Rusty Simmons
"Rush Hour 3" probably isn't going to win any Academy Awards, but it could get some votes from the Cal football players, who appeared re-energized Tuesday, a day after seeing the movie. "The guys have been playing physical and fast, so I felt like they needed to get recovered a little bit," said coach Jeff Tedford, who rewarded his players with the trip to the movies Monday instead of making them sweat through the second of two scheduled practices. "There's a certain point in camp in which you get kind of run down, and I wanted to get them a little fresher." It worked wonders. Hits by Zack Follett and Bernard Hicks echoed through Memorial Stadium, and the offensive and defensive linemen mauled one another throughout the drill and team portions of practice. "The energy was great," Tedford said. "We had a good, hard day of hitting."
Pain, pain, stay away: At this point in camp last season, the field and sidelines were filled with yellow and red jerseys, which indicate levels of injuries, but the colored jerseys are few and far between this year. "That's a tribute to the condition in which the guys came into camp," Tedford said. "Knock on wood, we don't have any major injuries yet. There's the normal minor stuff, but we've been very fortunate." In the days before camp opened, tailback Justin Forsett raved about the team's offseason program and the players' dedication to it. "There are some guys who are lifting weights I've never seen before," he said. "This is the fastest and strongest I've ever seen a team before." Linebacker Anthony Felder and tailback Jahvid Best can be added to the nicks-and-bruises category. Felder got a stinger midway through practice, but returned to the field in full pads, and Best was held out of about half of the contact drills with lower back spasms, according to Tedford. "(Best) has been taking a lot of reps and practicing very hard," Tedford said. "He's fine, but we didn't want to risk it."
Tailback James Montgomery, who has missed a handful of practices with a concussion, was back at practice Tuesday, but he didn't compete in contact drills. "We're anxious to see him back in a white jersey," Tedford said. "We want to see him get some contact." Planned audibles: Tedford repeatedly has referred to Nate Longshore as "another coach on the field," and, apparently, the quarterback also has become a coach off the field. "He's at the point now in which he's in there drawing up plays before meetings," Tedford said. "He's really into it, and that's refreshing." Asked if he would ever use one of Longshore's plays, Tedford said: "We may. He's got a lot of good ideas."
Briefly: Receiver DeSean Jackson was named an ESPN preseason All-American on Tuesday. The team was selected by senior writer Ivan Maisel.
No comments:
Post a Comment