Training Camp Day 1 (July 28) Notes & Observations
By: Robbie Duncan
Well day one of Training Camp is over and after sweating off at least five pounds of water weight, I’m here to present my notes and observations from today’s afternoon practice. The day overall did not show anything spectacular. Both sides of the ball pretty much were running their bread and butter plays (zone scheme running plays on O and base cover in the 3-4 and nickel from the D). Like I referenced in the beginning it was extremely hot today. Fortunately, none of the players seemed to be bothered by the heat; no cramping either. It will be worth keeping an eye on as camp moves on as guys get more broken down and beat up, the heat is unmerciful and will make it worse. With that said let’s get to the specifics:
Like I said earlier, offense didn’t do anything special in the running game just pretty much stretch zone plays, and quite effectively I might add. Saw some good runs from all depth groups. Wasn’t all perfect of course but enough to feel good about what I saw
The starting OL was the usual suspects with Spencer Long at left guard. Didn’t see Arie Kouandjio get any reps with the ones today. Long did get some snaps at center with the second team here and there.
Speaking of the OL, overall their day today was pretty solid. Kirk pretty much had a clean pocket all practice. Trent Williams had a bad couple reps, one giving up a sack on Willie Jefferson. He later got beat again this time by Lynden Trail who batted Kirk’s pass down as he tried to dump the pass off.
Willie Jefferson stood out the most of all the pass rushers today. Of course you know already about him beating Trent Williams, but literally the next play he beat back up Ty Nsekhe with a double move inside for a would be sack. He’s got the one up on the other guys on the roster right now in my book. With Galette out for the year we will definitely need guys like Jefferson and Trail to step up.
Bashaud Breeland and Greg Toler were the best showing corners today in my opinion. Toler was blanketing guys and not making it easy for anyone to catch on him. Bashaud Breeland is stepping up and being a leader to the other corners many times calling out to guys what the wideout was going to do in one on one’s. His intelligence and instincts are showing strong.
Rookie running back Keith Marshall showed some smooth running skill today. Had a couple of nice runs for solid gains. Also showed some good receiving skills, especially in the one on one drills. Just keep your fingers crossed that he can stay healthy.
Trent Murphy was a big surprise to me today. Looked explosive and was making plays in the backfield. What’s strange is that he’s bulked up and put on all this weight but he looked faster to me than before. Maybe I’m crazy. Murphy lined up at both inside with the DL and outside at OLB. He had one great rush against Morgan Moses that almost was a sack on Kirk Cousins. Interested to see if he can keep up this play and maybe work his way back into the starting lineup somewhere.
Rookie LB/S hybrid Su’a Cravens was used exclusively at ILB today, in both base 3-4 and nickel. He showed good coverage skills here and there but seemed hesitant to me against the run from the ILB spot. He definitely is quick out there on the field though. He’ll figure it out, he’s a rookie learning a new scheme and position.
Oh yeah, I probably should mention how Kirk looked today. Kirk looked solid all practice. You could hear him command the huddle and keep things in control. He looked confident and sharp. He made some nice connections with DeSean Jackson on a number of occasions. His best play of the day was on a bootleg to the right side, facing heavy pressure from Ryan Kerrigan. Kirk bought time and waited until the last second before Kerrigan got him to throw a 20 pass to DeSean Jackson right on the sideline. It was a great sideline catch by Jackson as well.
That’s the gist of what I saw at practice today. It was a nice solid hot practice. I also should note that this practice was not in pads, so things may change once the strap on the shoulder pads. I’ll be there again tomorrow for the afternoon practice tweeting away. See you guys tomorrow! HTTR.