounds like I’ve acclimated. The guys were in shorts and shoulder pads. Deuce, Shockey, and Devery were all in pads. Reggie was not. Hmmmm.

During the pre-practice, the QBs and Centers went through their standard snaps and dropping back mechanics. The DL was walking through drills with no helmets. The OL, LBs, & TEs were just standing around. However, on the other field, something new was amiss.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the noted sneakiness of new special teams coach Greg McMahon. A while back I described the Surf & Turf: a kick off return that combines the time-tested methods of the wall with a (mini-)wedge. Well today they added a new wrinkle. It involved the mini-wedge (three blockers, returner, and spotter) heading straight for one sideline. But at the spotters signal, one of the blockers and the returner break off and take an angle for the other sideline. So, the kicking team gets drawn to one sideline, but once they’ve committed, the ball actually goes the other way. Genius! And, oh so sneaky. The first string of S&T mk. II was Pierre and Skyler as returner/spotter and Karney, Zach Strief, and Antwan Lake as the mini-wedge. I would not want to face those guys. [*air horn*]

For this period, they revived splitting the team between the two fields, and each walking through 11-on-11 to work on the playbook. [*air horn*]

Plies, 2, 3, 4…[*air horn*]

In running to the drills of this agility period, some of the OL & TEs gave sarcastic yells of glee. “Yaaaaaaay! Alright!” Can’t blame them. Not only are two-a-days mentally and physically taxing, but the team just spent two days in the dry heat. The O snapped the ball and then ran 20 yards. On the other field the D would watch for the snap and take the angle of pursuit for 20 yards. After several reps by each of each, they broke down into positions. DL went through several dummy slalom variations. QBs & RBs worked on the exchange. WRs ran one-on-one. TEs were on the in-traffic drill: when the whistle blows, they turn a 180 and catch a ball as three guys hit them with shields. DL moved on to getting one good hit and then disengaging with the one-man sled. QBs and WRs merged for some route work. Corners and DBs separately drilled coverage. OL went 1-on-1. And the RBs worked on blocking [*record scratching*] Wait a minute! Nobody told them they were going to have to block! Oh, the humanity! [*air horn*]

First Period of 11-on-11. Drew kicked things off with a left sideline throw to one Jeremy Shockey. After a drop, an overthrow, and a stuffed Pierre run, Drew hit Deuce in the backfield for a mighty fine screen led by a pulling Jamar Nesbit. I can’t wait to see that during the season. Instant screen to the left was read like a book.

Pierre had much better luck on Brunell’s first play, a student body right. For the next three plays, they worked Brunell on bootlegs. The first was an incompletion to the Stecker in the flat – he just wasn’t open. The second was a textbook to Ghent up on the second level. The third was actually a fake with a counter give to Pierre that didn’t go anywhere. Palko, who I only realized today(?) has a full beard, threw several incompletions and overthrows while at the same time showing excellent pocket mechanics. [*air horn*]

[Ipanema 12 inch]

For the teams d’especial, they worked on S&T mk. II. First it was just the golf cart tires vs. the five specialists at full speed. But then they practiced 11-on-11. That play is going to get us some yards. It looks great. [*air horn*]

For the next period, LBs & DBs faced O skills, and OL faced DL. Or as Johnny so eloquently put it, “fat guys and skinny guys.” [*air horn*]

A little more 11-on-11. Two of the first three plays were Deuce running a perfect counter to the right and then catching an unpulled screen in the flat. Both were to daylight. Patten also caught a nice left sideline grab. From here, the period gets hazy. The pictures will show that the view was obstructed by not only the plays progressing away from the crowd but also the other players standing behind them. The only other play I really saw was Craft intercepting a Palko bomb and returning it at least ten yards. [*air horn*]

The team huddled and that was it. Post practice presented two unusual things. The first was Charles Grant running voluntary conditioning. (That’s funny, Bob never has a second cup of coffee at home.) The other was all three QBs and most of the WRs and TEs going through route drills. It appears they were trying out a mysterious #15. Interesting. Do they really need to sign another WR considering they already have to cut a few? Hmmm.

Autograph Props: Payton and Mehlhaff. Yes, you heard me right, Mehlhaff. He must believe in the power of positive thinking. I’m not saying he won’t make the team, but let’s at least wait for the eggs to hatch. I overheard several kids say, “I got Shockey, Brees, and #4.”

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