Day 3 Updates

:UPDATED UPDATED:

Once again, these updates are from Ben Volin and Edgar Thompson at the Palm Beach Post.  I sent him a message about Ted Ginn Jr.  He must have got it because he responded in his blog about him.  Here you go.  I will update this page with the latest appearing at the top instead of the bottom.  If there is an update, UPDATE will appear centered on this blog. 

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  • 11-on-11 team drills, the highlight of each practice.
  • With Joey Porter out, Rob Ninkovich is getting reps with the first team defense. Nink starts out as the LOLB with Charlie Anderson at ROLB, but they flip-flop every few plays.
  • Matt Roth is first team LDE, Jason Ferguson is the NT and Vonnie is the RDE. Ferguson has been mighty impressive throughout camp, the way he blows off the ball and gets into the backfield.
  • Reagan Mauia is taking reps with the first team, but it’s a total crapshoot right now between him and Boomer Grigsby.
  • The team is practicing on the far field today, making it a lot tougher for us to see what’s going on. Maybe this was done deliberately after John Beck’s performance yesterday, which came on the near field in plain sight of everyone.
  • The defense is in almost like a “46” formation, with Yeremiah Bell playing up with the linebackers and Jason Allen manning center field. Bell was one of the team’s top playmakers in 2006 and could have a big comeback year.
  • Josh McCown certainly isn’t perfect, throwing a bad pass in the flat that is almost picked off by Channing Crowder.
  • Derek Hagan is having a GREAT practice. He makes a beautiful catch, out-jumping Will Allen on a 25-yard route, and is hauling in everything. Several members of the media have remarked that Hagan is having a great day. This is a big year for Hagan, now in his third season. The knock on him is that he has hands of stone, but he’s hauling in everything today.
  • J-Peezy is standing next to Dan Pasqualoni during drills, ostensibly to learn the defensive signals. Good to see that Porter is trying to learn during practice despite his injury.
  • This is a really physical practice. Joey Thomas flattens Lex Hilliard on a running play, and then Hilliard gets horse-collared on the next play. Club Med this ain’t.
  • A Kendall Langford sighting: He busts around the right side (not Jake Long) and sacks John Beck.
  • Ugh, Beck gets sacked again on the next play, by Keith Saunders. He’s holding onto the ball way too long.
  • Good run by Patrick Cobbs, busting one about 12 yards up the middle. He’s got to maintain that intensity every play, because he has a lot of competition at running back.
  • Remember what I said about Jason Ferguson? He busts through Samson Satele and bats down a screen pass from John Beck. Ferguson is 33? Looks more like 23.
• Position drills for the first 40 minutes, nothing too exciting. I notice Sparano paying more attention to the QBs than other positions.
• In 7-on-7 drills, McCown looks great. He had one especially good throw, stepping up in the pocket to hit John Dunlap over the seam for a 40-yard touchdown. Perfectly placed ball, and a nice catch by Dunlap over Keith Davis.
• John Beck is still inconsistent. He can hit the underneath stuff, but he keeps sailing throws on the longer sideline routes, particularly one throw to Ted Ginn.
• Speaking of Ginn, since I haven’t said much about him so far this camp, he looks much more polished as a receiver from a year ago. Running crisp routes and looking confident playing next to Ernest Wilford. If he can continue to improve as a receiver, he will be tough to cover with his speed.
• Shawn Murphy blows up Reggie Torbor in offense vs. defense drills. Trey Darilek is the starting right guard for now, but Murphy will be given a shot.
• Finally, our first scuffle of training camp! Your two high-profile rookies, Jake Long and Phillip Merling, mix it up after the whistle. Some pushing and shoving and arm flailing before teammates step in to break it up.

That’s all for now. Practice should pick up soon.

10:21 a.m.

• The quarterbacks are doing a fun drill … they roll out of the pocket and try to throw the ball on the run into a little net. These aren’t easy throws, but Beck does a nice job putting it on the money.
• Vonnie Holliday continues to get private tutoring from Paul Pasqualoni, and it looks like he’s learning how to play as a stand-up pass rusher.
• Injury … recently acquired offensive guard Reuben Riley is coming off the field. Looks like he’s favoring his right leg, possibly a knee.
• More of these 6-on-8 drills (that are really 6-on-6, with two pass rushers putting a hand in the quarterback’s face).
• David Martin and Ronnie Brown are working with the first team offense. This is a big camp for Martin, who is certainly no lock to make the team, especially with Anthony Fasano and Sean Ryan in town.
• Nathan Jones, who has an interception in each of the first two days of camp, is mixing in with the first team defense, along with Will Allen and Andre Goodman. Channing Crowder and Akin Ayodele continue to start on the inside, and that probably won’t change during camp barring catastrophe.
• McCown puts on a good show. He goes 6-for-6 in this drill, by my count, including a beautiful sideline pass to Greg Camarillo.
• Beck starts off well, threading the needle on a pass to David Kirkus. Beck is working under center and out of the shotgun.
• But again, Beck is falling back into the bad habits that doomed him yesterday. He’s forcing throws into coverage, and targeting the check-down receiver almost every play. McCown rolled out and tried to make something happen, while Beck seems content to hit the running back every time. Beck only completes about 3 of his 6 throws.