[UPDATE] Please rec with wonderful FanPost. --bbs

My family went to training camp Friday. It's an annual tradition for us now. We had a great time. I did not take notes, as I was too busy taking everything in. That means I will most likely remember things in the morning that I will wish I had recalled when making this fanpost.There was a morning practice and an afternoon practice. Here are some observations from the day.

* Absentees and Limited Participants - I never saw Marlin Jackson or Bob Sanders. Vinatieri was there in shorts, helping out the kickers and punters. Donald Brown participated in the morning practice, but he dressed down and sat out the afternoon. So did Ugoh and Hayden. I’m forgetting others, I’m sure.

* Injuries - During the afternoon practice, Mike Hart had an ankle injury while blocking a linebacker in a set of pass rushing and pass protection drills. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, but he came back in for a couple plays a little later. Then, toward the end of practice, he was on the sidelines with ice wrapped around his ankle. By the time we left, though, it was off and his shoes was back on.

Jim Sorgi may be seriously injured. While running a stretch play, he had to really stretch to get the ball to an aggressive Chad Simpson, and he went down hard after making the handoff. He came up in obvious pain and grabbing the back of his thigh. He had to be carted back inside, which can’t be a good thing. Unless your name is Curtis Painter.

* Quarterback - Peyton Manning had his share of bad throws, but he made a plethora of great ones. I think he’s shaking off a bit of rust, and he is beginning to look superb as usual. Painter was hard to judge. Early on he didn’t impress at all, but in late in the afternoon practice he threw some great passes while under pressure in scrimmage. There were a couple long passes that were special, one in particular to Tamme. Painter also threw two TD passes in a goal line offense and through tight coverage. However, he ended the day with an interception to Hagler, who returned it the distance. Still very promising. Painter is only a rookie, but I could see him replacing Jim Sorgi, particularly if Sorgi’s injury is serious.

* Running Back - In the morning walkthrough, Addai and Brown shared the first team load. However, as Donald Brown sat out the afternoon session, Addai led away. Hart, Ball and Simpson played mostly with the second team offense. Hart was great before his injury. Ball seemed to outperform Simpson, though Simpson had a couple great TD runs in goal line drills. If Hart stays healthy, I think that Simpson will be the halfback without a home.

I have to say that Joseph Addai looked great today. He had some great runs and moves, he caught very well, and his pass blocking was impressive. Addai stood out on this day.

This was interesting. They used Eric Foster at fullback. Quite a bit. He made some nice blocks, and he even caught two TD passes from Manning. That would be fun during the season, wouldn’t it?

* Wide Receiver - In reception drills and with no one covering, the receivers caught well, with only Garcon dropping an easy catch. Hall looked a little out of sync in these. During scrimmage plays and while covered by Db’s, Garcon dropped another that he should’ve caught for six. Wayne and Gonzalez seemed pretty well covered when they were in. TE’s were snagging the most catches. Roy Hall had a couple nice catches, including a TD. That guy is a physical specimen. I was impressed with Taj Smith most of the day, but by the end Roy Hall had me believing. If we hold five receivers, I suspect Hall and Smith will fight for the last spot, with Garcon making the team. I think Hall has the edge, but I like them both.

Reggie Wayne provided some great moments. He would interact with the crowd (as would Collie). Manning threw a perfect pass to Wayne through excellent, tight coverage by Jennings, but Wayne let it go right through his hands. Reggie was very upset with himself. Later he was being covered by Jerraud Powers. Powers made a great play on a nice pass from Manning, knocking the ball away from Wayne. Two plays later, Manning came back to Reggie in the end zone. Powers still had great coverage, but Reggie made a super grab for six. It was a fun contest to watch.

Austin Collie is impressive. The guy has amazing hands and runs great routes. I believe he will surprise and be productive in his first year, at least for a rookie slot receiver. He seems plenty confident as well.

* Offensive Line - There seems to be little debate at the starting positions. Ugoh, Lilja, Saturday, Pollak and Diem. In the afternoon, Ugoh dressed down and sat out of practice, though nothing appeared to be wrong. Federkeil and Hilliard filled his void. This unit has me a little worried. Either the defense is dominating, or they are still struggling. The first team was okay. They had their moments both ways. The depth was unimpressive, however. Pray for health, I suppose.

* Tight End - Clark and Tamme clearly stood above the pack. Robinson and Santi were out there, but didn’t do anything that was notable. Petrowski had a nice TD grab. Manning kept targeting Clark, who pulled in some great catches. They had a couple TD’s together. Tamme made some great long receptions and tough grabs from both Manning and Painter. I’m telling you, Dallas Clark and Jacob Tamme looked really good.

* Defensive Line - This was a hard unit for me to observe, as they gave a lot of different looks. They used five linemen a lot. Also, the ends lined up with more space from the tackles than usual, in my opinion. Once I was confused because from where I stood it looked like Moala was playing LE, but after several plays I could see Mathis down there on the end as a fifth lineman and spaced apart from the rest a bit. I liked the whole defensive effort. Other than a couple short TD punches by Simpson, their goal line coverage was great, especially against the pass. The DL put solid pressure on the QB throughout practice.

I saw a lot of Ed Johnson. They also used Grady quite a bit. Foster, Taylor, Moala and some other guys rotated, but I noticed Johnson on the field the most. Grady made some nice plays behind the line, and I remember one from Foster as well. Curtis Johnson was in a lot at end. Brock and Mathis rotated in and out, with Brock rarely at DT. Dawson played End, not Tackle. I saw little of Howard or Freeney it seemed.

* Linebacker - The clear starting unit was Session, Brackett and Wheeler. Senn subbed in a lot. Didn’t notice much from Keiaho. Hagler had an interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the day. He looked pretty solid throughout.

* Defensive Back - Jackson was not there, and Hayden sat out during the competitive practice. When Jennings was in, he was always on the number one receiver. He covered well it seemed. Hughes looked pretty good to me. He spent some time covering the big boys, and he did his job. Rushing at one point concerned me. I think he is behind some of the others. I don’t know if Coe will hold a spot on the roster, as Rushing holds some more value in ST at least. The safeties were fine. I liked Bullitt especially. No Sanders there.

Powers was the most impressive of the corners on the day. He would fl to the ball. He made some great plays against Wayne, as I mentioned earlier. There were several times when he caught my attention. He perhaps could be our best man coverage corner in time. Not that we use man coverage much, but still.

* Special Teams - I like Ray Rychleski. That guy is enthused. He is loud, excited and motivating. Don’t take me wrong, he’s no Russ Purnell... McAfee has a leg! At first, he didn’t stand out from Masthay, but as the day went on, he was far more consistent, he punted deeper and his kicks had more hangtime. He was better under pressure. He also had some long field goal kicks, like over fifty yards. While Andrus seemed very solid if Viniateri can’t go, McAfee could do it all himself, it seemed.

Here’s one funny thing about Pat McAfee. During the morning walkthrough, the fans were getting bored it seemed. McAfee was throwing passes on the sidelines with the other special teams and staff, and for fun he began to aim for a helmet that was upside down on the ground. He nailed it early, and the fans began to cheer. He kept trying and came close, but he never hit it again. After a while, the guy on that end moved the helmet after he threw to help him "hit"it. Everyone laughed, and McAfee just turned away and watched the scrimmage as if he was offended. A couple other times he laughed with some fans. He seems like a fun guy.

* Other Impressions - I think the defense looks deeper than the offense. The defense played a bit better all around, although Manning and company fared well enough. However, when the second teams were in, the defense dominated for the most part. If we get injured anywhere, I think we have more depth to step up on defense. I worry about the offensive line. Perhaps it will be fine. I hope so.

I noticed some guys stayed out on the field longer than the rest so they could work on things. Hayden, Taj Smith, Collie, Manning and a couple others I’m forgetting. Manning is a workhorse. He stayed on the field longer than most, and he conducted interviews with different people. Long after everyone else had gone indoors, he stayed and gave autographs. He was out there an hour longer than most everyone else after both practices.

Some people are jerks. They would almost trample the kids to get to Manning. My son sat in front of the rope during afternoon practice and next to a kid in a wheelchair. Afterwards, when Peyton came to sign autographs, they were nearly trampled. By adults. The security kept warning that Manning wouldn’t stay if they pushed and crowded, yet some adults kept on until Manning backed away and signed elsewhere. My son was disappointed, but he stayed there, and when the mob went to Manning’s new spot and trampled some more, Peyton came back and signed my son’s football. Throughout the time, security had to keep intervening with crazed fans. And it wasn’t the children, let me tell you.

Justin Snow impressed me. He came straight over to the handicapped young man and signed his stuff. He told sternly everyone else to wait afterwards, and he knelt beside the wheelchair and talked to the family at length. He asked them questions, showed understanding, and seemed to genuinely care. Curtis Painter also came over later just for this family.

My son received autographs from Peyton, Coach Jim Caldwell, Justin Snow and Curtis Painter. We conversed with each of them except for Manning, who was preoccupied with trying to survive.

There are a group of women there who are scarily obsessed with Dalles Clark. They have a ton of pictures of and with him. They had a gallery of photos of his gluteus maximus. They were taking more photos of him, preparing to get him to sign some previous ones, and speaking of him constantly the entire afternoon practice. They looked normal enough, but looks can be deceiving.

* Conclusion - I could go on and on, but this is already a book =p It’s a great time for my family every year, and I highly recommend the experience to anyone. Oh, and if you come, bring your own Sharpie. Or seven dollars to buy one.