Thread Tools

Display Modes

BlueNSilver · 07-31-2006, 06:40 PM

Any News that we come across from this season's training camp post it in here fellas.

BlueNSilver · 07-31-2006, 06:42 PM

Moving to the Middle
Boss Bailey Returns to Action with a New Role of Middle Linebacker

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- There are a lot of things the Detroit Lions coaching staff is certain of: they want their players to work hard, show passion and know their stuff.

After this morning’s training camp practice in Allen Park, fans know something else the coaching staff is certain of: they want Boss Bailey to start at middle linebacker this season.

Bailey missed five games last season due to an ankle injury and has been rehabbing through the offseason. He underwent initial surgery after being placed in the Injured/Reserve, but had to have another surgery in April due to tendonitis.

The Lions placed him on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list at the outset of training camp, but took him off after just three days. He made his first full-padded appearance in Monday’s first practice on a hot and humid morning.

“I feel like I’m home again,” said Bailey. “It was like I was on a vacation or something being over to the side; it’s no fun to watch everybody get banged up and go through all the blood sweat and tears and you’re not involved in that.

“So it just felt good to get back involved in a little bit of that.”

Bailey being back on the practice field was just as exciting for Lions’ coaches as it was for Bailey himself. He will be an integral part of the Detroit defense, as the coaching staff is choosing to move him to middle linebacker in the absence of veteran Earl Holmes who did not re-sign with Detroit this offseason.

Bailey has never played the middle linebacker position – even in college – but he is excited at the possibilities it presents and the versatility he will have playing in Defensive Coordinator Donnie Henderson’s defensive scheme.

“That’s my dream man,” said Bailey. “I always envied the middle guys because you get the best of both worlds; you get to go both ways. You’re not one-dimensional, so to speak, on the outside. I’m loving it and I’m going to try my best to make it work.”

When Bailey was approached about taking over the middle linebacker position, he was stunned. His first inclination was to think that playing in the middle would take away his strength: running down opponents with his speed.

But Bailey’s fears were soon put to rest when he found out that Henderson’s defense calls for just that.

“In a 4-3 defense you can play it two ways: you can either spill runs or you can hammer runs back inside,” he said. “Here we’re going to send everything outside and it’s on me to run it down – plain and simple.
“It plays perfectly to my strength. The way we’re playing it is perfect for a guy like me because we’re sending it all to the outside and with my speed they know I can run it down and make the play.”

As far as his health is concerned, Bailey is feeling good for the time being. He isn’t feeling any pain in his ankle, so he is focusing on building strength.

“You have to play football in order to get into football shape,” said Bailey. “You can’t get into football shape on the sidelines, there’s no way, no how. You’ve got to be out there thinking, you have to know how to change direction, know how to react or you aren’t going to make the tackle; that in itself is going to weigh you down.

“Running on the side is easy - okay go touch the line, come back – you know that’s easy. But, being out there on the field is where you get into football shape.”

As excited as the coaches are to have him back, they also aren’t rushing him into anything. They want to slowly progress him into full strength without re-aggravating his ankle.

“We have to be smart with him – working him in day-by-day,” said Head Coach Rod Marinelli. “He was in the individual drills and 7-on-7’s, [we’re] working him back in slow. It’s a good way to start getting the re-direction and some of those things right now.”

Though things aren’t full-throttle just yet, Bailey’s focus is already centered on his new role as Lions’ middle linebacker.

“I was smiling from ear to ear [when they told me],” said Bailey. “I was like ‘this is going to be my ship and it’s on me to run it.’”

Pride of Detroit · 07-31-2006, 07:49 PM

Martz: Woody having best camp
In case you missed it in Kowalski's blog, I thought it was worth noting that Mike Martz told the media that Damien Woody is doing great.

(Damien) Woody is just outstanding. Of all the players on offense right now, he’s probably had the best camp of everybody.’’

Print | Send To A Friend | Permalink (Learn More)

Sims hears the trash talking early
Yesterday Ernie Sims made a splash after signing his contract. He put a forearm onto Brian Calhoun's helmet, and later made an interception in 9-on-7 drills. Apparently, some veterans were trying to put him in his place early. Here's how Sims responded. (Listen to Sims' discussion with the media.)

July 31, Detroit News: In his first practice Sunday, Sims heard some trash-talking from the veterans.

It was good-natured, and he expected it. He took it as a sign of respect.

"The main thing with me, I love putting on pads," he said. "When I'm out there, I feel like I have a point to prove. I feel like I have to earn something. Those guys, they are talking back to me. They're saying all kinds of stuff to me.

"I like that. It makes me better. It lets me know that I'm somebody and I'm doing something, that they want to talk back to me."

Sims said he doesn't think there will be any rookie hazing from the veterans, but he expects some attention. He'll give some back, too.

"I'm going to give them a welcome in the next couple of days," Sims said.

How's that?

"Laying the wood."

The Free Press has another tale of a big collision from practice.

July 31, Free Press: Sims had fresh legs, having missed the first two days of training camp, and he provided two more highlights later. He hopped in front of wide receiver Eddie Drummond and picked off a pass, and he made a violent, no-fear collision with center Brock Gutierrez. After the crunch, Gutierrez howled, laughed and smacked Sims on the helmet.

"We like to pop the pads a little bit," Gutierrez said. "It was nice."

Sims was waiting for this.

"I love putting on pads," Sims said. Without pads in the off-season, "you really can't express yourself the way you want to express yourself.

Pride of Detroit · 07-31-2006, 07:50 PM

Two small bones will keep Lehman sidelined indefinitely
Sunday, July 30, 2006
By Tom Kowalski

ALLEN PARK - Teddy Lehman desperately wants to reverse his fortunes, but he knows it can only happen with a prefect blend of aggressiveness and patience.

"I'm not sure when I'm going to be back," said Lehman, the Detroit Lions linebacker on the second day of training camp. "We're pushing it. Every day I'm pushing it to the limit of where I can't go anymore. We're pushing it to get it there."

The problem is that they can't push it too hard. Lehman suffered a significant right foot injury last year that was expected to take a long time to heal. It happened in the first half of Detroit's 19-13 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears on a special teams play.

Lehman sprained the middle of his right foot, injuring two bones that support the foot.

"It was a punt protection play in the first half. I was blocking and planted on it and it popped on me," Lehman said. "We knew right away that it was pretty serious but it was a matter of whether the bones would go back together, if the ligament would pull them back together or not and that takes a week or two to figure out. It didn't, so I had to have the surgery."

Lehman not only missed the final nine games of last season, but he went through rehabilitation for the entire off-season and now enters training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list. There is no set timetable for his return.

"I knew it was a serious injury and it's a long, long rehab," he said. "I'll keep progressing every day and see how far I can push it and when the time's right, I'll play. Right now, I'm just going through individual drills and working into more and more."

The inactivity is something new to Lehman who, during his rookie season two years ago, started every game at strong side linebacker and played more snaps than another Lions defender. Last season, he was in a battle for the middle linebacker spot but a knee injury prior to the third preseason game erased that possibility.

Lehman missed the final two preseason games and the first two regular seasons contests before returning to the team in a backup role. Now that Earl Holmes has retired and Boss Bailey is being moved into that spot, Lehman has the starting job on the strong side waiting for his return.

While Bailey (ankle) is also on the PUP list, he's expected to make a quicker return than Lehman. And, with rookie first-round pick Ernie Sims still out in a contract dispute, the Lions don't have any of their starting linebackers at practice.

"Linebacker is a position of concern because of the injuries," Lions president Matt Millen said. "When they're all healthy and in there, we're very talented."

Bailey and Sims are both expected to return soon but it appears Paris Lenon will be Detroit's starting linebacker on the strong side going into the preseason games. Lenon played four years for the Green Bay Packers before signing with the Lions as an unrestricted free agent in the off-season.

Lehman has gone from playing every possible down to not playing at all and they each have their own distinctive curses.

"They're different. Playing every play kills you and rehab kills you. You think rehab's the worst until you get out there and start playing and then that's the worst," said Lehman, who still wants to get himself healthy enough to put his body back through the grinder.

"You hate to sit there and watch everyone else play," he said. "You want to be out there. That's the bad part of it."

Pride of Detroit · 07-31-2006, 07:52 PM

Rogers injury not serious
Notes from Monday's morning practice ...

# With about 12 minutes left in practice, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Shaun Rogers went down with a left shoulder injury. First reports are that the team doesn't believe it's serious. Rogers was carted off the field but that was more an issue of comfort than necessity. Also, Shaun Cody (knee) and Fernando Bryant (hamstring) missed practice.

# Boss Bailey (ankle) was taken off the Physically Unable to Perform list and took part in practice. President Matt Millen said he was also encouraged by the rapid progress of Teddy Lehman (foot) but there's still no timetable for his return.

# Receiver Roy Williams made a couple of nice catches on downfield bombs for touchdowns and he would've had another one on a post pattern, but dropped the ball. And, despite the fact there were only two minutes left in practice and he was completely gassed, he dropped and did 10 pushups for dropping the ball. ( hell yea, im loving this coaching staff)

# Tight end Casey FitzSimmons worked with the No. 1 offense for the third straight day. The coaches say it doesn't mean much. We'll see.

# Cornerback Stanley Wilson made a fine interception in single coverage on a bomb thrown his way. He turned around, located the ball and his arms full extended upward to snatch the ball before it got to the receiver. Even though Keith Smith was running with the No. 1 offense in Bryant's place, Wilson appears to be making more plays right now.

# For the first time in camp, Lions quarterbacks used the shotgun formation during third-down team drills. There's no telling how much they'll use it during the season, but it's part of the package.

Pride of Detroit · 07-31-2006, 07:53 PM

Martinez will make the team
Glenn Martinez, an undrafted free agent out of Saginaw Valley last year, will make the final 53-man roster. Yes, it's early, but after watching him in practice and listening to the coaches talk about him, I'm convinced he's in their plans.

First, Mike Martz makes no bones about how much he likes the guy. Also, while the Lions are mixing up the rotation of their receivers -- Mike Williams and Charles Rogers and others are bouncing between in the second, third and fourth teams -- the one guy who has always lined up with the second team is Martinez.

The guys is big, fast, catches the ball, doesn't make mistakes and he's tough as hell. Which brings me to the other reason he'll make the squad -- he's a special teams dynamo. If you're a backup receiver, you have to be able to contribute in some fashion and Martinez can do a lot of things on special teams. In addition to coverage teams -- where he's fearless -- he could also be one of the team's hawks on punt coverage.

OK, so here we are -- there are six receiver spots available and five are already spoken for: Roy Williams and Corey Bradford are the starters and Mike Furrey is the No. 1 slot receiver. Eddie Drummond, who is doing an excellent job in the slot and could push Furrey for playing time, will make it on his kick return abilities alone. Throw in Martinez and that means there is just one job left. Mike Williams, Rogers and Scottie Vines will be fighting for it. Discuss.

no... no ****in way.. vines, crog and mike will not be cut before Martinez.... 0% chance imo