Morning notes
Matt Stover might have some competition from an unlikely source.
For the second consecutive day, punter Sam Koch kicked field goals during practice. With Stover and rookie Piotr Czech given the day off, Koch connected on attempts of 20, 28, 35 and 42 yards.
“I used to do it in high school and messed around with it in college just to keep that skill there in case there ever was an emergency,” Koch said. “It was fun.”
Koch said Stover and Czech have also tried their hands at punting, but it's unclear whether job security is an issue for Koch.
Other observations:
* The quarterbacks struggled again with Kyle Boller appearing to make fewer mistakes than both Troy Smith and rookie Joe Flacco. Had he not been wearing a red, non-contact jersey, Smith would have been sacked by linebacker Edgar Jones and defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams and was nearly intercepted twice.
Flacco wasn't sacked, but he committed the lone giveaway. Stepping up into the pocket, Flacco lost control of the football as his arm was moving forward. Safety Jim Leonhard bobbled the ball before cornerback Derrick Martin hauled in the fumble/interception.
Boller was almost picked off by Martin and still locks onto his receivers, but he avoided the sacks and giveaways that Smith and Flacco couldn't.
* Smith made the play of the day when he pump-faked a short pass to wide receiver Mark Clayton, enticing cornerback David Pittman to jump the route. Clayton continued down the field and hauled in a long completion. On the ensuing play, Smith and center Jason Brown botched the exchange before Smith recovered the loose ball.
* As good as the defense was, the unit's aggressiveness drew some trouble. Officials flagged the defense for four offside penalties. The offense didn't get away unscathed, committing one false start.
* Defensive tackles Haloti Ngata (sprained right medial collateral ligament), Kelly Gregg (left knee) and Kelly Talavou (sprained shoulder), linebackers Dan Cody (right foot), Robert McCune (undisclosed) and rookie Tavares Gooden (undisclosed), cornerbacks Chris McAlister (right knee) and Fabian Washington (undisclosed), offensive tackles Adam Terry (sprained left ankle) and Jared Gaither (right ankle), tight ends Todd Heap (right calf) and Aaron Walker (left knee) and wide receiver Yamon Figurs (undisclosed) did not practice.
Comments
Will Dan Cody and Todd Heap ever be able to be full time contributors to this team? Todd Heap seems always hurt and I don't think Dan Cody has ever played a down in a regular game -- perhaps in any game. I can understand keeping Todd Heap in hopes that he can play, some. But isn't Cody taking up a roster spot? As much as I like the change in coaches from Brian Billick to Hargaugh-- there sure does seem to be a lot of injuries in this training camp.
Posted by: Mel Vogelsang | August 11, 2008 3:01 PM
Siggghhh. Heap and Cody out injured once again. So much potential wasted on IR. Wake me up when there is some real injury news.
Posted by: Patrick | August 11, 2008 5:16 PM
gonna have a monster D this year!
Posted by: Stevers | August 11, 2008 6:35 PM
i cannot wait for a real game to be played.....boller will lead us to the superbowl
Posted by: ravenstaketitle | August 11, 2008 9:36 PM
There are just as many injuries in every NFL training camp.
Cody is not taking up a roster spot. We still have street free agents and an extra kicker. IR players do not count against the cap or roster spots. He is good enough to keep around in hopes he can overcome the injuries instead of just giving him an injury settlement and see him end up helping the Bungles or Clowns on 3rd downs in the future.
I like the contact in camp. They need to go full speed in order to gel as a runblocking unit and also develop the timing on the pass plays. There have been plenty of injuries (Quinn S.) during "non contact" drills and activities or in "half speed stuff under Billick Jamal blew out his knee.
There can be full speed live football practice that is more fun, and less dangerous than the one on one drills or various conditioning drills that coaches run instead of actuall football practice. I have always been told and believed it was safer to play football full speed than 3/4.
The few times I was injured playing football was in practice during FG drills where I was not really paying attention and got my knee sprained. The other time I sprained a wrist pretty good doing a run play in practice at "walk through" speed and a LB tried to run through my block at full speed. If I had just hit him for real, he goes down and my wrist is fine today instead of still making clicking noises every time I roll it.
Injuries are just a part of football, but practicing full speed, full contact, is the only way to prepare for what is going to happen to your body in a game. Your teammates are never going to hit you, or try to hurt you the way the other teams are no matter how hard you practice, but they can help prepare you for it.
Posted by: Jeremiah | August 12, 2008 12:50 PM
@jeremiah: IR players do not count against the roster limits, but they do count against the cap - otherwise the richer teams who can afford the cash outlay to exceed the cap would have a bunch of "injured" young players stashed there waiting for the next year while they "rehab" i.e., develop their game.
Posted by: Tim | August 14, 2008 7:26 AM