Assorted Camp Notes for 7/30

Indianapolis Colts' Terrence Wilkins, right, struggles for the ball, just out of his reach, as he's being tackled by the St. Louis Rams' Taje Allen during a unified training camp practice, Thursday, July 29, 1999, at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Tribune-Star, Bob Poynter)

I. FAST EDDIE--

HEY GUYS,

I'm killing time between practices. It's really scorching up here. Morning practice was just helmets and shorts... hope they put some pads on and go at it this afternoon.

Some guys who surprised me for the Rams this morning--

Ryan Tucker in pass protection drills... he's very strong.

Roger Chanoine at RT... great feet... excellent finesse pass blocker, but can he drive block?

Greg Hill's contribution to the passing game.

Torry Holt. What can you say? He does it all.

Mike Martz' offense... they do some very cool things to open up the field and keep the defense off balance.

And last but not least... Trent Green... floaters and all... he might just be ok:)

As you can tell I only watched the Rams offense this morning.

I'll post all my notes hopefully on Sunday, August 1.
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II. A QUICK BALZAR NOTE FROM TONY DE--

Balzar says--"Its HOT!"

David Thompson has neck problem. Possible bad disk. Could be season ender. Probably injured in WFL.

DE "Bad News" Barnes has a strained knee. Probably not serious. Only three DE's left.

Practice cut 30 minutes this afternoon.
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III. BALZAR AND SNOW REPORT FROM MJR--

I just listened to Howard and Jack on KFNS from Champaign, IL. My report--

Snow: It's very hot. 103 deg. 107 - 109 heat index. The heat is getting to the guys. They took up 75 cases (1,800 cans) of Gatorade and the powdered mix of stuff and it'll be gone early tomorrow.

Attitude of the players. Two fights yesterday. It's good to go against other people than your own both for the Colts and Rams.

Injuries to Fred Miller and Nutten. Great opportunity for Cameron Spikes. He's looking very good.

(Call in from listener Larry): Re: Faulk holdout. Isn't the probablility of an injury to Faulk greater during the season if he's not in camp?

Snow: Training Camp is no longer to get in shape. Guys stay in shape all year long. All Faulk needs is one week of training camp to get his timing. Maybe 6 reps per game. If he's injured during the season there shouldn't be any backlash from the fans. It's different than when Pace was a rookie. Pace had so much to learn and was behind when he came. Faulk is an All-Pro.

Howard on Greg Hill: Rolland Williams is very excitable. Got into it with Jason Chorak after a play. Mike Barber, a Colt LB, joined in. Hill gets into it from the sideline. Gotta love Hill's attitude. He's out to prove he can play coming off his injury. He wants to win. He was dissing his players for not supporting their own. Hill on Marshall Faulk: it takes two running backs to win in this league. Our goal should be to get to the Super Bowl. To get into the SB you've got to have that attitude.

Snow: Tommorow's schedule. 1st team offense vs. Colts 1st team defense. Probably 12 - 20 set setting.

1st team defense vs. Colts 1st team offense. Probably 3 or 4 segments.

Then special teams: punting, kickoffs, PATs. Marvin Harrison and Isaac Bruce will see a little but not much action.

Jim Mora. It becomes a corraborative effort. 1st team vs. 1st team. 2nd stringers vs. 2nd stringers.

On DV: QBs were not sharp at all. They looked ragged.

Howard: It's their first time going against a different team. He noticed that after the catch the Colts were going after the ball to strip it. The guys want to impress the coaches.

Snow: DV expected to see inconsistency. Kevin Carter made 2 or 3 great plays. Nobody got through Orlando Pace. His pass protection was outstanding. How good will Kevin Carter be this year? Reminded us that he's playing in a contract year. Should be very good.

Howard: Edgerin James. Talked with Lee Steinberg. The biggest issue with E.J. is the signing. Bill Polian said I've got a signing bonus check in my pocket and it ain't for $10 million. E.J is multifaceted.

Faulk is not behind the eight-ball here. He's a five-year professional. He'll be fine.

On Tagliabue visit. LA expansion team. Jack Snow says the two factions need to get together as one operating group. Howard: Says group wants more public money. Says that if Eli Broad had realized how little return he'd get on his money he never would have gotten into it. When asked if he was used to getting 3 percent on his money. Broad said, "no, obviously." Problem is that LA hasn't really missed pro football. They've got two major colleges (USC and some other school). Two NBA teams. Two baseball teams. Two hockey teams. There are lots of alternatives for LA fans. Pro football just doesn't appear to be high on the priority list.
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Notes from RAMBOOSTER

I took notes on Balzar today. Only trees left standing at DE--Wistrom, Carter, and Kendrick Oster, one of the ten extra players allowed on the roster off of NFL Europe.

Jay Zygmunt and Arcineux spoke briefly. Claiborne and Balzer waxed poetic over how they think it will be done by the end of next week.

The scrimmage will begin at 12 N tomorrow (Saturday July 31). Each team will have ten plays with the first unit offense against the other's first defense. Then the second units will go at it. Then they'll have some goal line situations, depending whether the team's have goal line opportunities in the first two segments. Joe Germaine will be with the second unit, Warner will be in for the goal line segment. About 60 plays total.

After the scrimmage they will be off til Sun evening practice.

Also----Miklaz was on KMOX Thurs eve with Randy Karraker. He said Martz felt the offense would look real ragged in the pre-season. They are not going to show a lot in the pre-season so the opposition won't get a lot of film on the offense.