I'm at training camp today.

by coltsfanawalt on Aug 12, 2008 2:30 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

We attended the morning session already, and we will be heading back for the afternoon practice soon. If anyone from Stampede Blue is there later and reads this first, look me up. My wife and three children are with me, along with two close friends. Some observations include:

We saw Clint Session lay out Joseph Addai in a rotating drill of pass rushing/blocking. Everyone made noise about it. Addai stepped aside and took off his helmet. Then when Session was due up again, he cut in front of the other back to get another crack at #55. Pretty cool to see. And Session looks good.

Marlin Jackson must be part zombie, like Bob. He hits hard. Alot. After a receiver got the best of him in a blocking drill, I thought he was going to start a fistfight. Later in practice, he laid out Garcon (hard) after a short completion. And there were others as well.

I don't think Sam Giguere is faring well. He was getting alot of correction from coaches on some blocking drills and made to do them over and over. No one else received that kind of scrutiny. Also, he had a couple of hiccups in cone drills that were commented on by the coaches. With so much depth there, I think he is working uphill big time. He has missed time, and there isn't long left for him to overwhelm anyone with his performance. We'll see.

The lack of K2 involvement leads me to believe our suspicions. He is on his way out. Mike Hart is going to be a good addition.

The QB play is underwhelming. Gray threw a bad one that was tipped where it shouldn't have been in the first place, then intercepted. Sorgi can throw beyond ten yards. Like, twelve or so... The most important realization is that we need Manning.

Coach Dungy is the best. When everyone was dismissed, the players hurried away except for a few who stayed for drills. Roy Hall and Dungy came over to sign autographs and meet fans. Everyone swamped Dungy, and he took all the time they wanted; signed everything, posed for pictures with every asker, and answered every question. This was the way he was also when I met him last month in Indy. A total class act. Hall was nice, too. I told him we believed he would be great this year, and he was grateful. The fan booth included Condren, Giordano and Bullitt (who jokingly convinced my six year old daughter that Giordano didn't want to sign her purse like the others did - funny moment). My son got Jeff Saturday's sig as well as a couple of others that I don't remember right now.

Watch out for Howard Mudd. He drives like a maniac. I'm just sayin'.

I'll report back later about this afternoon.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.

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Rec this up

I agree on Mudd. He drives that golf cart like Dom Rhodes on a Friday night after having a few.

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by BigBlueShoe on Aug 12, 2008 2:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank you.

Actually won’t be able to report back until late tonight, as I head back to Northwest Indiana afterwards. I think Mudd sees the other golf cart drivers as threats to be chased off the path. Or something.

by coltsfanawalt on Aug 12, 2008 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good To Hear

about Session. We need him to be healthy.

One other thing I noticed yesterday was that I think it was Ron Meeks that was wearing a hooded sweatshirt yesterday in 80 degree weather. I was hot in shorts and a t-shirt, and he was dressed like it was December in Nova Scotia.

http://naptownsfinest.com

by Colts Homer on Aug 12, 2008 3:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good job

Thanks for the update. I think you are reading too much into the Giguere situation. He is adapting to a different type of football, and in a skill position that is drastically affected by the width of the field. The talent level is also obviously a lot higher here. I think because of his potential, he’ll stick on the practice squad, as I’m sure no other team will take the time to develop him.

Re: the DB situation. First off, it sucks that Coe is out, but I think we have more depth at CB than we know how to deal with. The issue I see is all of our DBs, especially our starters, HIT HARD. That means they can and sometimes do hurt themselves and others. Same thing with the LBs. That’s why we need only one or at most two contact drills a week. I think the players need more mental reps than anything, and combine it with good fundamental conditioning.

Too bad my client is acting crazy, or I’d be able to go up there for the last week of camp. Now I guess I’ll have until next year, though I’ll be looking for tickets to a home game in September or October.

I also blog at Speed Blue Nation

by Bullard47 on Aug 12, 2008 9:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Update

I thought I would just finish on this fanpost rather than create a new one. Practice was one hour yesterday afternoon, as opposed to the two hour practice that morning. Half of the hour was drills (I was amused watching those linemen run catching drills. As big as they are, they are better receivers than any of us). During the time when they ran plays I solidified some observations that I didn’t post after the morning practice.

Quinn Gray will not get Sorgi’s job if he continues to play like this. In addition to Sorgi’s in-road with Peyton and Gray’s poor performance with the third unit last Saturday, Gray did not impress in practice, either. He and Lorenzen both have more arm strength than Sorgi (so do the cheerleaders though), but Gray threw the only picks I saw in both practices. He also threw many passes that had everyone on the sidelines and in the stands around me asking each other why he did. Truthfully, Lorenzen looked the sharpest. Coupled with his last preseason game, if he is finally getting a little comfortable here, he could be the one. I still don’t think Sorgi gets cut, though.

Dante Hughes is looking excellent. He is definitely the third best corner we have, and I imagine could prove in time to be a very worthy starting corner. Every play that came his direction was handled very well. He had several near interceptions. He also performed well in individual drills. Jennings and Rushing (who hasn’t impressed me as much with his corner skills, but is a valuable backup and special teams returner) should round out the roster.

We have a TE problem. As in we have more good ones than we can keep. Robinson and Tamme look great. Behind Clark, that is three. Snow will be long snapper. I guess Santi can be called a fullback? Or do we cut him? PS? Zac Herold looked worthy in practice.

My wife commented that of all the receivers during drills and receptions, Harrison makes it look the easiest. I thought Wayne looked equally impressive, especially in blocking, but she felt Marvin stood out clearly. Eat that, pundits. Aromashodu dropped the most passes. He also caught some impressive ones. Go figure.

I think we just resigned Dawson for the time. I doubt we keep him or Keith. Maybe Dawson on the practice squad. Chad Simpson is impressive enough to be the number four behind Hart. If we have a number four. Call one running back the fullback? What about those tight ends? My head may explode. We have a deep team this year.

One more thing. The last play of practice was a NICE touchdown pass. Lorenzen (under pressure) hooked up with Zac Herold (dropped nicely over two cover defenders) in the back right corner of the endzone.

by coltsfanawalt on Aug 13, 2008 11:32 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs