Mini-Camp Over…OTA To Start

The weekend mini-camp is over and on Tuesday after a Memorial Day off for the players, another OTA will take place.  So entertaining.  Without question this is the worst part of the off-season.

For the most part, mini-camps and OTA’s work like this.  You put this guy over here and that guy over there and then you change them about 3 times.  You take this guy that started last year and you put him with the 2nd team in the hopes that he will step up and play better in TC.

There are names you won’t hear about come September and many more that you won’t hear about come early August.  Position battles?  Not yet.  Contact?  Not yet.  INT’s only matter because they look good.  TD’s only matter because they look good.  Truth be told, until someone is standing their to knock the snot of you, they just simply look good.

For fans, the most important information that came out of this weekend was Brandon Marshall riding a bike, Channing Crowder running, Ronnie Brown at 80 percent, and the rest of the injured warriors making progress.  It’s all that matters at this stage of the game.

While fans ooh and ahh over what a local reporter ooh’s and ahh’s over, the real work is being done behind the closed doors of the facility.  The projector rooms, team rooms, film study, walk-throughs.  It’s a time for players to learn the newer plays and the newer players.  It’s a time for the playbooks to be in everyones gym bags.

It’s a very important time for the team but outside of that, it really isn’t all that exciting.  When I hear that some undrafted safety picked off a pass on two of the first two mini-camps, I don’t get all that excited.  Pick those same passes off during TC when your wearing pads and fighting for your job…then I will be impressed.

The good news is that all the injured players are recovering and should be available for training camp.  As a fan I care more about that then I do about Reshad Jones not being able to move in front of Chris Clemons at the SS spot or the fact that the 2nd team FB is lining up as a TE.

I also don’t put much stock into the position battles either.  It doesn’t matter who lines up at center, guard, or tackle,  or any other position.  It doesn’t matter that Pat White added 8 pounds of muscle to his lanky frame, he isn’t ready to take over the number 2 QB spot.  Not in mini-camp.

Mini-camps and OTA’s are team activities that are used to get players up to speed and for the coaching staff and conditioning coaches to see if the players have been slacking all off-season.

With the practices closed to the public, we all only get to enjoy what the local reporters let us hear about, and unfortunately that isn’t a whole lot.  So forget about the 1st team 2nd team line-ups as they don’t amount to much…yet.