The drills, he insists, make a difference. Otherwise Jim Zorn wouldn’t ask his quarterbacks to do them. Even if they sound more like games from a kids birthday party and not something designed to turn someone into a Pro Bowler.
“People think I have all these goofy drills but they really do mean something,” Zorn said. “There are many times where we’re [watching video] and we see what they’re doing and say, ‘That’s the drill right there.’”
The Slip ’n Slide — which he’ll break out before the first preseason game — grew from a desire to teach his quarterbacks to slide better, notably Charlie Batch when he had him in Detroit. Zorn used to have baseball players visit camp to teach proper sliding — Frank Tanana in Detroit; Jon Olerud in Seattle. Then he introduced Slip ’n Slide. It teaches them the proper way to slide, squeezing the ball and sliding on their rear end, something Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck needed to be taught.
“[Before then], Matt kept jamming his shoulder and wrist,” Zorn said.
Dodge ball provides obvious help for avoiding defenders in the pocket.
“It’s not so much on getting rid of the ball,” Zorn said, “but it’s the movement and you can really tell if a guy can move or not.”
