What well Jennings is working on the side field. Did you have any issues? They just had a little tightness, I mean saved from them like tightness, samoth ba both of them same boat.
The thought process behind that last real you guys do eleven on eleven, no homes.
Just try to ease 'em into that, something that I never wanted to do. We did a last year to have the easing of going slower. We'll eventually put those helmets on those and no one busts their face up. But just making sure guys learn how to use their hands.
And when you're when you're evaluating quarterbacks, this's early OTAs, are you judging.
Off of timing accuracy for work? What?
What do you really look at? Timing accuracy? Where the ball should go? What play they have? Who makes the consistent right play the most? Who plays the most realistically that gives you a chance to win?
Right and Sam do for the most part.
They have.
They've had two days. I thought they've they've done a great job. You know, we're just putting our base stuff in on offense and defense, and that has been two real good days for him. I think he did for today and yesterday so far, yea, yes, but it no, it'll it'll even out. We'll make sure to get that right.
That's good. Different ideas of whether they, you know, should be here and work.
And the first team is kind of funny cause there's no line out there and most of our receivers are second and third team on the first team today, So I'm curious what everyone thinks first and second and third team is uh the snap, Yeah, he was out there.
The first snaps whether they should be out here or not. And you guys sure don't mind as long as they're taking care of their business away from here. But when you have a guy like McCaffrey who's out there setting a pretty torrent pace for a for an ota, it appeared, what does that do for the rest.
Of the team. I mean not just Christian, but I mean the majority of our players. That's I think it's been rare that we have had guys miss so I think we do as good of that as most teams. But yeah, it's huge. It's it's a voluntary thing. So you sit there and you I mean, it is what it is. But I think it's really hard to practice football compared to other sports. We got a lot of
rules that don't allow you to practice football. So it's very good if guys can prepare to practice, so they got a chance to get better, and it's cool all the guys to try to work with.
That reference betrayed in the past that that finger injury kind of out slowed his development a little bit. Where is he now in terms of being you know, kind of far away from removed from that And how much did it impact his first couple of years.
I think impact him a ton because he had to adjusted during the season just to be able to get through and adjust how you know, he was healthy, but it didn't heal healthy, so he had to change how he played in the middle of a year while mainly taking scout team reps and being prepared as a number two except for a couple of games. So going to the off season have to recorrect that. I think it
took him all off season. So he worked at recorrecting that throughout the whole offseason and then he was just thrown into practice with us going into this year. That was corrected throughout last year, his grip and everything, and so I thought he'd got to go in this time with his time away just he knew what he had to focus on. He had known what he had struggled with, he had known what he had done good with. He'd gonna see two different quarterbacks playing our offense two different ways.
And I just think his time away was a lot more deliberate and in a position where he knew what he could isolate on, which I think helped him compare to last.
Year, even up to like week one of last season.
No, I think when you spend four months trying to recorrect, I mean, everything's about muscle memory and stuff and how you develop things to repetition, and when you throw a certain way for an entire football season, and justin because of how a finger feels, that becomes your muscle memory. It takes a while to correct that. You got to work and isolate on just that for a long time. And there's a lot of other stuff you need to isolate on besides that, which allows you not to do
that other stuff. So I think he spent most of his time working on a grip and things like that, trying to get it back, which is usually a prerequisite, but because of his circumstances, he got in that, so he was just late to working on other things.
This year.
He went into this offseason knowing exactly just football wise, what he had to work on, and I think that's why he's ahead of last year.
He had to carry himself he differently inside the building as opposed to last year, where he was the starter. Everybody knew he was a starter, and now he's competing for this spot.
I mean, I think Tray's been the same guy this offseason he was last offseason. Trey is a very special person that I don't think has to try to act anyway. I think guys have the respect of Trey whether he played any other position, whether he was the one, two, or the three. Yeah, obviously, when you're the number one quarterback and you've done that and had experience, that carries more weight. But also when you're number one quarterback and you haven't played that, stuff still isn't real till you
go out there and do it. That's all just outside perception. So Trey's been the same since he's been here. The guys respect the hell out of them, and they'll continue to that.
The finger issue have a domino effect where you know, it effected his arm to the point where it wasn't a natural motion anymore. Can that maybe where some of the fatigue or soreness.
At all, that everything if it was a hit that bother and would lead everything. So I mean you're throwing motion as your whole body is connected from the ground up, similar to golf swing. So anything that gets thrown off it can definitely adjust you. I mean adjust things and when you overcompensate it, whatever it is. Watch any quarterback throughout the year, that's when things start to hurt and
then you got to go back and recalibrate it. Quarterback room you've had since being coached forty yers, I mean, I don't know, I don't want to compare it to other years, but I mean we got three guys. We got two guys who are talented enough to be taken in the top five of the draft, and we have another guy who played like it last year. So I like the three guys we got. And I've always been a fan of Brandon Allen just watching him throughout his
career and to be able to get him in here. Also, I feel real fortunate with her for pretty doing on his recovery. He's doing good, still staying the same, Yeah, yep, on.
Schedule here in the next week or so yeah, I.
Think he's allowed to throw sometime next week.
Like a veteran presence, he's still young or is he kind of a younger quarterback still?
I mean I met Sam just when he came out of college, just interviewing him at Indy. He's then he seemed like he had a veteran presence. I mean, just the way he carries himself. I think whether he's in the football building or whoever his peers are off the field, and he seems almost like the same guy I met four years ago. So he is a little bit more of a veteran being in a couple of places. But Sam's come in here with to me being the same guy he's always been. That's why he's had such a
good reputation. And he's coming here acting like he's learning everything from scratch, which he is, and trying to act like a rookie in that way because it is all new to him. He doesn't want to make any assumptions. And he's been awesome in Phase and one. In Phase two trying to just do techniques. He's not used to things like that, and it's been cool that he put the work in those two phases that he's been able to use some of it here in these last two practices.
He was a mobile quarterback, you know, not running on like crazy.
He's not a big feature in what you like about him.
Now, can you get some of that in him this season?
Yeah? I mean that all happens usually with reactions and stuff. I mean there's two types of mobile quarterbacks. I mean it's a type that he tried to design runs for or is there a type who's got the athletic ability or just knack for making some off schedule plays. And I think his knack for off schedule plays has always been good. When something's not there and he feels space in the pocket and he doesn't hesitate to run, he's been able to do it very well. You know that's
usually a bonus. I mean you want that anytime you have that. He's also got to be very good at the quarterback position too, and Sam bringing that element something that helps a lot of stuff as long as he doesn't miss other elements with it. And I think that's something you saw with Brock a good amount last year
when he came in. I Mean, people want to think of Brock as a runner, but he is quick, is athletic in the pocket and he makes place very similar to the way Sam does scrambling, and that's all we see in Sam too. It's a moving target.
But but if you and John have mentioned training camp or Brock does that, I mean you can see what he could be ready to start a.
Training Yes, it's not really moving target. It's that only God knows. And that's all estimates. So it depends what quote people have got for me. But I mean we're hoping for week one and I feel pretty optimistic about that. That's what we're hoping for. He'll be ready to play in week one, and usually that doesn't mean that's the day he comes back. Usually you got to come before that to make that goal. And that's kind of the goal we're hoping for and don't have any reason to
think differently. You're missing a few guys out there. Sorry, But are you generally please with the level of participation and energy today? Oh yeah, I'm real pleased with it. I mean it's always different. I mean it's always different for O line and D line because just the way it is now, it's hard Verstus set up those guys to get as much. So it is more of a
passing deal and skill position type thing. But for the most part, I mean, I think we had five guys not here, so I mean I wanted to be one hundred percent, but pretty realistic with that, and I mean I'll take five.
Here, all of them expected.
Yeah, I communicate with all of them, So I got a pretty good idea your thoughts, I mean, probably the same as all the other special teams coach. I mean, when you don't have experience of it, you don't know which way it's going to go. And I think the point is for probably to eliminate more kick costs and stuff, which is for safety. So if that's the case, then I think everyone's for that. But you know, I'm just not sure that it is. So we'll have to see how it plays out now and how it goes and
how we adjust to it. But that's the rule now. So now we'll start trying to make estimates about what our philosophies will be, but any philosophy will be developed through the experience of watching how it works out throughout the year.
You said that the Droy Clark event that Brock was working out with a towel. Can you explain what exactly he's doing with the towel to sort of mimic the throwing motion.
Yeah, just, I mean everything that we work on when it comes for the NFL guys, throwing just is usually from the ground up, and how to time their feet, their drops, their eyes and everything. I rarely even look at where the ball goes. You just expect it to be there. And these are NFL quarterbacks. So it's tough when you can't pick up the weight of a ball and throw because your elbow, how do you work at everything else? And Brock's healthy in every other aspect and
you can't move his arm. We just don't want to put that weight on it. So for Brock to still be able to do his drops, all his footwork and stuff, you want to be able to simulate a throwing motion, and that's hard with nothing in your arm. So he uses a towel instead. And that's what a lot of quarterbacks do when you try to throw every day and work on things every day, but you don't want to wear your arm down, so sometimes you use a towel,
sometimes you use a football. And Frock just in a situation where you only can use a towel.
Right now, the Dwight Clark legacy event that Trey Lance had cleaned up his base a little bit, could you explain a little bit what that means.
It means playing with your feet wide, are apart, always be in a position to throw. When you're a quarterback, your feet aren't together. When you turn into a runner, your feet are together and you look to run, but then it takes you a second and a half to throw where defenders can tee off on and things like that. And it's about always being in having to be in a certain position to throw in so when the O line is bad, you're not one of those guys who's
just going to get sacked. Every time the line's bad. You know how to get rid of the ball or you know how to turn into a runner and go. And that has to do with how you balance your feet out, how far you keep them apart, and how you can progress in a pocket.
Stand out in particular to you today, not.
Really just two days. So I mean, even if they did, I make sure I don't even say anything to the coaches because I've coached too much to get very excited about guys on day one and not feel the same way in day three. And vice versas. So it's early out there and somewhat OTAs is like for the most part, but a lot of the better ideas we get towards the end of this, and then that's the best art
because we get away for forty days. And I've also learned do not make any concrete decisions, because you get away for forty days and you come back and that's when you really see who got better or worse, and who's really gonna make a play for this team. All right, Thanks guys,