Under blue skies and comfortable temps in the 70’s today’s organized team activities (“OTAâ€) kicked off as they usually do with stretching exercises and the various units being put through the paces by their respective position coaches.
Mike Johnson started his receiving corps off selling routes during running plays, stressing not to tip off the run at the snap. The receivers also worked through drills to break press coverage – coverage provided by the coach himself with padded gloves. Johnson grilled UDFA Matt Willis on breaking the press and had him run the drill repeatedly. Johnson asked Willis, “How much do you weigh?†Willis mumbled, “190†and that brought a chuckle from Derrick Mason who was standing in line behind Willis.
“He said it with confidence, 190â€, said an amused Mason.
The team soon thereafter broke down into one on one drills. Facing “Lake Bisciotti†(the name given by Rick Neuheisel to the drainage pond behind the end zone on the far field) Steve McNair and Kyle Boller threw passes to the wide receivers covered by corners while on the opposite end of the field, Troy Smith and Cullen Finnerty tossed passes to the tight ends and backs covered by safeties and linebackers.
Lakeside, the first participants were Derrick Mason and Derrick Martin. The Derrick’s squared off with the elder breaking free on a sideline route before slipping. McNair’s pass was on the mark prompting Mason to explain, “My fault Steve!â€
Next up Mark Clayton took on the feisty Corey Ivy. After a nice jab step to sell the skinny post, Clayton stayed outside the hash marks and beat Ivy badly for the score. That inspired the chatty secondary coach Dennis Thurman to shout, “We lost Ivy!â€
Devard Darling took a turn head up on Evan Oglesby. Darling got separation late in his route although the pass fell incomplete. Oglesby had the coverage early and then lost Darling prompting Thurman to exclaim, “You gonna stop guessing? Play what you see!â€
The impressive sophomore receiver Demetrius Williams stepped up to take on Ronnie Prude. The shifty wide out is a handful one on one with his rapid acceleration and ability to smoothly and quickly gear up and down. Prude stayed with Williams for the most part although the WR managed to get a half stride on Prude and it was all McNair needed to find his target. Later in the practice, Prude had single coverage on Clarence Moore. Moore took Prude deep on a post and the two were stride for stride. Despite tight coverage and a well timed leap by Prude, Moore still came down with the ball for the score. Prude was noticeably upset nearly ripping his helmet off. The intensity from Prude was nice to see and Billick encourage the second year CB by deeming the effort a “good competition.â€
On the opposite side of the field Jarret Johnson was matched up against Cory Ross. Despite tough coverage (a difficult task for Johnson against the squatty Ross), Troy Smith found a small open window and completed the pass for a short gain. Bart Scott then took on Todd Heap and seemed to have the tight end covered until he turned his route quickly up field prompting Scott to suspect a little cheating on Heap’s part.
“You made that route up.â€
The pass was overthrown by Finnerty despite the separation.
Dennis Haley took on Willis McGahee and successfully batted the pass away bringing praise from his excitable position coach Jeff Fitzgerald. Jarret Johnson then took on Quinn Sypniewski and jammed the tight end at the line of scrimmage – a jam that Sypniewski failed to shake before the play was blown dead.
Bart Scott stepped up to take on P.J. Daniels and let’s just say that Bart did a little pirouette as Daniels won the square off. Sypniewski then took on Dennis Haley and made up for his play against Johnson beating Haley to the front left corner of the end zone. Haley failed to turn and look for the ball, something Fitzgerald reminded him to do the next time.
The team then assembled for rather uneventful 7 on 7 drills. Of note during the drills…Kyle Boller looked rather clueless during 7 on 7’s…Troy Smith forced a few throws into coverage one of which was tipped and eventually intercepted by LB Dennis Haley…Finnerty’s work was very limited…On a simulated third and 12, Kyle Boller found Darling in a soft spot in the zone and the fourth year receiver was able to advance it for the first down. Billick complimented Darling’s read on the play…The defensive secondary looked very tight in 7 on 7’s inspiring positive reinforcements from secondary coach Mark Carrier. On two consecutive plays Boller found no one to throw to and was forced to eat the ball despite the lack of a pass rush on these drills primarily designed to aid the offense…One of the most memorable plays of the day took place when McNair found Demetrius Williams on a deep out route to the right. Williams drew three defenders yet he was able to pull down a well placed pass in traffic.
Other notes and observations…MIA’s for today’s practice included Drew Olson (NFL Europe), Mike Flynn, Gary Stills, Dan Cody, Jonathan Ogden, Ed Reed, Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Trevor Pryce, Kelly Gregg…Mike Anderson did attend today’s OTA…David Pittman sat out for precautionary reasons for a hamstring strain that is not believed to be serious…Bart Scott prior to stepping up to the microphone today to address the media put his helmet back on and buckled up his chin strap before declaring himself ready…The next OTA runs from May 30 – June 1 with May 31 being open to the media. The mandatory OTA will run from June 5-7.
Photo by Sabina Moran
