The Mini-Camp Thread

[reese125]

The FB has 3 "true" jobs on offense--pick up the blitz, block for the HB and an occasional 3rd an short/goaline handoff. if any team has to game plan for that, you have bigger problems

[Diomedes]

I retract the term "gameplan."  Let me put it this way: every team knows Parry isn't going to have the ball handed to him.  I don't like giving that away.  I want a FB who gets a hand off once in a while.  And I mean once in a while.

[PhillyGirl]

As Eagles assemble, there's a distinct lack of dissent
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer

Barring some unforeseen protest, the Eagles expect to have nearly perfect player attendance during their final "voluntary" minicamp that begins this afternoon at the NovaCare Complex.

If you don't think that's big news, then you obviously weren't paying attention to the Eagles' off-season "organized training activities" the last three years. This should mark the first time since 2002 that all the players are present and accounted for during the eight-day camp designed to prepare the Eagles for training camp, which opens next month at Lehigh University.

In 2003, the focus on the first day of the Eagles' final minicamp was on the absence of running back Duce Staley and cornerback Bobby Taylor, both of whom were unhappy with their contract situations. Staley's protest continued into the first 26 days of training camp, and both players were gone after that season anyway.

A year later, defensive tackle Corey Simon made his first public protest about his contract by staying away from this minicamp, but it was barely noticed because the team and its fans were still caught up in the hoopla of Terrell Owens' arrival.

Owens and running back Brian Westbrook both overshadowed Simon's protest last spring. All three missed the team's mandatory post-draft minicamp.

Westbrook, after firing his agent and hiring Donovan McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, showed up at the voluntary camp and signed his one-year tender as an unrestricted free agent, but then continued his protest by boycotting the start of training camp.

He eventually received a five-year contract extension.

Simon, who had received the franchise tag shortly after the Eagles' Super Bowl loss to New England, never rejoined the team. The franchise tag was removed before the start of last season, and he signed with the Indianapolis Colts.

Owens?

You've probably heard a thing or two about that sad saga in Eagles history.

Anyway, the promise of today is peace, love and understanding at the Eagles' passing camp, which runs from today through Thursday and next Monday to June 15.

The only player who is not expected to participate in this eight-day camp is running back Correll Buckhalter.

"Training camp," Buckhalter said when asked about his return to the field.

He insisted he would be ready by July.

"I'm about 90 percent right now," said Buckhalter, who has missed the last two seasons because of a right knee injury that twice required surgery.

Cornerbacks Lito Sheppard, who is coming off ankle surgery, and Sheldon Brown (shoulder surgery) are both expected to participate in this camp.  Receiver Todd Pinkston (torn Achilles tendon) also is expected back after sitting out the post-draft camp.

The only other player not expected to be in attendance today is rookie linebacker Chris Gocong. The third-round pick is completing school at Cal Poly - he isn't eligible to participate until he does - and expects to join the team by the end of this week.

[PhillyGirl]

dude.

[reese125]

WR Jason Avant didn't practice Monday with a hyper-extended knee.
Avant outperformed veteran Jabar Gaffney at early workouts but an injury could keep him buried on the Eagles wide receiver depth chart. Jun. 5 - 5:23 pm et


Im sorry, come again?

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Everything I have read regarding Avant says he is a workout maniac. One report I heard was that while the other guys were headed to Subway to grab dinner, Avant was still catching balls from the machine, and still was when they returned to the complex. I doubt he'll ever be a "stud", but I really believe based on what I read and what I have seen from him, he'll be a solid possesion guy. I think he makes a pretty decent contribution this season, probably not right off, but towards the end we'll see Avant on the field.

Blurb on Bloom in the N.Y Times:

June 5, 2006
Olympian Bloom Now Tries to Be an Everyman
By LYNN ZINSER
PHILADELPHIA, June 4 — Like the other Eagles rookies, Jeremy Bloom shares a locker, splitting the space, and its one chair, with the third-year tight end Stephen Spach. That task becomes easier when the locker room is open to reporters because Bloom often finds somewhere else to be.

Nothing douses Bloom's Hollywood-issue smile faster than the suggestion that he is any kind of a star. Forget his two Olympics as a freestyle skier, forget the modeling gigs and the magazine covers. Bloom has entered a new life as a fifth-round draft pick in the N.F.L.

To him, that means adjusting after two years away from football and dousing some of the attention that followed him here.

"It's hard," Bloom said quietly after a rookie minicamp practice last week. "Team chemistry, I think, is one of the most important things. I can't come in and allow tons of attention to come onto me, somebody who's a fifth-round draft pick and never caught a football in the N.F.L., never caught a punt in the N.F.L. I don't think it would be fair."

The Eagles are clearly wary of how Bloom's public profile will fit in their locker room, but they also understand that he is hardly an average middle-round draft pick. Rookies do not usually come into the league fresh off an Olympics — Bloom finished sixth in the moguls in Turin, Italy, after winning the World Cup title in 2005 — and already having endorsement deals with companies like Under Armour sports apparel and Bolle sunglasses, and employing an agent for football and one for the entertainment industry.

Bloom, 24, has tried to become the ideal teammate, arriving early for workouts, staying late afterward and deferring to the veterans. During the Olympic team's visit to the White House, he gave a Donovan McNabb jersey to Laura Bush.

The balancing act seems to have worked.

"I get messages from all kinds of people wanting to meet him, so he's already made a name for himself," said Todd Pinkston, one of the Eagles' veteran receivers. "But once he gets on the field and shows what he can do, he'll show the skills he has as a football player, and it will speak for itself."

But even Pinkston said seeing the 5-foot-9 Bloom in person for the first time came as a surprise: "I didn't know he was so little."

Through two minicamps and heading into a third beginning Monday, Bloom has made the first steps toward resuscitating his dormant football career as a kick returner and a receiver, which he abandoned two years ago when the N.C.A.A. ruled that his skiing endorsements ended his eligibility at Colorado.

Since then, he has concentrated on skiing, rising to the top of the moguls discipline in 2005, his first season away from football. But Bloom never stopped dreaming of a return, hoping that he showed enough in his two seasons at Colorado to attract interest from the N.F.L.

"I love skiing and I love the personal challenge that went along with it, but I enjoy a team atmosphere," Bloom said of playing football. "I love being with these guys. You create a brotherhood. You win with these guys, lose with these guys. To me, it's more fun to have that interaction."

To get to the N.F.L., Bloom relied on a tape of highlights from his two seasons at Colorado, the best argument he could make that a 5-9 skier could compete on the pro level.

As a freshman in 2002, Bloom turned his first trot onto Colorado's field into a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown. By the time the N.C.A.A. unplugged his career, he had five plays of 75 yards or longer — two pass receptions, two punt returns and a kickoff return.

"That boy is quick," said Hank Baskett, another of the Eagles' rookie receivers. "He's going to be around for a while. He's just a special player. To go from the Olympics and come straight here and go to football, that takes something special."

To the Eagles' coaches, Bloom still has to prove he can make that transition. One of the first problems they discovered was that skiing had left his ankles weaker than they needed to be for football. While wearing ski boots, Bloom had not used those muscles as much for turning or balance.

Considering that, he seemed pleased with his 40-yard dash time at the combine — 4.49 seconds — and the Eagles' training staff immediately put him on a strength and stretching program for his ankles.

"I think his change of direction and his burst is being redeveloped," the Eagles' special teams coordinator, John Harbaugh, said after the first minicamp. "Three months from now, when our trainers and weight coaches get through with him, I think he's going to be really exciting. What you see with him right now is just a shadow."

The Eagles drafted him for his potential to change a game with a big punt return or a kick return, a role that has been in flux for them during the past two seasons. In 2004, J. R. Reed, then a rookie, averaged 23.1 yards a kickoff return. But he sustained a nerve injury in his leg and missed all of 2005, when Roderick Hood and Dexter Wynn split the return duties.

For now, Bloom is laboring to learn the Eagles' West Coast offense, presented to him in two thick three-ring binders.

But his main goal is to win over his teammates, so he ducks some of the attention; he turned down recent requests for magazine cover shoots and the like. He said teammates had teased him about being on the cover of GQ magazine and for starring in an Under Armour commercial.

"I'm like a little brother coming in," Bloom said. "I don't have an ego. I come in there with the utmost respect for everybody in that locker room. I'm still amazed by the athletic capabilities that all those players have."

For Bloom, being elusive has become a new sort of task.

All kidding aside, I am really liking Bloom's attitude. He's been noticeably quiet, at a time when he could have been all over the place. 

[Geowhizzer]

But even Pinkston said seeing the 5-foot-9 Bloom in person for the first time came as a surprise: "I didn't know he was so little."

That's not a good sign!

To the Eagles' coaches, Bloom still has to prove he can make that transition. One of the first problems they discovered was that skiing had left his ankles weaker than they needed to be for football. While wearing ski boots, Bloom had not used those muscles as much for turning or balance.  

Question:  I am assuming that Bloom's skiing career is over.  Wouldn't prohibition of skiing be a basic part of an NFL contract?  Did Bloom announce retirement from competitive skiing when he announced he was going into the NFL draft?

[reese125]

Pinkston should be asking himself why hes so damn little

[Seabiscuit36]

But even Pinkston said seeing the 5-foot-9 Bloom in person for the first time came as a surprise: "I didn't know he was so little."

That's not a good sign!

To the Eagles' coaches, Bloom still has to prove he can make that transition. One of the first problems they discovered was that skiing had left his ankles weaker than they needed to be for football. While wearing ski boots, Bloom had not used those muscles as much for turning or balance.  

Question:  I am assuming that Bloom's skiing career is over.  Wouldn't prohibition of skiing be a basic part of an NFL contract?  Did Bloom announce retirement from competitive skiing when he announced he was going into the NFL draft?

He did Geo, he basically said he's done competitive skiing and will not attempt the next olympics.  He definitley has a great attitude so far and from everything ive read about him, he wants to be just one of the guys fitting into the team mold.

[mussa]

i like his attitude so far too. I mean hes got all these celebrity like opportunities but is still smart enough to know that he can fail or even make the team or contribute one damn bit.  im not expecting much, but again he's got potential, otherwise they wouldn't of gone after him period.  if he can get into football shape they feel like he can be a solid threat at punt or kick returner. we needed a guy like that last year, big time.  its a shame about j.r. reed, i loved his style of running. i hope bloom can do it.   

[Tomahawk]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/06/05/eagles.minicamp.ap/index.html

There weren't any no shows for the Eagles' final mini-camp, unlike Green Bay's very own and rjs's favorite player Brett Favre.

[ice grillin you]

if gocong wasnt there did it really even happen??

[rjs246]

There weren't any no shows for the Eagles' final mini-camp, unlike Green Bay's very own and rjs's favorite player Brett Favre.

Wait, don't you mean Saint Favre?  zHahahahahahahh!?!/!?!?!!?!?1/!/11!11!!1!!11!!twelve!!!1

[phattymatty]

Christ. I knew it was bad.....but wow, that is bad. Not too surprising though. God, I hope Marty gets through to Reid and they start pounding the ball. 

If Josh Parry is our startig FB, I'll be fine with that trend continuing this year.

[hbionic]

Wait, don't you mean Saint Favre?  zHahahahahahahh!?!/!?!?!!?!?1/!/11!11!!1!!11!!twelve!!!1

[MDS]nicely done[/MDS]