By Tom Rock
First question from my wife this morning: “Why does Eric Mangini hate mothers?”
“Not all mothers,” I told her on my way out the door. “I’m sure he likes his own.”
So we’re here on Mother’s Day morning for the second day of rookie minicamp. Just got back from the last of the workout sessions we’ll be able to watch, and other than a chilly wind that forced Samoan safety and Hawaii product Leonard Peters to bundle up with long sleeves, it was pretty much the same as Saturday’s practice. The stretched. They drilled. They stumbled over bags. And Darrelle Revis blew past David Harris in an open field tackling drill.
A few new faces on the second day, all of them tryouts from colleges such as Williams, Bloomsburg and West Liberty State. They also brought in QB Marvin Burroughs from Villanova. Word is they were counting on Oklahoma QB/WR Paul Thompson until late in the week, but as Mangini noted on Saturday, it just didn’t work out contractually.
A few observations, many of which will be deep afterthoughts by the time training camp begins:
Fire-dancing safety Leonard Peters didn’t look as sharp as he did on Day 1 (maybe the cold did get to him), and was yelled at by Mike Westhoff during one of the “tackling” drills (which is really a sizing-up and breaking-down drill since there is NO CONTACT!). “Why are you gonna stop, Leonard? Keep going, dammit!” Westhoff yelled. (I’ll have to check in with the Entourage blog to see if that D-word eliminates the sentence from BPL contention.)
No contact? Don’t tell Illinois State RB Pierre Rembert, who put his head down and tried to run over DB Justin Rainey from Middle Tennessee State. Both players wound up on the ground and Rainey seemed miffed. NON CONTACT, Pierre!!!
Chansi Stuckey made a few sweet cuts in the open-field drill. They were against tryout linebackers, but it seems that his foot is feeling much better. His hands, though could be a concern. He didn’t look as solid fielding punts, certainly not as smooth as Revis, who appears to be a natural.
Interestingly, Revis was always a ball-carrier in the open-field drills so we never got to see him make any tackles or defensive plays. His first move on Harris was his best of a handful of tries; after that he appeared the throttle down a bit and not make sharp cuts. He was still fast enough to elude most of the would-be tacklers, though.
On a non-football note, Jay Cross was on the sideline of the workout wearing a spiffy vintage Titans hat (NY Titans, not Tennessee for all those youngsters who don’t remember). Dark blue with a gold “T” on the front. Very nice. It also sparked some speculation that the Jets might wear throwback Titans jerseys for a game this season.
We get Mangini in a few minutes and the locker room after that. Then, that’s it. Rookie minicamp will be over from a media point of view. The players will be around tomorrow and then most will go back to their regular lives: Waiting for the next police test, interviewing for jobs in marketing or whatever college football players major in these days, or, in some cases, training for the 2008 Olympics as a wrestler. Good luck to all of them.
Oh, and Happy Mother’s Day to all whom it applies to. Unlike some people, I don’t hate mothers.
Comments (2)
Leonard Peters is a true talent who has shown the true meaning of Aloha, here in the islands. Now I hope he has a successful time in the NFL to not only spread the aloha locally, but now even nationally. He is also a player that is willing to learn, and can't only bring hard hitting action to the game, but also heart and integrity, which is what we need to remember football is all about.
I remeber a big nose tackle who got hurt in the exhibition season last year. His name was something like Tui Aleuilafaleula. He looked really stout in the middle. Notice he's not on roster. Any idea what happened to him?