Training Camp Update Volume 2, Issue 1 8/02/06
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- Jaguars Depth Chart QB
- Chiefs Depth Chart QB
- Dolphins Depth Chart QB
Jacksonville Jaguars QB: Byron Leftwich reported to camp in great condition. “Let's just say I'm in almost close to perfect shape,” Leftwich said, laughing. “It's the best shape I've ever been in, by far. It's the best I've ever felt since I played football. I'm ready to roll,” he added. Leftwich seemed to have a bounce to him and he displayed better elusiveness in the pocket with improved foot speed. Leftwich has his work cut out for him since veteran WR Jimmy Smith abruptly retired during the offseason, but he’s already found his new go-to guy in Matt Jones. The two already are connecting on deep routes and seem to be on the same page. David Garrard will be ready, once again, if Leftwich is sidelined for any reason. He looked good throwing accurately, but without the velocity that Leftwich showed on his passes. Some of Garrard’s balls were thrown behind his targets and some deeper passes fell short. Quinn Gray will compete with rookie Paul Pinegar for the third spot. RB: Some things never seem to change. RB Fred Taylor strained his right hamstring during a conditioning drill on last Thursday. Marking the second straight year he began camp at less than full speed, despite showing up in great shape after training harder than usual in the offseason. Taylor said, "I really wanted to come out the first day and give the fans something to ooh and ah about. It's kind of sad that the timing is so screwed up. That's why it's so hard to understand. Some things in life you can't figure out why they happen. They just do. I don't know why it happened. I was rested and I felt great." Del Rio wasn’t overly concerned: "I look at what he's battled though, and to me, I think you commend guys that push and fight and accomplish all that he's accomplished despite having 11 guys attacking him every down," he said. "It's a hard position. A lot of guys get banged up, a lot of guys miss time. He's missed less than most. He's really been pretty extraordinary in the fact that he's been able to remain such an explosive weapon for us despite getting nicks and having some tough things to fight through. As mentioned, Taylor did report to camp in excellent shape. He’s actually ahead of where he usually is at this point in camp. If Taylor could simply stay healthy, he could be a major bargain, but the “if” is always a big one when evaluating Taylor. If Taylor should be concerned about playing time, then he’ll need to keep working on his receiving skills, especially with rookie Maurice Drew and 2nd year back Alvin Pearman being quite capable. Drew has looked excellent so far. He’s small, but has exceptional speed to the outside and he can stop on a dime. He’ll need to improve his blocking to earn a significant role, but he’s well on his way to earning a role as a rookie. Greg Jones remains in the mix as is LaBrandon Toefield, who appeared to be a little quicker than last year. Both backs give the Jaguars adequate depth and provide the team with solid options between the tackles if Taylor goes down. WR: As we’ve mentioned, Matt Jones is the team’s new #1 receiver. He’s looking great early in camp and seems to have made bigger strides in his route running. On one play, Jones duped rookie Dee Webb on a crossing route. On another play he beat safety Donovan Darius on a wiggle route. Opposite Jones, Ernest Wilford is competing with Reggie Williams for a starting job. Wilford was running with the first team and seems to be picking up where he left off last year. Wilford isn’t a speed merchant, but he has improved his speed since last year and he continues to find ways to get open using his incredible size to his advantage. Williams has always been a strong practice player, but the team wants to see if he can translate that into production on Sundays. Williams looked faster than Wilford, no surprise there, but he also committed more mental errors including a drop on a well thrown pass. Cortez Hankton has looked great at times, too. Working against the first team defense, he made several nice plays working with both Garrard and Leftwich . Hankton turned in the catch of the day on a corner route pulling in a pass despite double coverage and staying inbounds. TE: Rookie Marcedes Lewis is catching everything thrown in his direction. He needs to continue working on his blocking, but this kid has excellent size, hands and body control giving the Jaguars yet another plus-sized target in the red zone for Leftwich. In one practice, Lewis caught several passes over the middle, and on separate occasions, made slight adjustments on the ball. Kyle Brady remains on the team despite rumors that he’ll be released every offseason. He’ll probably continue to be used primarily as a blocker on double TE sets. George Wrighster rounds out the group and figures to provide Lewis with some competition for playing time in 2-TE sets as well. Defense: Safety Donovin Darius, coming off last season's knee injury, is back and practicing. He made some nice plays, including one when Matt Jones had the corner beat and ball in his hands. Darius slapped the ball away turning it into an incompletion. The team hopes his return will set the tone and give the secondary a physical presence it lacked last season. The team also hopes free agent signee CB Brian Williams will bolster their secondary. Special Teams: Josh Scobee is the only kicker in the Jaguars’ camp, for the first time in his career. He’s always had excellent leg strength, but he needs to improve his consistency. The return roles will be the ones to watch in camp this year. Second round draft pick RB Maurice Drew comes with impressive return credentials from UCLA, and is the early favorite to be the return specialist. Of course WR Chad Owens was in the very same position entering camp last year, and it didn’t work out very well. He’s back to try again this year. If Drew falters on kickoffs, last year’s surprise KR leader, RB Derrick Wimbush, is still available. The Jaguars’ lead PR from last year, RB Alvin Pearman, is also back; however he is not guaranteed to even make the final roster. Drew, Owens and WR Khalil Hill have been practicing punt returns in camp Jaguars Depth Chart QB Byron Leftwich, David Garrard, Quinn Gray RB Fred Taylor, Maurice Drew (KR), Alvin Pearman (3RB/PR), LaBrandon Toefield (SD) (RFA), Rich Alexis FB Greg Jones (SD), Derrick Wimbush (KR) WR Matt Jones, Reggie Williams, Ernest Wilford, Cortez Hankton, Randy Hymes, Troy Edwards, Felton Huggins, Kyle Brown TE Kyle Brady, Marcedes Lewis, George Wrighster (RFA), Brian Jones, Todd Yoder K Josh Scobee DE Reggie Hayward, Paul Spicer, Bobby McCray, Marcellus Wiley, Brent Hawkins, James Wyche DT Marcus Stroud, John Henderson, Anthony Maddox, Martin Chase MLB Mike Peterson, Nick Greisen, Tony Gilbert (RFA) OLB Daryl Smith (W), Pat Thomas (W), Jorge Cordova (W/S), Clint Engram CB Rashean Mathis, Brian Williams, Terry Cousin, David Richardson, Scott Starks, Demetrice Webb, Trestin George S Donovan Darius (SS) (inj), Deon Grant (FS), Gerald Sensabaugh (SS), Chris Roberson (FS/CB), Nick Sorenson (FS) (inj) Kansas City Chiefs QB: Trent Green is back for another run at the postseason, but it seems like everything around him has changed. After Sunday’s practice, Green was asked about the retirement of Willie Roaf and the status of Priest Holmes. “I think the era is over because coach Vermeil is gone, FB T-Rich (Tony Richardson) is gone, Priest is gone, Willie is potentially gone, yeah that’s a whole lot of people missing off of that five year run we had success with as an offense. We still have a lot of guys coming back and we’re still running the same offense, but you know, different coordinator, different head coach and potentially four or five new starters on offense, yeah that era is over.” Meanwhile, the Chiefs drafted Brodie Croyle to potentially be Green’s replacement in the near future. Croyle signed a 4-year contract just before camp. Offensive coordinator Mike Solari was asked how Croyle is progressing. “Brodie’s coming along. (Quarterbacks coach) Terry Shea does a great job with the quarterbacks and Brodie’s coming along developing. QB Casey Printers is doing a good job developing and QB Damon Huard is doing a nice job taking off where he was last year. The nice thing is that he (Huard) is taking number two reps and the more reps you get the better football player you are.” RB: The Chiefs RB position is set at the top with Larry Johnson as the entrenched starter and Priest Holmes on the PUP list awaiting another evaluation on his neck condition. Trent Green was asked if he’s noticed any changes with Johnson since he was named the starter. “It really started in the offseason when Coach Edwards came in and said you’re the guy, you’re the starter, this is your offense and let’s roll with it. I think he really responded well to that and he’s taken on more of a leadership role being around for the entire offseason, being more vocal out on the field where as in the past when Priest is the guy, I’ve been in that situation where you’re the backup or the third guy and it’s not your place to say anything. He knew his role and he wasn’t very vocal at that time. Now that he’s in a position of being one of the team leaders he’s a lot more vocal and practicing at a lot different tempo and I think he’s just much more prepared for this season mentally and physically.” As stated, Holmes is on the PUP list while he awaits the latest evaluation with specialists in Los Angeles. Holmes could be activated from that list if he is cleared to play. “They told us it would be no earlier than Monday,” president/general manager Carl Peterson said. “They’ll tell us what they think the situation is at that point.” Peterson then added, “It’s very difficult to tell (whether Holmes will play).” The fight for the backup spot involved Dee Brown, McKenzi Smith and Quentin Griffin. That was until Wednesday when they acquired Michael Bennett from the Saints. Now, it’s Bennett serving as Larry Johnson’s primary backup with the aforementioned group competing for 3rd string and a roster spot. WR: The Chiefs weren’t happy to hear of discontent coming from veteran WR Eddie Kennison as camp began. He indicated that he might leave camp if the Chiefs don’t reward him with a new contract. He expects a raise or he would like the Chiefs to release him. “I will cross that bridge when I get to it,” Kennison said. “I will go to camp and work as hard as I’ve been working. I won’t have any bitter or sour attitudes in camp… but when I signed my last contract with the Chiefs, I think we all know that if I hadn’t performed to expectations, I wouldn’t be here anymore. Well, I played beyond those expectations. Now it’s time for them to step up and compensate me for my performance compared to the guys in my peer group. I would hope the Chiefs would put me on waivers if they don’t want to step to the plate.” The loss of Kennison would be a huge blow to the Chiefs considering that he had more than 1,000 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons and he’s their only established wide receiver. Samie Parker is showing promise, but he was held back last year by injuries and inconsistency. The other receivers are Dante Hall, who is most valuable as a kick-returner, and a collection of unproven younger players. Trent Green was asked if he thinks Parker can establish himself as a go to guy this season. “I think so and I told Samie coming into camp his big thing is just staying healthy. When you look at the success he’s had the last couple years he’s done well at times, but it’s just staying healthy. Most of the injuries aren’t his fault, just getting tackles a weird way he hurt his knee and you know just getting hit. What makes him special is that he’s not afraid to go over the middle, he’s not afraid to go into traffic and make catches and sometimes that can hurt you from an injury standpoint and that’s what’s really affected him. If he can stay healthy for a full 16 games, I see no reason why he can’t be a 1,000-yard receiver.” Back to Kennison, he doesn’t necessarily want to leave the Chiefs, but he does want his contract addressed. “I have a responsibility to this organization and the 53 guys I dress with, so it came up quickly that I was not going to miss camp,” Kennison said. “I’m not a selfish, flashy kind of guy. I just want the world to know what’s going on with my situation. “I love being a Kansas City Chief. I want to be here for the rest of my career. The Chiefs have not said they won’t take care of me. Carl has indicated to my agent they are willing to do something. We just need to get to a point where both parties are happy. Obviously, we’re not to that point yet, and I don’t think we’re even close.” Craphonso Thorpe has a shoulder bruise and he’s day to day. TE: There is nothing to report yet here. Tony Gonzalez and Kris Wilson give the Chiefs an excellent 1-2 punch with Jason Dunn providing quality depth and blocking. Defense: Rookie safety Bernard Pollard is expected to push Sammy Knight in training camp. Knight brings a physical element to the Chiefs secondary, but he’s been never had much foot speed and Pollard could unseat him with a great camp. Head coach Herman Edwards had this to say about Pollard’s chances of earning significant playing time. “We’re competing back there and obviously he’s a physical guy. He brings a physical presence, him and Page both. They’re both young safeties but we’ve got two veteran safeties that are good players. I think when you can create good competition it’s good and we’ve done that at a lot of positions. That’s important.” On Sunday, Edwards was asked about Lenny Walls, who had a slight hamstring injury. “He missed today, but he’s been great; he’s been fantastic and now you’ve got three cornerbacks who have played a lot of football. Benny Sapp is a good football player too, and we’ve got some guys with some talent. Julian Battle, too, is making plays out here. His downfall has been he hasn’t been consistent.” The Chiefs bolstered their starting lineup by signing free-agent cornerback Ty Law to a five-year, $30 million deal. Elsewhere, the Chiefs are counting on a battle royal at DE between Tamba Hali and veteran Eric Hicks. “Competition is what training camp is about,” Edwards said. “I told people that at the meeting today. I told them you need to be an available player if you’re going to make this squad. You’re not going to make it on default. You need to be available, and if you are, that means you can be graded. If you’re not, that’s not very good.” Special Teams: It seems like yesterday when Lawrence Tynes was the sleeper dark-horse kicker that beat out legendary Morten Andersen for the Chiefs kicking job. Now he’s the only kicker in camp. He also no longer has to worry about Dick Vermeil paying extra close attention to him. He went 7-for-7 on field goals during Sunday’s practice. New special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will be working with Tynes in camp on directional kickoffs, wind adjustments, and onside kicks. Dante Hall is definitely, absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it the KR/PR for the Chiefs. He did tear a ligament in his thumb awhile back in the off-season, but he should be good to go for camp. If he were to miss any time during the regular season, the Chiefs lack of depth could be exposed. The only player with substantial NFL kickoff return experience is free agent acquisition CB Chris Johnson, who was the Rams leading KR last year. Anyone else dates back to college for their prior experience. The only other player to field a punt last year for the Chiefs was WR Eddie Kennison (one return and one fair catch). Chiefs Depth Chart QB Trent Green, Damon Huard, Brody Croyle, Casey Printers RB Larry Johnson, Michael Bennett, Dee Brown, McKenzi Smith, Quentin Griffin, De'Arrius Howard, Derrick Ross, Priest Holmes (inj) FB Ronnie Cruz, Travis Wilson, J.R. Niklos WR Eddie Kennison (inj), Samie Parker, Dante Hall (KR/PR), Craphonso Thorpe, Jeris McIntyre, Jeff Webb, Nate Curry, Chris Hannon, Terrance Metcalf, Scott McCready TE Tony Gonzalez, Kris Wilson (HB), Jason Dunn, Aaron Golliday, Bob Docherty K Lawrence Tynes DE Jared Allen, Eric Hicks (inj), Tamba Hali, Carlos Hall, Jimmy Wilkerson (DT) DT Ryan Sims (NT), Lional Dalton, Ron Edwards, Junior Siavii, John Browning, James Reed, Alex Guerrero, Steve Williams MLB Kawika Mitchell, Rich Scanlon, Boomer Grigsby OLB Derrick Johnson (R), Kendrell Bell (L), Keyaron Fox (S/W), Kris Griffin, Nick Reid, William Kershaw, Brandon Guillory CB Patrick Surtain, Ty Law, Lenny Walls, Benny Sapp, Chris Johnson, Julian Battle (inj), Alphonso Hodge, Marcus Maxey, Justin Perkins, Jerald Brown S Sammy Knight (SS), Greg Wesley (FS), Bernard Pollard (SS), Jarrad Page (SS), Gabriel Helms Miami Dolphins QB: As Dolphins training camp broke everyone’s eyes were on new QB Daunte Culpepper. Of course, Culpepper is coming off major knee surgery to repair three torn ligaments in his knee. That didn’t stop Culpepper from taking the field in the team’s first practice though. Head coach Nick Saban said, ''We are surprised at the progress that he has made, but we did have several medical meetings with Dr. [James] Andrews, who did the surgery, and felt pretty good about the result, and with his attitude, how he could overcome it... So, it's all been a pleasant surprise for us, and we are happy about it.'' That’s not to say Culpepper is back to being “himself” yet. He’s still not as fluid as before and there are times when he favors it slightly, but he’s hardly a gimp. “So far, everything is a thumbs-up," Culpepper said. "I had visions when I got hurt to be here today to start training camp, and I still have visions to be ready for the first game." He added, ''I've always thrown the ball down the field. I love to throw the ball, so the fans can definitely get ready for a great show when it comes to us putting the ball in the air and throwing the ball down the field.'' Culpepper received medical clearance last Wednesday, prompting Saban to say, “Daunte will do the same thing in this camp as every other player relative to the workload he is able to manage.” Ronnie Brown was even encouraged, “Daunte is excited. It's kind of like a kid in a candy store, him having an opportunity to be on the field again. When you have a guy like that leading your team, it rubs off on everybody else." Culpepper said his right knee is only about 85 to 90 percent and he knows better than to rush anything on the field. He’s able to scramble a bit, as he did on one play when he took off into the secondary at a trot, but he was mindful not to sprint. Instead, it was more like a trot. He wore a helmet and shoulder pads, but of course, he and the other quarterbacks were off limits to contact. Joey Harrington had to leave Saturday evening’s practice early. He also struggled somewhat during the team's morning practice. He apparently had a cramp in his calf, but returned to action on Sunday. Making a roster move early in camp, the team waived QB Justin Holland. RB: Ricky Williams is a non-story this year after he was suspended for a year by the NFL. That gives second year stud RB Ronnie Brown the stage to showcase his potential. Brown expects to play a lot more this year and says he’s ready to carry the load. Apparently, so does LB Channing Crowder. "Ronnie Brown is a beast," Crowder said. “He's 240 pounds, he runs a 4.3 40 (yard dash), he can catch the ball, he can block. He's the complete package. There's no doubt in my mind Ronnie can handle it." Brown was asked if he‘d catch the ball more this year. “I think so. I think with me being on the field a little more, I have the opportunity to catch a few more passes, but you know that’s one of the situations that will be based on the game-to-game situation and the defenses that we’re playing.” Sammy Morris, Travis Minor, Kay Jay Harris and Gerald Riggs Jr. are competing for the backup spots. Harris and Riggs are fighting for a roster spot. WR: Daunte Culpepper and star WR Chris Chambers are getting more comfortable with each other. On Saturday, the two connected on two of the nicest passes seen by the Dolphins in a long time. Culpepper dropped a 35-yard pass over the shoulder of Chambers in the corner of the endzone throwing the ball perfectly. Later, he tossed another 40-yarder down the sideline, where Chambers made a typical acrobatic move to catch the ball. Chambers, holding to form, also dropped an easy short pass, but still looked sharp on the first day of practice. Marty Booker also made a couple of nice catches, including a nifty 15-yard catch where he positioned himself perfectly to go over safety Renaldo Hill’s back for a catch. Nick Saban was asked how long it would take his new WRs to come up to speed. “I’ve been working with these guys all off-season. I feel very confident in the receiving corps. You got Chris Chambers, Marty Booker, Wes Welker, Kelly Campbell, and (Derek) Hagan, who’s a young guy. I’ve got five guys who really can play football, not to mention, Randy McMichael and Ronnie Brown coming out of the backfield. These are guys who can really make things happen when they get the ball in their hands. It makes my job a lot easier.” TE: Randy McMichael put in some good work this off-season. He checked into camp in good condition looking toned and ready to roll. The Dolphins have a pair of new players backing him up this year. Justin Peelle, a former teammate of Joey Harrington at Oregon, was signed in the off-season along with former Browns and Panthers TE Keith Heinrich. Defense: Jason Allen became a holdout when camp started and Allen remains unsigned. The impasse was due to Allen seeking a five-year deal while the team wanted an additional year. Allen is projected as the team’s starting free safety, but the more practice time he misses the harder it will be for him to do that. Rookie DT Rodrique Wright, a seventh-round draft choice, signed a four-year contract but remains sidelined recovering from shoulder surgery. Linebacker Eddie Moore was waived Friday after he failed his physical, according to Saban. Special Teams: Kicker Olindo Mare heads into camp under the original terms of his contract ($1.4 million salary for this year). He had complained to the media early in the off-season that the Dolphins were asking him to take a pay cut. The team referred to it as a “restructuring”, rather than a “pay cut”. Journeyman camp kicker and NFL Europe veteran Ola Kimrin will provide relief for Mare during the pre-season. Multi-faceted WR Wes Welker remains the man to beat for the KR/PR role(s). The most intriguing challenger is undrafted rookie QB/WR Marcus Vick. Special teams is probably his best shot at making the final roster. WR Kelly Campbell, WR Frank Murphy, WR Jamall Broussard, CB Shirdonya Mitchell, and rookie WR Devin Aromashodu could all see action on returns during camp. Dolphins Depth Chart QB Daunte Culpepper (inj), Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon RB Ronnie Brown, Travis Minor, Sammy Morris, Kay Jay Harris, Gerald Riggs Jr., Ricky Williams (susp) FB Darian Barnes, Fred Beasley WR Chris Chambers, Marty Booker, Wesley Welker (KR/PR), Derek Hagan, Devin Aromashodu, Kendall Newson, Kelly Campbell, Fred Gibson, Marcus Vick (QB), Eric Kimble, Frank Murphy (KR), Jamal Broussard (KR) TE Randy McMichael, Justin Peelle, Keith Heinrich K Olindo Mare DE Jason Taylor (OLB), Kevin Carter (DT), Matt Roth, David Bowens, Ben Ishola DT Keith Traylor (NT), Vonnie Holiday, Jeff Zgonina, Manuel Wright (NT), Rodrique Wright (inj), Fred Evans, Josh Shaw, Kevin Vickerson, Steve Fifita MLB Zack Thomas, Lester Towns OLB Channing Crowder (W/M), Donnie Spragan (S), Sedrick Hodge (S), Keith Newman, Derrick Pope (W), Sam McGrew, Trent Bray, Travis Harris CB Travis Daniels, Will Allen, Renaldo Hill, Andre Goodman, Will Poole (inj), Shirdonya Mitchell, Eddie Jackson S Travares Tillman (SS), Deke Cooper, Jason Allen, Yeremiah Bell (SS), Norman LeJeune, Michael Lehan Download 366.51 Kb. 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