They came right out of the gate drilling what looked like 9-9. There was some running and throwing mixed, but since these drills were being conducted on the opposite field, it was very difficult to see everything. For the most part however, the QB's all looked decent. The drill only lasted about 5 minutes, so there wasn't very much to see in terms of real action. After it ended, they went into their normal warm up's... I'll let it be known that most, if not all of the real action today took place on the opposite practice field. I don't like it when they do that, and it makes things hard for me to report. Today I focused mostly on the QB's.... ~ LOB PASS DRILL ~ No coverage, just basic warm up's to get the QB's loose... They all seemed to have nice touch while executing these simple drills, and I didn't see any drop's from the WR's either. The RB's / FB's are participating in these drills as well... ~ 6 Minute Stretch ~ Decent crowd for a Monday morning. Not packed like yesterday, but still a nice turnout.... The defense heads over to the opposite field and starts basic drilling. It looked like they were defending the swing pass from where I was. The OL / RB's start together lining up working on running plays, the OL was pushing the sleds each play while Brown / Williams took turns running behind them. They're basically working out the timing between everyone here, no big deal. The OL looked decent, but how do you tell how good they really are while blocking a practice sled??... After that short drill, the OL went off alone to work on various tech drills. The DL went opposite field and did basically the same. Not much to see there, just a lot of hard work from the players... The QB's then start throwning some quick 7 yard turnaround passes, No coverage, just basic timing stuff... As for the LB's, they were on the opposite field practicing various coverage packages. Not a whole lot to see, just more of the early basics... Right now I see a team that's ready to go to work. They've been constantly drilling, and haven't had much of a break to speak of. They all look focused, and seem eager to learn / drill hard. There was a lot going on all over the place, the guy behind me said it was like watching a 3 ring circus, and I agree there was enough action to keep you satisfied... Even though much of the offensive drilling that was being conducted didn't include coverage, I was really impressed with the way the WR's looked, D. Bess especially looks poised for a productive season. Rookie P. Turner is a big target that's for sure, and he had a decent day from what I witnessed. All of them had something to contribute, and they worked them hard today in my opinion... As for my impressions of the QB's thus far, both Pennington / Henne have looked sharp, while White has looked more like the rookie that he is. I'm not saying White has been bad, he did complete one nice long pass to Bess, but he certainly isn't as accurate / comfortable as either Pennington / Henne at this stage. Henne has looked the best in my opinion... ~ WATER BREAK ~ 9 on 9 Running Drills {opposite field} This had to be a short yardage drill, it was all up the middle... CP - Handoff up middle - about a 2 yard gainer CP - Up the middle again, better results this time, about 5 yards... CP - Up middle, stuffed for no gain... CP - Offsides defense, no play... CP - Up middle, no gain. DL is stout... ----------- CH - Pitch outside right, maybe about 2 yards on the play.... CH - Handoff up the middle, about 2. It's difficult to see who is doing all of the running, but it looks like Ronnie / Ricky are getting most of the carries right now... CH - Nice hole up the middle, about 5 yards on the play... CH - Up the middle, short gain... CH - No gain up middle... ----------- PW - Up middle, no gain... PW - Short gainer up the middle, maybe 1 yard... drill ends... ----------- The OL goes off alone again, and the defense is drilling opposite field again... The QB's get to practice what I would call a "lob accuracy drill". Basically throwing lob passes over obstacles in front of the WR in waiting. They started out from about 15 yards away, then moved back to about 20-25 yards. It went relatively smooth for all of them at 15 yards, but at 20-25 it wasn't as pretty. I have to say I still like what I see in Henne the most. He's been very accurate, and he has the strongest arm without question. Pennington is sharp, he just isn't capable of matching Henne's velocity.... 7 on 7 {opposite field} CP - Nice 20 yard completion to Fasano over the middle.... CP - Playaction, nowhere to go with the ball, throws incomplete... CP - Shotgun, 7 yard completion over the middle to TE Haynos... CP - Nice over the middle completion for 10 yards, couldn't see who... CP - Throws 10 yards left sideline complete. Nice high throw for the WR to go up for, I think it was Ginn.. CP - Outside right, underthrown, incomplete.... --------------- CH - Nice completion outside right to Bess, about 7-10 yards... CH - Throws a frozen lazer over the middle to rookie WR B. Hartline, great throw and a diving catch as well. About 15-20 yards on that play... CH - Those another nice completion outside left for about 7 yards. Henne has looked good today... --------------- PW - Incomplete outside left. He waited too long to throw it.... PW - Playaction, poor throw. Underthrown... PW - Shotgun, short completion outside left to RB, about 3-5 yard gain... --------------- Special Teams Drilling - Kick Returns - I'll just keep this short, D. Bess looks good returning kicks... ~ Closing 11 on 11 Drills ~ This is where things start to heat up alittle, more competition... CP - Brown up the middle, 4 yard gain... CP - Handoff around the right side, very minimal gain. Defense was ready for that one... CP - Pitch right to Brown, nice 7 yard gain. Brown looks punishing... CP - Playaction, lots of pressure, incomplete.... CP - Swingpass left side, nice play, 5 yards... -------------- Wildcat formation / PW - Handoff, nice gain around the right side, 5 yards... -------------- CH - Goes deep left sideline, incomplete. Good try, but overthrown slightly... CH - Pitch right, great gain for about 10 yards... CH - Good swingpass outside left, about 6-7 yards on the play... ------------- PW - Handoff around the right side, no gain... PW - Rollout left, good 7 yard throw outside, but good coverage broke it up... PW - Handoff left side, good run, about 7-10 yards. Some hard hitting in the trenches thus far.... ------------- Wildcat / Brown at QB / CP far outside right - Flag on the play, offense.... WC / RB / CP - Run outside right, no gain on the play... ------------- CP - INT pick by Allen, returned for TD. Pennington got flushed outside, and underthrew WR, bad decision... CP - Shotgun, great throw over the middle 20 yards, dropped by Fasano. Great play though.... CP - Handoff around the right side, fumbled. Bad QB / RB exchange.... ------------- CH - Playaction, throws outside right, incomplete. Poor throw, too far outside... CH - Handoff up the middle, decent 3-4 yard gain... CH - Quick handoff up middle, nothing there really... CH - Swingpass right to Bess, nice play, good 7-10 yard gain... CH - Rollout right, thows a short completion along sidelines... CH - Handoff up the middle, decent 3-4 yards... CH - Playaction, sacked!! The DL was in the backfield way too quick on that play. Henne had to chance... CH - Fumble on pitch outside right.... CH - Throws down sideline 10 yards, incomplete. It was alittle overthrown, but a good looking pass all the same... CH - Run up the middle, about 2-4 yards on the play... --------------- PW - Run around the right side, stuffed in the backfield, 7 yard loss... PW - Throws over the middle about 7 yards, nobody there. He was under pressure as well... PW - Almost sacked, but gets away and makes a nice 6-7 yard gain out of it all by himself. Nice... END OF PRACTICE.... All in all, a good / hard day of work for this team. I didn't see anything that really bothered me today. They all looked focused on working hard and making an impact. It could probably be said that the defense is alittle bit ahead of the offense at this stage, but I like what I've seen so far, they just need more time together. Until tomorrow, hope you enjoyed it.... ~MJ~
If Chad Pennington remains the starter on this team all year I believe that Anthony Fasano will be our sleeper offensive juggernaut this year.
