motife
06-24-2008, 05:56 PM
Chicago
Bears satisfied with RB corps — for better or worse
Raised eyebrows were the order of the day when Bears head coach Lovie Smith announced that the Bears had no intention of going after a veteran running back to replace the released Cedric Benson on the roster. Shortly after the team’s final OTA session on Wednesday, Smith said he was more than satisfied with a RB corps featuring second-round draft pick Matt Forté and holdovers Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe as Forté’s primary backups. But with most daily team observers in agreement that neither Peterson nor Wolfe is capable of serving as an every-down back should Forté go down for the count, the Bears’ apparent reluctance to seriously consider veteran options such as Kevin Jones, — who has made it known he would love to land in Chicago — and Ron Dayne is a bit baffling, in addition to being a pretty dramatic leap of faith in the unproven Forte’s direction. The good news is that, based on the team’s minicamp action, Forté has, by all accounts, displayed a solid, focused work ethic as well as extremely soft hands out of the backfield — two qualities that the disappointing Benson lacked. “Forté certainly appears to have all the tools of a three-down back, and the Bears have praised him for really getting into the playbook,” a longtime team insider told PFW. “But we won’t see how well he runs between the tackles until training camp.”
Detroit
Marinelli thinks Lions have speed to burn
Head coach Rod Marinelli spent a good part of a media session this week talking about his team’s improved speed and how that might affect the results on the field. He thinks his team not only can play fast but also think quickly, which is imperative to be the kind of club that can make major improvements after losing seven of eight games down the stretch. The area where the improvement is most evident is probably in the secondary. CB Brian Kelly is not a burner at 32, but his instincts allow him to play faster. S Dwight Smith is another player whose mind probably works faster than his legs at this stage of his career, but the idea is that veteran players who play fast are probably just as important as young players who can run but haven’t yet caught up to the speed of the NFL game.
Green Bay
Harrell's injury woes persist
If you’re looking for the most disappointing aspect of the Packers’ just-concluded OTAs, look no further than 2007 first-round draft pick Justin Harrell, who was shut down after injuring a disc lifting weights and undergoing minor back surgery in mid-April. In a perfect world, plans call for Harrell to be part of a quality three-man DT rotation this coming season, along with veteran Ryan Pickett — who normally comes out on passing downs and plays exclusively on the left side — and Johnny Jolly, who was coming on strong last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 10. But Harrell, who has been hurt more often than not since becoming the 16th overall pick in the 2007 draft, is now falling behind the curve for the second straight season. Still recovering from a torn biceps suffered in his final season at Tennessee, Harrell didn’t participate in any contact drills during Green Bay’s pre-training-camp activities last season. Never close to being in the kind of shape he needed to be, according to daily team observers, Harrell later came up lame with an ankle injury that forced him to miss five games in midseason. Although he did flash some decent run-stopping skills in his time on the field in ’07, he showed no ability at all as a pass rusher. The Packers now must hope he is better-equipped to bounce back from injury than he was last season. If there’s any good news, it’s that both Harrell and Jolly are expected to be fully ready for training camp at the end of July.
Minnesota
Vikings set to look at five quarterbacks in camp
This is the time for pleasantries around the NFL. Everything tends to look pretty good in June minicamps, and coaches like to say they are happy with the way things are. It’s no different with the Vikings, where quarterback looms as the most critical position heading into the regular season, but it’s a position that head coach Brad Childress said he’s very happy with to date. And the team has five of them — Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger and rookies John David Booty and Kyle Wright. Although Jackson is presumed to win the starting job and Frerotte the backup role, there will be a battle for the third spot. Bollinger knows the system, but Booty has an excellent chance given his résumé in college and experience in a West Coast offense. And it appears that the team plans to report to training camp in July with all five men present, so it will be worth watching how the reps are divided. Jackson has yet to be officially named the starter and will need to display confidence and consistency, so the Vikings can’t afford to cut too deeply into his pitch count during the exhibition season.
Bears satisfied with RB corps — for better or worse
Raised eyebrows were the order of the day when Bears head coach Lovie Smith announced that the Bears had no intention of going after a veteran running back to replace the released Cedric Benson on the roster. Shortly after the team’s final OTA session on Wednesday, Smith said he was more than satisfied with a RB corps featuring second-round draft pick Matt Forté and holdovers Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe as Forté’s primary backups. But with most daily team observers in agreement that neither Peterson nor Wolfe is capable of serving as an every-down back should Forté go down for the count, the Bears’ apparent reluctance to seriously consider veteran options such as Kevin Jones, — who has made it known he would love to land in Chicago — and Ron Dayne is a bit baffling, in addition to being a pretty dramatic leap of faith in the unproven Forte’s direction. The good news is that, based on the team’s minicamp action, Forté has, by all accounts, displayed a solid, focused work ethic as well as extremely soft hands out of the backfield — two qualities that the disappointing Benson lacked. “Forté certainly appears to have all the tools of a three-down back, and the Bears have praised him for really getting into the playbook,” a longtime team insider told PFW. “But we won’t see how well he runs between the tackles until training camp.”
Detroit
Marinelli thinks Lions have speed to burn
Head coach Rod Marinelli spent a good part of a media session this week talking about his team’s improved speed and how that might affect the results on the field. He thinks his team not only can play fast but also think quickly, which is imperative to be the kind of club that can make major improvements after losing seven of eight games down the stretch. The area where the improvement is most evident is probably in the secondary. CB Brian Kelly is not a burner at 32, but his instincts allow him to play faster. S Dwight Smith is another player whose mind probably works faster than his legs at this stage of his career, but the idea is that veteran players who play fast are probably just as important as young players who can run but haven’t yet caught up to the speed of the NFL game.
Green Bay
Harrell's injury woes persist
If you’re looking for the most disappointing aspect of the Packers’ just-concluded OTAs, look no further than 2007 first-round draft pick Justin Harrell, who was shut down after injuring a disc lifting weights and undergoing minor back surgery in mid-April. In a perfect world, plans call for Harrell to be part of a quality three-man DT rotation this coming season, along with veteran Ryan Pickett — who normally comes out on passing downs and plays exclusively on the left side — and Johnny Jolly, who was coming on strong last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 10. But Harrell, who has been hurt more often than not since becoming the 16th overall pick in the 2007 draft, is now falling behind the curve for the second straight season. Still recovering from a torn biceps suffered in his final season at Tennessee, Harrell didn’t participate in any contact drills during Green Bay’s pre-training-camp activities last season. Never close to being in the kind of shape he needed to be, according to daily team observers, Harrell later came up lame with an ankle injury that forced him to miss five games in midseason. Although he did flash some decent run-stopping skills in his time on the field in ’07, he showed no ability at all as a pass rusher. The Packers now must hope he is better-equipped to bounce back from injury than he was last season. If there’s any good news, it’s that both Harrell and Jolly are expected to be fully ready for training camp at the end of July.
Minnesota
Vikings set to look at five quarterbacks in camp
This is the time for pleasantries around the NFL. Everything tends to look pretty good in June minicamps, and coaches like to say they are happy with the way things are. It’s no different with the Vikings, where quarterback looms as the most critical position heading into the regular season, but it’s a position that head coach Brad Childress said he’s very happy with to date. And the team has five of them — Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger and rookies John David Booty and Kyle Wright. Although Jackson is presumed to win the starting job and Frerotte the backup role, there will be a battle for the third spot. Bollinger knows the system, but Booty has an excellent chance given his résumé in college and experience in a West Coast offense. And it appears that the team plans to report to training camp in July with all five men present, so it will be worth watching how the reps are divided. Jackson has yet to be officially named the starter and will need to display confidence and consistency, so the Vikings can’t afford to cut too deeply into his pitch count during the exhibition season.