Training Camp Update Volume 6, Issue 1 8/3/10
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- Buccaneers Depth Chart QB
- Titans Depth Chart QB
- Redskins Depth Chart QB
TE: Kellen Winslow sat out of practice three straight days before returning Monday afternoon. Heading into camp, Winslow was medically cleared to practice. The Bucs are simply playing it smart with his reps after he had his sixth knee surgery as a pro. "He's going to be able to practice and do everything," said GM Mark Dominik. "We just want to get Kellen to the season and let him go. I know what Kellen can do." The team is taking a similar approach with Jerramy Stevens. "We try to split those guys up, Jerramy and Kellen," Morris explained. "They've both got similar issues, they're both a little older, they're both vets and they both need some rest. We put Jerramy up this morning in the red zone and Kellen will get his work this afternoon. [With Winslow], you're talking about a guy with two or three percent body fat. Conditioning is never a problem. It's all about maintenance, it's all about reps and it's all about his ability to pick up the offense in the classroom." Defense: The Bucs defense will look much different up front this season with the additions of DT Gerald McCoy with the third overall pick and DT Brian Price with the 35th pick. Both players are signed, in camp and practicing. Price is expected to start at nose tackle while McCoy will be next to him playing the three-technique. When practice began, Price wasted no time making an impact. He repeatedly burst into the backfield and disrupted the offense. "I'm still not 100 percent yet," Price said, "but I did everything without restrictions. I felt good and I made some plays out there. I picked up where I left off, playing the ball I came to play.“ Price likes the potential of playing next to Gerald McCoy. "We've got a chance to be the best tandem in the league," Price said. "The sky's the limit." In Saturday’s practice, DE Kyle Moore was running with the first team at left end while Geno Hayes made the play of the day with an interception for a touchdown. Special Teams: The Buccaneers selected punter Brent Bowden in the sixth round of this year’s draft. His only competition, veteran punter Sam Paulescu was released several days later. Bowden is also anticipated to serve as the holder on kicks. After going through several kickers during the first half of 2009, Connor Barth secured the job for the second half. He enters 2010 as the favorite for the job, a new scenario for him as he noted, “You've seen what you've had to go through the last two years to put you in the position where you're at now. I'm in a lot better position than I was the last couple years. I'm excited about that, and I'm really excited about helping this team win some games this year.” Nonetheless, he still has competition in camp – undrafted rookie Hunter Lawrence. Andrew Economos is back for his fifth year with the Bucs, and is the only long snapper on the roster. Buccaneers Depth Chart QB: Josh Freeman, Josh Johnson, Rudy Carpenter RB: Cadillac Williams (inj), Derrick Ward, Clifton Smith (inj), Kareem Huggins FB: Earnest Graham, Chris Pressley WR: Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, Sammie Stroughter, Michael Clayton, Reggie Brown, Maurice Stovall, Terrence Nunn, Mario Urrutia, Preston Parker, Chris Brooks TE: Kellen Winslow Jr, Jerramy Stevens, John Gilmore, Jeron Mastrud, Ryan Purvis K: Connor Barth, Hunter Lawrence DT: Gerald McCoy , Brian Price (NT), Roy Miller, Ryan Sims, Dre Moore DE: Stylez White, Kyle Moore, Tim Crowder, Michael Bennett, Erik Lorig MLB: Barrett Ruud, Niko Koutouvides, Rod Wilson (inj) OLB: Quincy Black (S), Geno Hayes (W/S), Adam Hayward (S), Cody Grimm,Dekoda Wilson, Jon Alston (S), Rico McCoy CB: Aqib Talib (inj), Ronde Barber, Elbert Mack (inj), Myron Lewis, Torrie Cox, E.J. Biggers, Derrick Roberson S: Sean Jones (SS), Tanard Jackson (FS), Sabby Piscitelli (SS), Corey Lynch,Steve Cargile, De'von Hall, Matt O'Hanlon Tennessee Titans QB: Vince Young is taking all of the first team reps and has shown tremendous command of the offense so far. His only mistakes and most interceptions have come during goal line seven-on-seven drills. Kerry Collins is taking snaps with the second team and Chris Simms is working with the third team. Simms is on the roster bubble and currently has a "50/50 shot" to make the team. RB: The Titans began checking players in for camp last Friday night. Saturday morning began with a conditioning test for all of the non-injured players. Chris Johnson ran his test later in the day, due to having "his times a little messed up...he had the schedule a little off.." according to Head Coach Jeff Fisher. As expected, Johnson passed the test with flying colors and was on the field right away. After the first practice Coach Fisher said of Johnson, "He looked good, real good...as fast as I remember." Johnson has told reporters that his goals for the season include winning the MVP award and overtaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record. WR/TE: The most interesting development of the early practices for the Titans was the use of tight end Jared Cook as a split end in a number of offensive sets. Said Coach Fisher, "we're trying him in different spots, seeing what works best with him." Fantasy owners, however, know that this could be the beginning of Cook (who has physical talents akin to Vernon Davis in terms of size and speed) getting in position to be a fantasy force. We'll be watching his development for you throughout training camp. Receiver Kenny Britt, from whom big things are expected, had a mixed couple of days to start camp. Coach Fisher said that he was working hard and clearly looked better then at OTAs. That said, Britt dropped at least two catchable balls and was outshone by a number of other receivers in early drills. Defense: The Titans signed first round pick Derrick Morgan (the 16th overall selection) on Saturday to a five-year deal. Morgan actually signed his contract in the Titans dining room and said, "I'm ready to get started. I know what they have on the table and I know what I have to do." Unfortunately, Morgan has been limited in practice due to "an ongoing calf issue.” He had it before he left OTAs. “We just backed him down (because) he isn't 100%" said Coach Fisher. Tennessee gave away Keith Bulluck's number 53 to Rennie Curran. Curran had requested the number as it is the inverse of the 35 he wore in college. Coach Fisher said, "Well, it's no big deal. We try to have our linebackers in the 50's and Keith isn't here anymore." Long-time Titan Keith Bulluck, to whom Fisher was referring, signed with the New York Giants last week as an unrestricted free agent. The Titans are thin at cornerback necessitating the move of safety Vincent Fuller to corner for early practices. Coach Fisher said that Fuller was only getting reps at cornerback to help the team and that "his value was at safety" and there was no threat in him being asked to change positions. Fisher said that Courtland Finnegan was entrenched as one starting corner and that "hopefully we'll get one or two other starters out of the group working with him." The Titans are hoping Tye Hill, who is currently unable to practice, will be a contributor early on at cornerback. The Titans practiced with pads for the first time on Sunday but will not have a full pad, full contact practice until Wednesday. Coach Fisher said that the idea was to let the players get their legs about them and "spend more time with their coaches, more time in the installation meetings and less time in the training room. We have a long way to go before we are game ready." The Titans begin the preseason on August 14th with a game at Qwest Field against the Seattle Seahawks. Special Teams: The offseason retirement of long time punter Craig Hentrich created a specialist job opening. Brett Kern is the favorite to win the job, and has even been working on adding Hentrich’s infamous knuckleball to his repertoire. Although Ricky Schmitt is more of a camp leg at both punter and kicker, he’s also challenging Kern for the punting job. Special teams coordinator Alan Lowry discussed the primary camp objective for kicker Rob Bironas, “The biggest thing is not his field goals, but last year his kickoffs fell off a little bit. So that will be the biggest deal, not his field goals. And we've already talked about that. I think he'll make some improvement in that area.” Ken Amato returns for his eighth season as the Titans long snapper. Titans Depth Chart QB: Vince Young, Kerry Collins, Chris Simms, Rusty Smith RB: Chris Johnson (3RB), Javon Ringer (KR), Alvin Pearman (PR), LeGarrette Blount, Stafon Johnson FB: Ahmard Hall, Willie Rose WR: Nate Washington, Justin Gage, Kenny Britt (KR), Lavelle Hawkins, Damian Williams (KR/PR), Dominique Edison, Paul Williams, Marc Mariani (KR), Phillip Morris, Bobby Sewall TE: Bo Scaife, Jared Cook, Craig Stevens, Sean Ryan, Steve Pfahler K: Rob Bironas, Ricky Schmitt DT: Tony Brown, Jovan Haye, Jason Jones (inj), Sen'Derrick Marks, Kareem Brown, David Howard, Joe Joseph DE: William Hayes, Jacob Ford, Dave Ball, Jason Babin, Derrick Morgan, Erik Bakhtiari, Marcus Howard MLB: Stephen Tulloch, Mike Rivera, Ken Amato (LS) OLB: Will Witherspoon (W/S), David Thornton (S), Gerald McRath (S) (susp), Colin Allred, Rennie Curran, Jamie Winborn, Stanford Keglar (W), Patrick Trahan CB: Cortland Finnegan (PR), Ryan Mouton, Jason McCourty, Alterraun Verner, Tye Hill, Rod Hood S: Michael Griffin (FS), Chris Hope (SS), Vincent Fuller (FS), Robert Johnson,Myron Rolle, Donnie Nickey, Nick Schommer, Robert Johnson Washington Redskins QB: The Redskins embark on a new era as Mike Shanahan takes the helm of his first training camp in D.C. Redskins fans are hoping that he’ll have the same success with new QB Donovan McNabb that he had with John Elway in Denver at a similar point in his career. No real surprises in the first few days as McNabb took snaps with the 1s, Rex Grossman ran the 2s and Richard Bartel and Colt Brennan split time with the other units. The Redkins the proceeded to trade for John Beck and waive Colt Brennan. This sets up a battle between Beck (from Baltimore) and Bartel for the QB3 job, who according to Shanahan, will be on the active roster during the season. "Yes, I think it is good to have three quarterbacks if you feel that guy deserves to be on your football team," Shanahan said. "Number one, you never have enough quarterbacks and if you lose somebody, it’s hard to find a person that can come in and run your system.” RB: Fantasy owners are hungry for any insight into the RB competition, and so far, the results have been encouraging if you’re a Redskins fan, but probably not what you wanted to see if you’re a fantasy owner. Clinton Portis has run with the first team most of the week and looks fit and explosive. On Saturday, he outran uber-athletic Brian Orakpo and looked like the Portis of old. But Portis isn’t the only RB looking ready to contend for a big workload, as Larry Johnson – a favorite of Shanahan’s when they were both in the AFC West – has run with power and intensity from the opening snap of camp. Willie Parker is no bet to make the final roster, so don’t risk a pick on him unless he really lights it up in the coming weeks. WR: Santana Moss is the one constant in this corps, and didn’t make a ton of big plays in Week One but was on the field and looking every bit the top option. The fact 38-year old Joey Galloway lined up with the first unit to open camp is a tell-tale sign of the Herculean improvement Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas have to make in order to be worthwhile as players or fantasy commodities. Kelly missed time this week with a hamstring injury – shocking, I realize. Thomas seemed off at the start of the week but admittedly showed more consistency over the weekend. On Sunday, Thomas grabbed a ball in spite of triple coverage and ran it into the end zone. As for Galloway, it’s hard to imagine he’ll really have significant playing time once the games matter. He’s caught a combined 20 passes over the last two seasons in Tampa Bay and New England. The real dark horse in this race is Roydell Williams, who has done everything right so far in camp. If he continues at this pace, he’ll deserve a roster spot more than Thomas or Kelly, if you can believe that. TE: All eyes will be on Chris Cooley, returning from a season-ending injury, and his backup Fred Davis. Both are talents and could quite possibly be the two best receivers on the team at any position. Cooley has been full go in practice but told reporters on Saturday that he is disappointed in his efforts thus far. "I put a lot of pressure on myself. I honestly believe that I'm my biggest critic. I will go in there right now and watch that whole practice. I'm really not happy with the way I practiced today. There's always stuff that I feel like I could do better. But I think this offense is going to give me every opportunity to make big plays and most importantly just to help our team." Fred Davis has looked smooth, fit and has built a quick chemistry with McNabb. Believe it or not, 3rd string TE Lee Vickers has also been a standout. Perhaps the TEs stand out more because the WR corps is so pedestrian, but either way all three of these guys look like key contributors. Defense: The story of the first few days of camp revolved around disgruntled DT Albert Haynesworth, who showed up to camp saying all the right things after a contentious offseason. Unfortunately he failed to pass Mike Shanahan’s fitness test on consecutive days, and then swelling in his knee kept him out of practice (and attempting the fitness test) through the week’s end. Whether this is yet another tug of war between the coach and player remains to be seen, but so far there’s simply not much to say about how this situation will ultimately unfold. At cornerback, Phillip Buchanon and Justin Tryon both opened some eyes this week as they contend for the nickel back role. LaRon Landry appears ready to embrace the role of defensive leader, as he’s been eye-opening at times in early practice, including a leaping Pick 6 interception return on Sunday. On Saturday, starting corner DeAngelo Hall intercepted Donovan McNabb for his own Pick 6. The defense has had the better of the offense in the early going. Special Teams: Head coach Mike Shanahan recently commented on two of his specialists, "I was impressed by Graham. He's done a great job since I've been here. It's always nice to see him. It's not a live situation when you have a full rush, but the timing was there. Really, the only one or two he missed were poor snaps. Hopefully we can just keep getting better in that area." That’s good news for Graham Gano, who has been the only kicker on the roster since the team released Justin Medlock in June. That’s not-so-good early news for long snapper Nick Sundberg, who was signed to replace the not re-signed Ethan Albright. Special teams coordinator Danny Smith commented on punter/holder Josh Bidwell, “He’s a professional. He’s a sturdy guy with a powerful leg and I think he’s gonna do a good job for us. He’s done this before and he knows his job is to get us good field position and put the ball down the field wherever we need it to be.” Redskins Depth Chart QB: Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman, Richard Bartel, Colt Brennan (inj) RB: Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, Ryan Torain, Willie Parker, Keiland Williams FB: Mike Sellers, Dennis Morris WR: Santana Moss (PR), Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Joey Galloway, Roydell Williams, Terrence Austin, Bobby Wade, Anthony Armstrong, Brandon Banks,Shay Hodge TE: Chris Cooley (inj), Fred Davis, Lee Vickers K: Graham Gano NT: Maake Kemoeatu (inj), Kedric Golston, Anthony Bryant, Howard Green DE: Albert Haynesworth (NT), Philip Daniels, Adam Carriker (inj), Jeremy Jarmon,Vonnie Holliday, Rob Jackson, Antoine Holmes, Darrion Scott ILB: London Fletcher, Rocky McIntosh (inj), H.B. Blades, Perry Riley, Chris Draft,Robert Henson, Darrel Young OLB: Brian Orakpo (S/DE), Andre Carter, Chris Wilson (S/DE), Lorenzo Alexander,Alvin Bowen, Curtis Gatewood CB: Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall (inj), Justin Tryon, Phillip Buchanon, Kevin Barnes, Byron Westbrook, Ramzee Robinson, Marcus McCauley, Doug Dutch S: Laron Landry (FS), Reed Doughty (SS) (inj), Chris Horton (SS) (inj), Kareem Moore (FS), Lendy Holmes Download 0.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
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