Fall camp opened for Cal yesterday afternoon, but some former Bears have already been working hard at various NFL training camps. He's a look at how some of the recent draft picks have fared on their respective NFL teams.
The Good:
Detroit Lions beat writer Jamie Samuelson calls Jahvid Best the most important player for the Lions (besides QB Matthew Stafford).
He is the fastest running back the Lions have ever had. If Scott Linehan and Matthew Stafford can combine to get him into the open field, this could really be fun. The Lions ran a flea-flicker at practice where Best threw the ball, and the reason the play worked so well was because the would-be tacklers were trying to converge on him so quickly. Defense will have to respect his speed, and that alone should open things up for Stafford and the passing game.
Zack Follett is a likely starter for the Lions defense this season. It's a remarkable turn of events after he was barely hanging onto the practice squad last year.
"If we hadn't seen any signs," coach Jim Schwartz said, "he wouldn't be in the position that he is. He's done nothing to disappoint us there. He's still got a long way to go and all of those clichés. But the signs are there."
The Bad:
Woody Paige thinks the Denver Broncos are on their way to cutting Syd'Quan Thompson. Paige says Syd "doesn't have the size, speed, or attitude for the Broncos."
The Ugly:
The Dallas Cowboys subjected their rookies to a hazing ritual involving ridiculous haircuts. Mike Tepper lost half his hair, an eyebrow, and some chest hair. It's about as bad as Tim Tebow's monk haircut.
After the jump, everyone and their mothers report from the first day of fall camp, providing a wealth of information on everything from injuries to impressive freshman to who has been running with the first team.
Football
- JO previews fall camp. He covers the concerns, the gaps that need filling, and the changes brought about by Genyk and Pendergast. Ted Miller also provides some insight into what we should expect to learn during fall camp. CalSportsDigest previews fall camp as well as the rest of the season and provides some projections for the starting lineup.
- Okanes is now on Twitter. So far he has been providing live updates during practice. Nothing major emerged from yesterday's practice. Vereen sat out with a tight hamstring, Kapp sat out with a concussion, and Vachel Samuels sprained his foot. BearTerritory.net said Keenan Allen looked very impressive yesterday. Other news of note: Trajuan Briggs was running with the first team offense, Eric Stevens replaced Kapp on the first team, and Steve Williams spent a large amount of time with the first team defense.
- Crumpacker talks about the effects construction has had on practice as well as his disappointment that practices are mostly closed.
- CalBears.com interviews various players as they report to camp, including Shane Vereen, Marvin Jones, Sean Cattouse, Derrick Hill, Mitchell Schwartz, and Keenan Allen.
- Shane Vereen has big expectations for himself and his team this year. He says this year's team is more focused than previous teams he has been on ('07, '08, and '09). Mike Mohamed says the team has used the low expectations as motivation to prove critics wrong, one week at a time.