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BILL PARCELLS He scaled back |
Football Notes
When practice isn't perfect
Preseason schedule may need tinkering
When the Rams and Chargers met this preseason, it was conservatism at its best. The Chargers held star running back LaDainian Tomlinson out of the game, and the Rams put top running back Steven Jackson in for one play before announcing he wouldn't suit up again until the season opener.
The game highlighted what appears to be a growing NFL trend.
More than ever, teams seem to be playing it safe, which is why the 49ers recently decided to sit running back Frank Gore for their final two preseason games, and closer to home, the Patriots have carefully managed running back Laurence Maroney in his return from offseason shoulder surgery.
It makes one wonder: Has preseason action lost its usefulness?
Bill Parcells understands the line of thinking, but he cautions against taking it that far. He believes the issue is twofold.
Even with the proliferation of offseason workout programs and organized team activities, Parcells feels players still need preseason games. But the present-day economics of the NFL have changed how coaches approach them.
"I'm not one that says cut the preseason down; you hear talk about maybe having two games, and I wouldn't do that," Parcells said. "Football is a game where it's difficult to practice it and get your body in tune without much contact. The OTAs don't allow you to have contact, so there needs to be some version of simulated activity of game conditions. Preseason games definitely do that.
"Overall, though, I think what has happened is that football is a little more difficult to practice as efficiently as it used to be. From an economic standpoint with the money constraints and the salary cap, the consciousness of injuries and inability to replace players has influenced, in some ways, the way teams prepare. I think the teams are becoming increasingly cautious, especially in preseason, in exposing their players too much."
Because of this, owners continue to discuss altering the preseason schedule. The general feeling seems to be that the current set-up, which has each team playing four games, has outlived its usefulness. Yet at the same time, reducing the schedule to two games wouldn't be enough.
Three would be the perfect number, and ultimately that's probably the direction in which the league will head at some point, perhaps in conjunction with adding a 17th regular-season game. That set-up would ensure that all owners still have 10 home dates, which is important from a revenue standpoint.
The four-game preseason system has been in place since the late 1970s. Occasionally, teams will have a fifth game, such as the Patriots, who took the fifth in 1986, 1998, and 2000 with appearances in the Hall of Fame game and an international contest in Mexico.
Parcells adjusted his preseason approach in recent years, which was a reminder of how things have changed since his days with the Giants in the 1980s.
"My training camps used to be much more difficult with much more contact and were much longer," he said. "I know I used to try to have 25 practices before the first preseason game and 50 practices before the first regular-season game. That really comprised about 35-40 percent of practices for the whole year.
"Now, my last years in Dallas, I was on the two-and-one schedule [two workouts one day, one on the other], reducing practice by 25 percent. We had only 19-20 practices before the first preseason game, or 40-41 before the first regular-season game.
"The way I looked at it, more isn't better all the time, it's the efficiency in which you teach. I see how some of the teams work on the field and what they do, and how much time is wasted. You try to be more efficient."
Still, Parcells was always aware of the economic side of the equation, and how costly it could be if a top player was lost in the preseason. He noticed it with other clubs, too.
"I can't speak for anyone else, I just know that I was getting the sense myself, 'Gee whiz, you can't afford to lose one of those guys, because the talent pool to replace players is not very good,' " he said. "I'm kind of old-fashioned. There were only 900 players when I came into the league. Now there are around 1,950.
"The reality of it is, if you start high-priced players in preseason, and you lose them, you don't have the ability to replace them."
Tough act to follow
It has been an offseason of transition for the Steelers, as first-year coach Mike Tomlin attempts to mold the team in his own image after taking over from Bill Cowher. Former Boston College quarterback Brian St. Pierre, vying for the No. 3 job behind Ben Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch, has had a behind-the-scenes view of the transformation.
"The first thing I noticed when I got drafted here in 2003 was that Bill Cowher had such a large presence throughout the building and the city of Pittsburgh, from the jaw, to the image, to the tough-guy personality," St. Pierre said. "He was a larger-than-life type of figure, constantly a presence.
"With Mike Tomlin, it's a little more laidback. He sort of mixes in more with the players, to the point where you don't always know where he is in practice. You always knew where Bill was."
Surely, St. Pierre isn't alone in those thoughts, which is probably why Tomlin put together a demanding training camp regimen. St. Pierre said it's been the most challenging camp he's taken part in.
"We just finished a week from hell, four days in a row of full pads," St. Pierre said Friday. "It's been real tough for us. He might not be a larger-than-life presence, but he gets his point across.
"He's placed a large emphasis coming out of training camp on being a unified, tough group, and hopefully when we get to the regular season, that can be our calling card. He probably angered some people along the way because practices have been so tough, and it's been different than what they've been used to, but it's been in a good way."
Under Cowher, the Steelers were a smash-mouth team, usually at the top of the charts when it came to rushing attempts. Despite some buzz about a revamped attack, St. Pierre doesn't see it going that way.
"A lot of people out here have talked about us changing our philosophy on offense, maybe more of the wide-open, four-wide, throw-it-all-around approach," he said. "I think there maybe has been too big a deal made out of that. I don't think that's going to be us. That's not our personality. I think we'll see a lot of the same old Steelers."
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His story is tough to buy
After reaching terms on a five-year contract extension Wednesday, Chiefs running back Larry Johnson told reporters he's not sure he'll be ready for a full load in the season opener Sept. 9 against the Texans. Go figure. With teams like the Chargers not even playing their top running back (LaDainian Tomlinson) in the preseason, should Johnson be taken seriously when he says he might not be ready to carry 20-25 times in the opener? Of course not. The Chiefs didn't plunk down $19 million in guarantees -- the richest contract in team history -- to have him on the sidelines once the season begins.
Caught with their guard down?
In trading veteran guard Pete Kendall to the Redskins for what could be as high as a 2009 fourth-round draft choice, the Jets appear to have received solid value for a player who was no longer in their plans. But there remains one important question: Did the Jets hurt themselves in the short term? Considering that Kendall's potential replacement at left guard is Jacob Bender, a sixth-round pick out of Division 1-AA Nicholls State, it's a fair question. Third-year player Adrien Clark (four career starts) is the other option at this point.
Problems down the line
A series of events led to the Redskins' pursuit of Kendall, none of which were good for the team. It started in the offseason when starting left guard Derrick Dockery signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Bills. The Redskins' fallback plan was to convert right tackle John Wade to guard, but Wade struggled to make the move and sustained a shoulder injury. Backup Mike Pucillo had little guard experience himself, and was part of a pass-protection breakdown that led to a sack last week in which quarterback Jason Campbell injured his left knee. Enough was enough, so the Redskins, who trade away draft picks as frequently as any club, mortgaged another chip to fix the problem.
Pressed into service
Jaguars rookie linebacker Justin Durant is another Division 1-AA player who could be asked to take on an expanded role earlier than expected. Jacksonville has been without starting linebacker Clint Ingram (high ankle sprain) the last few weeks, which has given the coaches a chance to see more of Durant, a second-round draft choice who starred at Hampton University. The early returns have been solid; in his first two games, Durant played about 60 snaps and was around the ball with 16 hits.He's Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside
Inside, outside, inside, and now outside again. That's been the progression for Bobby Carpenter, who continues to flip-flop between linebacker positions in the Cowboys' 3-4 defense. The 2006 first-round pick out of Ohio State is now getting more of a look on the outside as starter Greg Ellis recovers from a heel injury, and with that comes the natural concern that there is too much on his plate. "You don't ever want to be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none," he said. Ultimately, Carpenter will probably end up inside, as the Cowboys have more accomplished rushers in DeMarcus Ware (2005 first-round pick) and Anthony Spencer (2007 first-round pick) on the outside.
Wonder time
With quarterbacks Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Ken Dorsey, and rookie Brady Quinn on the roster, Browns coach Romeo Crennel left open the possibility that he won't officially declare a starter until the day of the opener. Frye, who has started 18 games over the last two seasons, is the likely candidate to beat out Anderson, although Quinn could make a push after missing the first 11 days of camp in a holdout. "Our first opponent [Pittsburgh] might have to wonder who the quarterback is going to be," Crennel said. "They might have to prepare for two guys, which could be an advantage for us."Extra points
Veteran Broncos receiver Rod Smith, who has yet to practice after undergoing offseason hip surgery, will likely open the season on the physically unable to perform list. Coach Mike Shanahan said he doesn't expect to have Smith back until the sixth week at the earliest . . . The Packers have benched strong safety Marquand Manuel, who signed a five-year contract as a free agent in 2006, in place of Atari Bigby . . . Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle is another player falling down the depth chart, as the eighth overall pick in the 2005 draft was demoted to the second team, with Roderick Hood -- a free agent signed from the Eagles -- taking his spot . . . With top backup defensive end Ryan Denney suffering a broken foot and fellow backup Anthony Hargrove suspended for the first four games of the season, the Bills didn't have a reserve end with NFL experience, which is why they signed 33-year-old Al Wallace last week . . . The Eagles' surprising release of veteran middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter opens the door for second-year player Omar Gaither, a 2006 fifth-round draft choice from Tennessee, to assume the starting role . . . The 49ers have inserted first-round draft choice Patrick Willis as a starter at inside linebacker in their 3-4 alignment, which bumped the team's leading tackler last year, Brandon Moore, to a reserve role . . . Former University of New Hampshire cornerback Corey Graham, selected by the Bears in the fifth round, is making a push for a roster spot, helping his cause with an interception against the Colts last Monday that he returned 27 yards. Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
