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| July 9, 1998 What Should Fans Expect In Training Camp? When training camps open later this month, its not just about getting a preview of this years roster. To the players, its more...much more. Players will be battling for their place on the roster, along with pride that they can only get from beating someone else off their job. Its very competitive during the camp season. Times like this can make or break a young athletes career. A major spotlight will be focused mainly on DB Tebucky Jones. Along with the running backs the Patriots have on their roster, Jones will be looking to prove his critics wrong, but more importantly to prove himself. He does have a lot of growing to do and coach Pete Carroll is trying to assist in that process. Its a very important time in the year and it should be dealt that way as well. While fans may worry about Tebucky's hamstring, he isn't all that concerned himself. He told the press that it was indeed 98% healthy and that he WILL participate fully in the camp. So, what should fans expect? Besides heated competition, nothing at all. This is a time that shows true character. Who will make the final roster cut? Will I be picked? Those are the questions the players lose sleep over. They could have had a great practice, but get a devastating call in the morning. It's basically a shaky time in some players career. Most players don't have to worry about it. Obviously players like Drew Bledsoe, Willie McGinest, Chris Slade, Ted Johnson, and Bruce Armstrong don't even need to think for a second that they'll be cut. Players like WR Denis Montana and CB Mark Tate need to worry about it, probably every day. What they need to do is take things one day at a time and play their hardest. They also need to think positive. Thinking positive sometimes makes the difference. Nothing bad comes out of thinking good. That's a good rule to live by. The players can also think to themselves, "If I don't get a job here, maybe I'll get another chance somewhere else." That was the case with former Patriots training camp participant LB Chris Wing. Chris was an outstanding player with a kamikaze mentality on special teams. He was the perfect players for the Pats. He was always positive and energetic. View last years preseason games to see what I'm talking about. He was the last player cut by the Patriots, but then he got a job with the New York Jets (funny how that always happens, huh?) Sometime in the middle of the season, Chris was activated and he was placed on the roster after another linebacker got injured. The bottom line is that you gotta go out there on the field with all intentions to succeed. If you think positive, you'll produce positive. If you think negative, well, you know. Always have a positive aspect on things the same way team hopefuls have. -Robert Lo Presti |