CoachO Camp Report 7/25/14 + (expanding) follow-up

CoachO

Camp Report 7/25/14

Players not participating: Ethan Westbrooks; Christian Bryant; Sammy Brown; Johnny Millard; Kadeem Jones.
William Hayes, Matt Daniels, Scott Wells and Jake Long participated in the unit drills, but did NOT participate in TEAM DRILLS

Offensive Line:
1st Unit: Long Saffold Wells Joseph Barksdale (this was how they lined up during the unit drills)
2nd Unit: Washington Person Barnes Bond Hooey
3rd Unit: Van Dyk Washington Jones Morrell Dill
• *** In team drills, Saffold took reps at LT and then moved back to LG. Robinson started out at LG, then took reps at LT.
• Davin Joseph was a constant at RG with the 1st unit throughout practice.

Defensive Line:
1st Unit: Long Brockers Langford Quinn
2nd Unit: Sam Carrington Conrath Sims
3rd Unit: Sam Donald Harlan K. Brown

Linebackers:
1st Unit: Ogletree Laurinatis Dunbar
2nd Unit: Steward Bates Armstrong
3rd Unit: L. Wilson Schiller Sabino
• Interesting to see Daren Bates lined up INSIDE with the 2nd Unit.
• Seems to have scrapped the Right/Left designation in favor of SLB/WLB. They were switching sides of formations adjusting to formation or motion from offense. Interesting enough, Ogletree was at SLB over TE. Dunbar back at WLB.

Defensive Backs:
1st Unit: Jenkins Johnson McDonald McLeod
2nd Unit: McGee Woodard/Joyner Davis Alexander
3rd Unit: Gaines Roberson/J. Bryant/Reid A. Cunningham Alexander
• Woodard and Joyner rotated reps at the CB position with the 2nd Unit; Greg Reid rotated in with both Roberson and J. Bryant on the opposite side of Gaines with the 3rd unit.***
• All defense in both 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 utilized the Base 4-3. No Nickel or Sub Packages.
• Interesting that Joyner was used on the outside at CB. Did not take any reps at Safety

Theme of the day: Knock of the Rust
• Overall, not a very crisp practice. Didn’t seem to have the same pace as previous years. Hope it picks up in the coming days.
o Bradford made some very nice throws, but overall, he seemed out of sinc at times. He participated in ALL the team stuff, and throughout the 11 on 11 team work, he was under constant pressure, stepping up or trying to avoid pressure, and he seemed tentative on the knee. Way too soon to be concerned, but it needs to be noted, that this is the first time he’s had a full work load with an 11 on 11 pass rush.
o Way too many false starts during the 11 on 11…. With G. Robinson guilty twice. (one each at LG & LT)
o Defense is definitely ahead of the offense at this point.

Special Teams:
Started practice with drill work on Kickoff Coverage

1st Unit:
Reynolds Jenkins Armstrong Bates Pead Zuerlein B. Cunningham Harkey McDonald C. Davis McGee
• There were only a handful of players (O-Line & D-Line) along with Cook Laurinaitis, Dunbar, Britt who did NOT participate in the ST drills. It was interesting to see Chris Givens running down to cover a KO.
• This was strictly working on lane integrity… No return guys line up fielding kick.

7 0n 7 & 11 on 11 Drills:
Highlights:
Bradford to Cook on first play of 7 0n 7 on a deep corner route (30 yards , beat McDonald.
Bradford to Quick on a crossing route, quick made a nice catch on a contested ball.
Bradford to Quick on a 18 yard comeback vs. Zone Coverage
Bradford to Britt on a nice sideline throw
Gilbert getting 2nd Unit reps (looks comfortable)
Davis to Pettis on deep throw. Pettis makes nice adjustment to a badly under thrown ball, beats Woodard.
Bradford to Cook on a quick hitch, Givens with a nice cut back block on Jenkins to spring Cook to the outside.
• Drew oohs and aaahs from Britt who started jawing at Jenkins. There is a “nice” rivalry brewing between Britt and the CBs.
Lowlights:
Bradford throws first INT of training camp on deep seam route. EJ Gaines steps in front of Bailey, who seemed to stop on his route, giving Gaines a clear path to the INT
Bradford missed more throws than normal. Again, it’s VERY EARLY, but the rust is evident.
Austin Davis continues to look lost and inaccurate.
First fumble of training camp goes to Zac Stacy, on a missed exchange. He eventually fell on the loose ball, after “dribbling” it for a small gain.
Might qualify as both a highlight & Lowlight, but the d-line was in the backfield ALL day. As much as I stated that Bradford looked rusty, there weren’t many opportunities to throw the ball “on time”.

CAMP OBSERVATIONS:
• Kenny Britt has assumed the “unofficial” leadership role of the WR group. Brian Quick was attached to his hip throughout practice.
• He was encouraging Givens after a great block on Jenkins
• TJ Moe looks like he can play
• Austin Franklin had a couple of nice catches in team drills
• Greg Williams is VOCAL
o He could be heard “coaching” Daren Bates not once, but twice, with the second time resulting in him being told to “get his ass off the field”
o Apparently GW’s approach is contagious…. Chuck Cecil (Secondary Coach) was heard “coaching” his Safeties after what was perceived to be a complete lack of communication in the secondary on back to back plays
• WR combinations: Austin and Bailey; Quick and Britt; Givens and Pettis
• They ran A LOT of 2 TE sets today. Most likely by design, as I mentioned earlier, defense played solely Base 4-3.
• Zuerline looks as strong as ever. He was kicking FGs of 50 yards + and clearing the spectator tents behind the field
Overall, it seemed like the players were having FUN for a change. Chris Long especially seemed to be enjoying being on the field almost as if to say…“it’s about time” We are gonna be GOOD”!!!!
· as far as Ray Ray, he didn’t do anything that stood out. He had one pass break up, but today was a difficult day to gauge. They used him in a few blitz packages. But with it not being live, its hard to gauge. I would assume he had a better day than his running mate, Daren Bates who seemed to hear the wrath of Greg Williams on a few occasions.
· Reid was relegated to 3rd unit reps and was not on the field much during 11 on 11.
· Gaines took many more reps, and contrary to Mr. Wagoner’s version, it was Gaines who had the INT on Bradford when Bailey stopped running his route.
· Barrett Jones 3rd team? ITs sort of Fishers MO since he’s been here. The vets get the early reps across the board unless there is an obvious ROOKIE starter. ie Robinson this year, McDonald & Austin last year. Otherwise, for the first week or 10 days, you can anticipate the veterans to get the lions share of reps with the 1’s & 2’s. And for all intents, Barrett Jones still has an awful lot to prove ON THE FIELD.
· Mason made a nice catch in the 7 0n 7 drills, other than that didn’t do much to stand out. Pass blocking was a non issue with just about everyone. I know this is going to sound like I am pushing “my agenda” but the only RB who seemed to step up and “block” anybody was Pead. But there was so much pressure coming from the d-front, who could tell. Mason definitely shows quick feet, and balance, but again, at least for me, untill I see him pick up a blitzing LB, I will withhold final judgement.
· Joyner looks as advertised. It was interesting to see him working exclusively at CB, as they were in the Base 4-3 all day. He did take a few reps in the “rookies only” after practice stuff at Safety. But honestly, I think that was more about not having anyone other then A. Cunningham to play S.

He wants the young guys to earn it, and lets the vets set teh tone for how its supposed ot be done. Ability aside, he wants to minimize the mental mistakes from not knowing what to do in a particular drill, or team session.

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Overall, it seemed like the players were having FUN for a change. Chris Long especially seemed to be enjoying being on the field almost as if to say…“it’s about time” We are gonna be GOOD”!!!!