DN: They're Students Of The Game

[PhillyPhreak54]

They're students of the game

Dawkins, Trotter gain edge in film room

By DANA PENNETT O'NEIL
oneild@phillynews.com

THIS IS what we see: Jeremiah Trotter hopping and jumping, flashing into the line of scrimmage showing blitz, backing off and then crushing some poor sap of a running back before wielding his make-believe ax to incite the crowd.

This is also what we see: Brian Dawkins dancing and gyrating his way through the tunnel, pumping his fists in time with "Fly Eagles Fly,'' hurling his body through the air like a madman and smothering whatever wide receiver, quarterback or running back might get in his path.

This is what no one sees: Trotter, long after practice has ended and positional meetings have broken up, sitting in a windowless room by himself for an hour, maybe 2; or Dawkins trudging through a near-empty NovaCare Complex parking lot on an early Thursday morning, heading to a room just like Trotter's.

It's an ironic twist, really, that the two players most would figure to be playing solely on a lethal concoction of passion and instinct are actually among the Eagles' more cerebral football students.

Save maybe Donovan McNabb and Hank Fraley, no one among the Eagles watches more game film than these two.

But Trotter and Dawkins say it is precisely their diligence and incessant rewinding and fast-forwarding of game tape as if it were the Zapruder film that allows them to play with abandon come Sunday.

"It prepares you so you can go out on the field and just play,'' Dawkins said. "Everybody on the film is talented. It's the person who prepares the most, who's not surprised, who succeeds.''

Film study isn't for everybody. It is boring and methodical. Stories of guys falling asleep in meeting rooms make sense when you're stuck in one, with the lights off and no sound coming from the movie playing on the screen.

Trotter figures he watches an extra 8 to 10 hours of film each week; Dawkins is reluctant to put a number to it, but figures it's about the same, particularly when he includes the DVDs his positional coach burns for him to take home.

"You can't think out there. You have to anticipate,'' Trotter said. "The trick is, you have to have yourself in position, do so much study that it becomes reaction.''

After a game there is no better bailout for coaches and players than the dismissive, "We'll have to check the film.'' It's an ideal way to answer a question without providing any information.

The truth is, the answers are all there. Game films tell a player what they did wrong, what they did right, what they might be able to do this week and what they might be able to expect from the opposition.

They are a font of information for any player willing to take the extra hit of caffeine and watch them.

Like every other NFL team and most college programs, the Eagles have a rather impressive film setup. On a computer in each meeting room is a breakdown of every game an opponent has played - this season and last. Or, as in the case of a rookie head coach like San Francisco's Mike Nolan, there are films from his days as a defensive coordinator in Baltimore.

A few clicks on the computer and up on a projection screen is the game you're looking for, each play preceded by a shot of the scoreboard to supply down-and-distance information, each play shown from at least two angles.

"There's never an excuse to not be prepared for a game,'' Trotter said. "There's so much information to access. I have every game from this year and last year, plus preseason. You just have to put in the time.''

Dawkins admits he didn't always. As a college player, he wasn't much of a film guy and didn't really change until he spent a few years in the NFL, watching Mike Zordich and Troy Vincent stay after school, so to speak, to get better.

Trotter, on the other hand, always has been a film geek. His college coaches at Stephen F. Austin used to ask him if he ever went to class and even now, after 8 years in the NFL, he remains a film junkie.

"I remember when I was with the Eagles before, we were playing against the Giants - I would call the play before they ran it,'' Trotter said, giggling. "When I went to Washington, I was talking to [former Giants and taterskins linebacker] Jessie Armstead and he said during those Giants games, the offensive line would go to the sidelines crying, 'Coach, man, Trot's out there calling the plays.' ''

The basic stuff - recognizing run plays from pass plays - isn't easy, but for NFL players it's Film Study 101. Two guys in the backfield, it's safe to assume run. Three-receiver sets, easy to guess pass.

What are really fascinating are the subtleties that Trotter and Dawkins are able to pick up after years of repetition and study.

Trotter, for example, notices when offensive linemen are "light'' on their hands, meaning they don't put all their weight down. It usually means they're going to pull.

Or by watching a tailback over and over in blitz protection, he'll know come game time whether that back is going to block him high or go for his legs. Trotter will adjust accordingly.

"You can train yourself to know what to look for,'' Trotter said. Like Dawkins, Trotter takes no notes but just sort of absorbs what he sees and then somehow clears his mind each week and reloads for the next opponent. "You can't [just] sit here and watch films. You have to concentrate, and over the years you get better at it.''

Watching film of Atlanta, Dawkins learned a few things about quarterback Michael Vick. For instance, Vick never looks off a receiver, signaling where the ball is going all the time; that when he slaps his side he's switching a play to a quarterback keeper.

"And he falls awkwardly all the time,'' Dawkins said. "I have no idea why, but he does, so you want to get hits on him because he's going to take some bad bounces when he's hit.''

During the Falcons game, Dawkins was covering tight end Alge Crumpler. Going by the book, Dawkins explained, he should have run to Crumpler's top shoulder for coverage, but film study told him something different.

"Vick doesn't do touch, he tends to rifle everything in there,'' Dawkins said. "I knew he'd try to put the ball on a straight line, so I stepped in front of Crumpler.''

Instead of a complete pass for Vick, Dawkins came away with an interception.

"If I had played this safe, done what I was supposed to do, I don't make the play,'' Dawkins said. "But you have to understand what you see in game film and then you have to believe it and trust it. You can watch game film all day, but when the game starts you get all excited and you can forget what you saw or not believe what you saw, and all that film study goes out the door. You have to trust it and be willing to take the risk.''

It's a very inexact science.

Just as Trotter and Dawkins are watching their opponents, their opponents are watching them. They pick up the same sorts of tendencies, make the same sorts of reads and adjust their games accordingly.

Watching game film of San Francisco before meeting the 49ers, Trotter spied the distance between the two backs in the backfield and declared, "This is pass all the way.''

And then the 49ers handed the ball off.

"See, I'm wrong,'' he said, laughing. "But that's a good key to pick up. You can't get them all right. If you could, this would be an easy game.''

[MURP]

good article.   Thanks Phreak.

[rjs246]

Who's this Dawkins character everyone keeps talking about?

[MURP]

your god.

[Sinner]

ahhhhhh Zordich my favorite eag of all time.......
i miss ye

[QB Eagles]

Watching film of Atlanta, Dawkins learned a few things about quarterback Michael Vick. For instance, Vick never looks off a receiver, signaling where the ball is going all the time; that when he slaps his side he's switching a play to a quarterback keeper.

"And he falls awkwardly all the time,'' Dawkins said. "I have no idea why, but he does, so you want to get hits on him because he's going to take some bad bounces when he's hit.''

Surely this is one of the skills that makes Mexico the NFL's "most exciting player."

[MadMarchHare]

Meh, like it matters.  Even staring straight at him, he can't hit him with a pass 2 out of 3 times.

[Feva]

"And he falls awkwardly all the time,'' Dawkins said. "I have no idea why, but he does, so you want to get hits on him because he's going to take some bad bounces when he's hit.''

Well Mr. Dawkins... when you throw your shoulder completely through someone's chest at the goal line in a playoff game, they kinda have a tendency to fall awkwardly.