Finally, a revealing practice this morning — with pads and contact. Some things, however, haven’t changed. See below.
Studs
CB Justin Tryon. He was roundly panned last season, but Tryon had a terrific morning. He broke up several passes — during which he had tight coverage each time. He also did a good job not biting on double moves (though one time he would have been beaten on a combo route had the QB looked to his side). Tryon is doing what the coaches want: playing with his eyes. He’s trusting what he sees. Good step.
WR Malcolm Kelly. I like watching him catch the ball, the way he extends his arms; it’ll make it tough for DBs to get around him and deflect passes. Kelly made a good adjustment on a deep corner route, twisting around to make a catch as he fell to the ground. And he made a good grab in the end zone on a fade; alas, he was out of bounds.
Defensive line. They dominated. And it wasn’t just one guy, either.
DE Renaldo Wynn. Maybe it’s because of who he’s facing — the Redskins’ backup tackles — but he’s looked spry. We still put him on the bubble as far as making the team, but going against these backups he’ll at least build up his confidence.
Duds
*The offensive line. The offense was running new plays, but still. The line was horrendous, starters and backups — especially the right side. By the way, Jeremy Bridges was moved to the right side this morning. Where he promptly did what he had at left tackle: allow guys to get by him. He gets way too off-balance, enabling defenders to shoot inside. Chad Rinehart needs to pick up his game at guard. Devin Clark has not impressed either.
QB Jason Campbell. Maybe it was because of the line or the new plays, but Campbell was late on too many passes this morning. That’s often a function of not feeling comfortable with plays so we’ll cut him some slack. But the bottom line was that he had a lot of passes broken up because they came out late.
DE J.D. Skolnitsky. He was yelled at on three occasions during individual work. Once it was because — get this — he was the last guy in a drill and when it was his turn he ran the wrong drill. Gotta pay attention, especially if you’re an undrafted free agent from a smaller school (JMU).
*=Major concern. Too many guys have been on the dud side in the first three days.
