Morning Practice: July 31, 2009

Training camp is officially underway. The first practice of camp was kind of a break in day. Players were wearing shorts and practice pads. First off, since I know you're all wondering. No, Percy Harvin is not yet present. With no real major story of the day, I'll just break it down for you by sessions & observations:

• Jaymar Johnson, Aundrae Allison, Darius Reynaud, and rookie WR Nick Moore spent time fielding Kicks & Punts, with Jaymar seeing most of the looks
• The cornerbacks and some wide receivers spent time doing hand drills and gunner drills. Berrian and Wade didn't participate much for the first hour, mainly playing catch on the sidelines near Peterson and Taylor
• Anthony Herrera appears to have lost some weight since last year
  
• Ian Johnson is now the owner of #42
• Karl Paymah is wearing #41 in place of Gordon
  
• During FG drills, as always, Longwell didn't miss a single kick
• Aundrae Allison was wearing Yellow Cleats, Berrian was wearing Purple. Everyone else had black and white
  

• Individual WR Drills: Jaymar Johnson had the most impressive catch during this session, making an great one-handed grab that appeared out of reach. Rookie Nick Moore had 2 consecutive drops, and was forced to run the route four times. He dropped his first pass on the next route as well. During 1 on 1's, Rice beat his man and made an incredible, Carter-esque grab keeping his feet in bounds and leaning out to make the catch.
• When running offensive drills (no defense), the first two plays called were fakes to Peterson, with the WR coming around and taking the handoff.
  
• John Sullivan was getting off the snap quick and pulling well on screens.
  
• Loadholt took every snap with the first team

1 on 1 WR Drill Highlights

1. Cornerback Derrick Roberson was having a start, getting beat consecutively and falling down at the line of scrimmage on a cut. He later made up for it with one of the best plays of the day, making a terrific interception over the head of Jaymar Johnson on a deep pass
2. Glenn Holt beat his man and was wide open over the middle, the ball hit him directly in the hands - and then it hit the ground.
3. Rookie WR Bobby Williams had Griffin beat for a sure TD. He laid out trying to make the grab, but came up just short. He stood yelling "Sh*t!". The ball was slightly over thrown.
4. Rice had the lone TD reception during 1-on-1's, making a cut and blowing by Marcus Walker
5. When lined up against Berrian, 3rd Round pick Asher Allen had great coverage, swatting a perfectly placed ball out of his hands
6. Holt later made up for drop, coming down with the play of the day versus Griffin. Griffin had fantastic coverage and they both got their hands on the ball. Holt came up with it, then while sitting on the ground, rose his arms up and the stands erupted with applause
7. Jaymar got a chance to make up for the picked ball, making a great cut to beat Benny Sapp on the sideline. Sapp had a rough first day, getting beat often

• Sage Rosenfels took the initial snaps with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams during 7-on-7's, Jackson took the first snaps during 11-on-11's.
  
• Griffin looked impressive covering Berrian, making a great play to break up a pass over the middle
• There were a lot of underneath throws today, dumping the ball off to the RB/TEs much too often
• Jackson and Berrian hooked up for a 40 yard TD play during full team drills
• Loadholt was impressive today, doing a great job and sealing off the edge
• DT Letroy Guion had the loan (obvious) sack on Sage Rosenfels
• DE Martial Burnett got good pressure on Booty, swatting down a pass at the line
• Robison is trying to make a statement early, he gave the QB's their exercise early in camp with all that running they were doing.

Overall it was a decent first day, just good to see them back in town. It's seemed like much more than a year since they were last here. I'll do my best to keep you updated with the on-goings here in Kato, but won't be at the next two afternoon practices. More to come tomorrow around the same time.

Thanks for reading!