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Mini camp reports


Randall
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From today's Green Bay Press-Gazette:

 

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/p...0521/1058/PKR01

 

The Green Bay Packers' tight end group is going to look vastly different this season.

 

Only starter Donald Lee returns from last year. By the looks of the three players they have in their rookie minicamp, it has the makings of a dynamic group. Led by third-round draft pick Jermichael Finley, the tight ends made their share of plays in Friday's opening practice, giving coach Mike McCarthy reason to believe he'll get increased productivity from that unit.

 

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Finley might be raw, young and a bit on the lean side. But on the first day rookies took to the practice field inside The Don Hutson Center, he stood out by looking light on his feet and making a few tough catches.

 

"Very, very happy with Jermichael and the two other young guys," McCarthy said after practice. "It's a group that I think we've done a very good job tailoring the athlete to what we're asking them to do. We've made some adjustments with the tight end position as far as what their primary and secondary responsibilities are. We've gone to a more pure, athletic tight end, and I think we've got a good group to work with."

 

The group includes third-year pro Tory Humphrey, who missed all of last season with a broken fibula, and a pair of undrafted rookies — Joey Haynos of Maryland and Mike Peterson of Northwest Missouri State.

 

The unit lacks a power blocker like it had with former first-round draft pick Bubba Franks, who was released this offseason, but Humphrey probably is the best blocker of the group. The Packers say he's doing well in his recovery and should participate in the June minicamp.

 

Finley might be the best athlete of the group.

 

The 21-year-old was a highly recruited basketball player but chose to concentrate on football. He left Texas after redshirting as a freshman and playing just two seasons. Perhaps more so than any Packers rookie, Finley has a legitimate opportunity for playing time despite playing in just 26 college games (including only 17 starts).

 

"Looking at the tight end position, I've got a big chance," Finley said. "This is a real, real young team, and I'm a young guy. But I've got a real chance of coming in and playing."

 

If Humphrey is healthy, he's probably a good bet for one of the three expected tight-end spots, but Haynos and Peterson are intriguing prospects.

 

At 6-8, Haynos is the tallest player on the Packers' roster. At Maryland, he was a possession receiver who lined up in the slot and next to the tackle and even got some time in the backfield. Haynos might not be as fluid of a runner as Finley, but he ran a 4.79 in the 40-yard dash at the combine — a respectable time for a big tight end.

 

Peterson wasn't invited to the combine, but the Packers brought him in for a pre-draft visit. At his pro day, he said he ran a 4.59 40 and benched 225 pounds 27 times. He wasn't drafted, perhaps because at just a shade taller than 6-2, he's on the short side for an NFL tight end. Five teams tried to sign him after the draft, but he picked the Packers, who gave him an $8,000 bonus.

 

"I know a lot of guys say the minimum height for tight end is 6-3 to 6-5 or 6-6," Peterson said. "You look today, and there's a new breed of H-backs. (Washington's) Chris Cooley and (Indianapolis') Dallas Clark, they're both 6-3. Me being almost 6-3, I think I can fit that."

 

 

'08 rookie camp concludes

By Greg A. Bedard

Sunday, May 4 2008, 01:34 PM

Green Bay - Following the third and final practice of this weekend's rookie orientation, Mike McCarthy addressed the media. Here are the highlights:

 

McCarthy talked with the personnel department he expects to sign "about four" of the 19 tryout players, which would give the Packers 79 players on their roster heading into OTAs;

McCarthy said he "would love" to seen Wisconsin-Whitewater RB Justin Beaver be one of those players "because he's been impressive." McCarthy said Beaver was one of the players he and the front office would discuss this evening.

Comparing it to last year, it was significantly better (than last year) just off the overall group and we had some more players than we had last year. You could see the progression of practices, how they improved from Friday to Sunday.

The players will have Sunday, May 18th as a travel day back to Green Bay and then May 19th begins the organized team activities.

On P Kenny DeBauche: "A really good directional punter. I really haven't spent much time watching him, I spent the day with the defense, just trying to sort out the defensive backfield, but we look for him to create very good competition for Jon (Ryan) and we're excited about him, that's why we signed him. It's clearly one of the better workouts, I'm told, that our staff has seen. I think he's competing for a job, there's no doubt about it. They all are."

There were no injuries.

On TE Jermichael Finley: "Very athletic. A little more length than I remember on film. I think he has tremendous upside, but just very, very impressed with his athletic ability."

McCarthy indicated the Packers are waiting until the NFL decides whether or not to increase the rosters to 86, as to whether they sign another quarterback for training camp. That will be decided at the NFL spring owners meeting, May 19-21.

McCarthy had an interesting take on the Vikings acquiring DE Jared Allen: "It's like anything, it's how you want to look at it. They got a very good player, spent a lot more money of their cap, so it depends on how you want to look at it. They're a good football team. They've done a good job improving their roster."

Filed under: 2008 rookie orientation campPermalink | Mail to a friend

Edited by Randall
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Mike Martz/SF

 

From Carolina

 

How they lined up

 

Submitted by Darin Gantt on Fri, 2008-05-02 09:48.

Though some key players were out with injuries, here’s how the Panthers lined up for their first minicamp practice Friday morning. Missing from the workouts were QB Jake Delhomme, OT Jeff Otah, RB Jonathan Stewart, LBs Jon Beason and Na’il Diggs:

 

QB Matt Moore Brett Basanez

RB DeAngelo WilliamsLaBrandon Toefield

FB Brad Hoover Troy Fleming

WR Steve Smith D.J. Hackett

WR Muhsin MuhammadDwayne Jarrett

TE Dante Rosario Jeff King

LT Jordan Gross Frank Omiyale

LG Travelle Wharton Milford Brown

C Ryan Kalil Geoff Hangartner

Edited by Randall
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MENDENHALL OUT WITH HAMSTRING INJURY

 

 

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 4, 2008, 2:50 p.m. Steelers first-round draft pick Rashard Mendenhall has injured his hamstring and missed minicamp practice, leading coach Mike Tomlin to question whether high draft picks have a schedule that leaves them ill-prepared to start working.

 

"It's becoming somewhat commonplace for some of these high-round draft picks for this type of situation to happen to them during minicamp weekend," Tomlin said, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The schedule that these guys are on is really not conducive to preparing them to come in to meet what waits on them at minicamp. They go to the combine, they go to their pro day, then they go on this city tour."

 

Mendenhall, a running back from Illinois who is expected to split time with Willie Parker, is the latest in a string of Steelers rookies to get hurt early in his pro career. Last year first-round draft pick Lawrence Timmons left with a groin injury after participating in just one practice, and second-round pick LaMarr Woodley injured his hamstring in minicamp.

 

Tomlin has said he expects Mendenhall to be back to full participation at the start of the next off-season workouts on May 20.

Edited by Outshined
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Chad Henne-QB-Dolphins May. 4 - 8:56 pm et

 

 

Rookie Chad Henne struggled at the Dolphins' rookie minicamp this weekend.

It's not cause for major concern, but Henne missed open receivers, botched snaps, and had to take a punishment lap. John Beck and Josh McCown didn't practice because it was a rookies-only camp. The Dolphins begin OTAs on May 16.

Source: Palm Beach Post

 

 

Matt Leinart (collarbone) did not appear limited at the Cardinals' first post-draft minicamps.

Leinart has reportedly improved his dropbacks and threw the ball accurately into a net backstop in individual drills. Coach Ken Whisenhunt has stated that Warner is the heavy favorite to start this season, ahead of Kurt Warner.

Source: Hashmarks Blog

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Skins blog

 

Posted at 1:47 PM ET, 05/ 4/2008

In Portis v. Landry, Take Landry

Paul Tenorio reports:

 

After the "Without a Trace" drama of tight end Fred Davis, who missed the final minicamp practice because of what Jim Zorn called an "I screwed up" incident, I thought the RI Nation could use a distraction from the fact that one of the team's second-round draft picks flaked out on his third day of work.

 

Enjoy.

 

It was just a simple play: A screen pass to running back Clinton Portis. But when Portis reversed field to try to beat the defense and starting safety LaRon Landry had an angle on him and ran him down, the friendly jawing started.

The trash talk continued into the locker room and soon bets were placed. So the two stars headed back outside for a 40-yard race to end the speculation.

 

"We just was in the locker room and betting on it," Portis said. "I didn't want him to think ..... you know, I was running sideways and he ran me down and 'ooohhh,' you know what I'm saying. Don't think you got it, bro."

The two jogged down to a practice field, and with teammates gathered on a hill to watch and Zorn still being interviewed up near the main building, the race was on.

 

Portis jumped to an early lead, but Landry had a late kick and seemed to win in a photo finish, much to the delight of the crowd of players.

"Oh, LaRon won, LaRon won," cornerback Fred Smoot shouted. "You know the defensive backfield, we knew we were going to win, that's why I put out my money there. Clinton got the burst, but [Landry is] a defensive back and we used to chasing people. He had to go get him and that's what he did."

 

As he walked inside, Smoot summed up best what must have been in the back of everybody's mind as they watched the race.

"And we ain't got no pulled hamstrings neither," he shouted.

 

As Portis started to address the media, Landry headed over to make sure everyone knew whom he thought was the victor.

"About the 25-yard line I came straight up looking at the sky cause I knew I was gonna win, you still down trucking. Come on, man," Landry said to Portis, who doubled over in laughter.

 

"If he want to feel like he won, he can feel like he won," Portis said. "We gonna keep running until it's just hands down [that] I won it."

Zorn said he didn't see the race.

 

"They had to prove something," Zorn said. "In fact after that [screen] play, Clinton came into the huddle, he wasn't supposed to be in on that play and he said, 'What's the play?' He wanted something, something that he could show his stuff again. But he had to get out ..... the play wasn't going to him anyway."

 

Portis joked that he hoped the sprint would count as an organized training activity, but Zorn laughed and said that wouldn't fly.

"Nope," Zorn said. "He was on his own, that was strictly voluntary."

Zorn also said he wasn't surprised Landry won.

 

"Landry's fast," Zorn said. "I wasn't surprised because of what I saw out [on the practice field]. I saw the acceleration. They'll race again. I bet it's not over."

 

Now, let's see Landry try to out-talk Portis.

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Skins blog

"We just was in the locker room and betting on it," Portis said.

 

"And we ain't got no pulled hamstrings neither," he shouted.

 

"About the 25-yard line I came straight up looking at the sky cause I knew I was gonna win, you still down trucking. Come on, man," Landry said

 

"If he want to feel like he won, he can feel like he won," Portis said.

 

"We gonna keep running until it's just hands down [that] I won it."

 

Now, let's see Landry try to out-talk Portis.

:wacko:

I'm just happy these players learned the English language while at college.

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Shag was being used in this connotation long before Austin Powers changed its meaning...

Austin Powers didn't change its meaning.

 

The Oxford English Dictionary officially entered the slang definition for shag back in the 1800's, although the Brits had been using Shag in it's slang meaning for centuries before it was ever officially recognized.

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Austin Powers didn't change its meaning.

 

The Oxford English Dictionary officially entered the slang definition for shag back in the 1800's, although the Brits had been using Shag in it's slang meaning for centuries before it was ever officially recognized.

 

 

Like a lot of words it does have many meanings, but Powers' use of it makes it more the more common use now.

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OKay, so I give. What is "shagging" to a kicker?

 

ETA: At the very least it was a poor choice of wording. :wacko:

Shagging balls was always the worst job. It's not just kicking but baseball too. There's actually an item designed to help with it called a shag bag. :D

 

Basically, let's say you have ten balls and you practice kicking all ten of them. Now they're on the other end of the field. To shag them means to run down and collect them so that you can do it again. Hence having the kid there to shag balls for you is a good thing.

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OKay, so I give. What is "shagging" to a kicker?

 

ETA: At the very least it was a poor choice of wording. :D

 

 

Think of a dog and think of playing fetch but you're the dog. :wacko:

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Like a lot of words it does have many meanings, but Powers' use of it makes it more the more common use now.

For the States yeah, but it's been commonly used in that context in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand & Canada for hundreds of years.

 

I know when I first got to the States back in the early 80's, I remember telling some guy at a pub that I sure could use a fag. Dude gave me the dirtiest look ever & walked away. Couldn't figure it out until someone told me fag was American slang for homosexual.

 

To the rest of the English speaking world, fag is slang for cigarette.

 

I also remember talking about how I'd gone out one night & gotten really pissed. Someone piped up asking me who I was pissed at. At first I couldn't figure out what the guy was asking me, as pissed in the rest of the English speaking world means going out & getting drunk.

 

I know my Mom, who was born & raised here in the States, once mentioned during a faculty meeting at her University in Australia, that her fanny was real sore from sitting in a chair all day. She said everyone at the meeting got very quiet & a few fellow faculty members grinned. After the meeting a friend told her that fanny was slang for female private parts.

 

Weird how slang in the rest of the English speaking world, is different to slang here. Almost need a translator.

 

Sorry guys, this is really a Tailgate topic, so enough of the hi-jack.

 

Back to your regularly scheduled football talk. :wacko:

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For the States yeah, but it's been commonly used in that context in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand & Canada for hundreds of years.

 

I know when I first got to the States back in the early 80's, I remember telling some guy at a pub that I sure could use a fag. Dude gave me the dirtiest look ever & walked away. Couldn't figure it out until someone told me fag was American slang for homosexual.

 

To the rest of the English speaking world, fag is slang for cigarette.

 

 

It was here too in the 50's. Gay in the early 70's wasn't understood either. I was agreeing with you and I don't recognize shag in a sexual term but know many people do. To me it means a rug.

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Browns

It's a group that's headlined by two players who know they'll be back, fourth-round draft picks Beau Bell and Martin Rucker. All five of the Browns' draft choices are physically impressive - big, fast, strong - and have stood out at least in that regard thus far. Here are Crennel's impressions ...

 

**On Bell: "He has some movement skills. You can see him move, be able to get to the ball some (but) everybody kind of looks good in shorts. So we'll have to get the pads on because linebacker is one of those positions where they do have to hit some."

 

**On Rucker: "He played at a big school, in a big conference and good competition, and so he was a productive player there. In this camp, we won't know much about his blocking. Once we get to training camp and put the pads on, we'll find out more about his blocking. I'm not judging anybody right now, just looking at them,evaluating them and seeing what they look like. So far, it looks like he can catch the ball, he's got a big body, he moves well underneath and working through and against the linebackers and that's encouraging."

 

**On sixth-round nose tackle Ahtyba Rubin: "He's a big, physical type. He looks like he has excellent strength. From what we've seen here so far, he looks strong, particularly if you look at his upper body and what he's able to do there. If he can do it with the pads on, he might be able to give us some depth."

 

**On seventh-round linebacker Alex Hall: "He shows that he has athletic ability and talent. He's another guy that you have to put the pads on find out exactly how much he knows or what he does know. So far I'm encouraged by what I've seen."

 

Crennel wasn't asked specifically about sixth-round receiver Paul Hubbard on either Friday or Saturday, but Hubbard has stood out from the crowd with his size and his ability to go get a pass that's not on target.

 

Crennel also singled out tryout cornerback Milvon James for being around the ball and said undrafted cornerback Darnell Terrell is off to a "decent" start.

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From Chargers Mini-camp:

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After the team's most visible stars, LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers, showed their injured knees are well on the way to being mended, four other starters (plus not-to-be-forgotten Eric Parker) emerged into daylight from the training room only at the end of yesterday's morning practice.

That many key players sidelined would be cause for great consternation if it were July. And a couple of their absences might yet be reason for worry. With almost three months before training camp begins and more than four until the start of the season, however, optimism is perfectly legitimate.

 

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (left) and running back LaDainian Tomlinson were back together on the field again after suffering injuries in last season's playoff run. The Chargers' reality, as acknowledged by General Manager A.J. Smith, is that, “We're beat up, man.” But reality is relative at this point, which stems the concern. “I think they'll be ready to go,” Tomlinson said of the Chargers' many key players unable to participate in this weekend's minicamp. “If not, then we've got to make it happen without them.” And that's about all that can be assessed at this point for many of the team's injured players.

 

“We'll see,” center Nick Hardwick said. “I really don't know . . . My goal is to be back for the start of the season. It's going to be close.” Hardwick's status is perhaps the most worrisome, his foot injury so severe and his surgery so late. But like all the other wounded, he was upbeat. “It feels good,” he said as he wheeled around Chargers Park on a rolling contraption that keeps him off his injured foot. “I've got full range of motion.” Hardwick is to transfer to a walking boot at the end of May and get the hardware removed from his foot in mid-June.

 

One completely healthy minicamp participant is the Chargers' No. 1 draft pick of a week ago, cornerback Antoine Cason of the University of Arizona, who was showing off his new No. 20 jersey. “Then we'll knock down the doors and see what we can do,” he said.

 

Across the locker room, tight end Antonio Gates smiled when it was mentioned to him toe injuries can be tricky, proof just a few lockers down in wide receiver Parker, who missed the entire 2007 season following toe surgery. Gates conceded uncertainty at the timeline but was sanguine about his chances for suiting up in September. “It's crazy how far I've come in this short period of time,” said Gates, who had surgery on his big toe at the end of February. The initial prognosis was Gates will be recovered anywhere from before training camp to September. “It's just determining when I'm going to be ready,” Gates said. “I know I'm going to be ready. It's just when.”

 

The other injured starters are expected back sooner rather than later.

 

Nose tackle Jamal Williams is not working this weekend because he had arthroscopic surgery on both knees last month. He expects to take it easy the rest of the offseason but participate as usual in training camp. He spoke as if he had discovered the fountain of youth. “I'm feeling better than I have in years,” Williams said. “I feel like I did two or three years ago.”

 

Fullback Andrew Pinnock also played through pain last season, when he took over for the injured Lorenzo Neal in December. When he went in for arthroscopic surgery in February, a microfracture was discovered in his right knee. But he described it as minor. “I'll be ready to go full-go come August,” Pinnock said. “I could go out and run a full sprint right now. I pretty much played the whole year on one leg. My knee is 300 times better than during the season.”

 

Parker was typically mum about the toe injury that landed him on injured reserve last season. But he said he has been running routes and doing everything the other receivers are doing. He said it was a “coach's decision” that he would sit out minicamp but that he expects to participate later this month in offseason coaching sessions.

 

As for Rivers and Tomlinson, they both worked the entire morning practice – a light workout that nonetheless demonstrated the progress both have made. “It's a start,” Tomlinson said. “We both wanted to come out and get some work in. I think we're both happy to run around and get started.”

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I asked one of the Vikings reporters about their rookie minicamp last weekend. Here is his reply:

 

We're only allowed to watch the stretching and warm-up portions of practices (except for training camp).

 

Other than telling you who can touch their toes in the hamstring stretch, there's nothing much to report...

 

Kinda sucks, but it is what it is.

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I asked one of the Vikings reporters about their rookie minicamp last weekend. Here is his reply:

 

 

That's a little strange, but thanks. Drafted Tyrell Johnson in one league and would like to hear how he looks. He could be very good.

 

The Saints report this weekend.

 

Doug Miller / NewOrleansSaints.com

 

On Friday, the newest members of the Saints will get their first taste of action as members of the National Football League when they participate in a three-day rookie and first-year players mini-camp at the team’s Metairie headquarters.

 

The Saints’ six draft choices from the 2008 draft will be joined by 16 rookie free agents and 36 players that have been invited by the team for a tryout.

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