This was yet another day of opposite field practice sessions, making things difficult for those of us watching. I did my best, but it's hard to see everything from that far away. Here goes... - They started off this morning like they did yesterday, practicing some 11-11 running / handoff drills, with a few pass plays thrown in. There isn't any real contact happening during this drill, and there's really not much to it. They're getting the timing down between the QB / RB exchange, but there's really nothing physical happening here. Simple warm-up drills... CP - Handoff up middle CP - Same CP - Throws outside right, complete for about 10 yards... CP - Pitch left, no contact, just jogging around the left side... CP - Playaction, dumps over the middle for 5 yards, no contact... CP - Throws short left side, complete 3 yard out... ---------------- CH - Rolls right, throws outside complete for about 6-7 yards... CH - Handoff up the middle, timing / exchange purposes only... CH - Throws outside left, complete to Bess for about 5 yards... CH - Throws middle right, complete for about 15 yards. Nice throw and catch... CH - Swingpass left to RB, no contact after catch... ---------------- PW - Playaction, rolls left, nice sideline throw / catch by Bess at the sticks for about 10 yards. Sweet play... PW - Handoff up the middle, for timing purposes only, no contact... PW - Throws over the middle, complete for about 7 yards... ----------------- ~ LOB PASS DRILL ~ This drill is simple throwing / catching. Just like yesterday, this is basically warm-up stuff. The QB's all get to loosen up during this time, and the WR's / RB's get to catch a few lob passes. Short drill, only about 5 minutes worth, not much to say other than that I didn't see any drops.... - Now they all head off in different directions to drill. The QB's / RB's / WR's continue working the lob pass, while the OL / DL are off working alone with the sleds. The DB's are opposite field doing some cover tech drills as well. Another short drill period of only about 5 minutes... On a side note, I'd like to mention that the crowd this morning was very impressive. Within the first 45 minutes of practice, the stands were basically full, and I mean full. I've never seen this many fans come out before, it's been great to see so many supporters this year.... =============== ~ 6 MINUTE STRETCH ~ =============== - Defense opposite field, all begin working various drills... - The offense now starts drilling with the sleds. I call this the push & roll. They line-up in a basic run formation, and they push the sleds about 7-10 yards downfield with the RB running behind them, then the OLmen roll the direction of the play. It's a pretty simple drill, but the guys on the OL have to work hard here. Short, five mintue drill, not much to see... - The OL goes off alone now, working the various practice devices they have over on the far side of the near field. That's where they spend a lot of their time during these camps, working alone and practicing different / various technique's. The same could be said of the DL, they have their own area over on the opposite field where they spend a lot of their time drilling {sleds / dummies} as well... - QB's / WR's working some quick, 7 yard turnaround passes. No coverage, just simple stuff... - WR's getting some work now running some 7 yard cross drills, it's another no coverage drill, but it's fast moving so there is plenty of room for mistakes. I don't see any of the guys dropping anything, so I'm pretty much satisfied. It's another quick drill that doesn't last very long, but it's fun to watch... On a side note, I really like the WR's we have this year. Even though there's no legit stud among them, they all fit really well within the offense / system that we have in place. That's just my opinion, and I know it's early, but thus far I like what I've seen... - QB's off with a few RB's practing some drop back, dump off's. Very easy stuff, hardly worth mentioning... - QB's start practing some short cross patterns, it's another fairly quick paced drill, but nobody is dropping anything from what I can see. This is also yet another very short drill, lasting only about five minutes tops... - QB's begin what I'd call a placement / accuracy drill. They're throwing to the WR's who are running some sideline routes about 15-20 yards downfield. The QB's each get a shot here... CP - Nice throw, complete... CH - Nice... PW - Way overthrown. That one got away from him... CP - Solid... CH - Another nice throw, complete... PW - Better than first, but another overthrow... CH - 3 for 3, solid... CP - Alittle bit behind the WR, complete though... -------------------- - More QB drills here. No coverage, and no pressure though. CP - Throw deep right side, complete for about 25 to Armstrong. Nice pass, and a good play all together... CP - Throws 10 yards down the left sideline, underthrown, poor pass, incomplete... CP - Shotgun, throws outside right, complete for about 5 yards... CP - Throws deep right side again, this ball was hanging up, but was caught. Would have been picked w / coverage... CP - Throws down the left sidelines to Ginn for about a 10 yard completion... CP - Same play, but it goes to Wolford this time. 10 yards... ----------------------- CH - Nice throw down the outside left, complete for about 10... CH - Playaction, throws a 20 yard completion over the middle. Nice velocity... CH - Throws down the right sideline, complete for short 5 yard gain... ----------------------- PW - Shotgun, rolls left, throws down the sideline complete for approx 10. Nice execution, pass... PW - Throws down the right sideline complete. Again, another very nice pass by White... ----------------------- Opposite Field - OL / DL start facing off. It's a short drill where the two sides get to go head to head. The trenches are looking dangerous... ----------------------- ~ 11-11 Short Yardage Running Drill ~ I call this a short yardage drill because it seems like it's up the gut every snap... CP - Handoff up middle, no gain... CP - Run up middle, nice hole, 10 yard gain... CP - Handoff left side, only a couple... CP - Up middle, short gain... CP - Up middle, decent hole, about 6 yard gain... ---------------- CH - Run up middle, decent hole, 5 yards... CH - Right side, stuffed. Nothing there at all... CH - Shotgun, handoff up middle, 2-3 yard gain... CH - Run up middle, about 2 yards... ---------------- PW - Shotgun, handoff up middle, very nice hole, 10 yards... PW - Run right side, nothing there, no gain... PW - Run up middle, min gain, 1 yard... ---------------- ~ SPECIAL TEAMS DRILLS ~ - Kick coverage, returning... - OL is working alone again... - DL working with the dummies... - LB's working on various techniques... - Some blitz drills going on... Very little to report there, it was all various drills going on in all different areas. About 10 minutes worth... ----------------- ~ 11-11 Drills ~ {opposite field} CP - Throws down the right sideline, overthrown, poor pass... CP - Almost picked off down the right sideline, another iffy throw there... CP - Shotgun, nice 15 yard gain down the left sideline. Good throw... CP - Shotgun, looks right, throws underneath to RB for minimal gain... CP - Shotgun, throws deep down the left sideline complete to Hartline for about 25 yards. Hartline made a very good catch... CP - Goes deep, incomplete... ------------------- CH - Nice 7 yard completion over the left middle of the field... CH - Playaction, nobody open, dumps incomplete to avoid sack... CH - Good swingpass to the left side. Nice execution... ------------------- PW - Throws middle left, complete for about 6 yards. Good zip on the pass... PW - Throws left sideline, poor throw, falls short of WR, not enough mustard on it... PW - Playaction, looks left, throws right, complete for about 7 yards... ~ CLOSING DRILLS ~ 11-11 - This is the best part of the day... CP - Nice deep ball down the left side, but just a tad overthrown... CP - Sacked. Nobody was open... CP - Almost sacked again. Throws 10 yards down the right sideline, but incomplete... CP - Throws left side 10 yards, skipped it, incomplete. Not looking very good in these closing drills... CP - Throws down the the right side, good fingertip catch for about a 7 yard gain... ----------------- CH - Throws left middle, complete. Nice throw / catch for about 7 yards... CH - Screen, complete, not great blocking, minimum gain of about 3-4... CH - Sacked. The DL is breaking down the pocket... CH - Handoff up the middle, only about 2 on the play... ----------------- PW - Shotgun, throw gets broken up over the middle. Good coverage... PW - Shotgun, flags fly, pass to the left sideline is almost picked. Not good... PW - Shotgun, sacked... ------------------ End of practice... ==================== I must say I was unimpressed with the offense during today's 11-11 sessions. They couldn't get much of anything going, and most of the passes were off target / incomplete. They have a lot of work cut out for them between now and September. No real worries though, the offense is going to have days like this at this time of the year. As long as we don't sustain any serious injuries to our starting line-up, we're making good daily progress in my opinion.... ~MJ~
That is a good report. It was well written and honestly I got more info from you than what I do get from the newspapers. I could see it in my mind that helped a lot. Maybe its me and I know it is early but I don't think Chad Henne missed a pass except for the one he threw away. That's pretty good.
One of the best TC reports I've read, very nice. You must have been taking good notes, or have a photographic memory. Thank you for the time and effort to share all that with us, we surely appreciate it! Giving this thread 5 stars for outstanding report.
