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Forney, Robinson will be ready
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bobby Petrino just wrapped up his press conference. It was the first time he used the media room podium since the first day of training camp, there was a lot of interest in getting his comments before the team left for New York. Typically he just answers a few questions from reporters while coming off the practice field.
He said that the offense you’ll see on Friday night will be a vanilla version of what to expect during the regular season. He’s still keeping the advanced stuff under wraps until the games count for real.
He made an interesting comment about D.J. Shockley. He was asked if he had settled on a quarterback rotation behind Joey Harrington. That was a decision he said would be discussed with the other coaches sometime this afternoon. But he said that coaches are eager to see Shockley in live action since his strengths aren’t necessarily revealed during practices. Right now, Redman has been taking a lot of reps with the twos and has looked more consistent than Shockley, but Petrino reminded that Shockley’s strength is making plays and using his speed when plays break down. He has a huge edge in that department over Redman. That’ll be something to watch for on Friday night.
I grabbed Laurent Robinson and Kynan Forney after practice and both said they’re ready to go on Friday. Right now, the only players Petrino confirmed would miss the first preseason game was Alge Crumpler, Rod Coleman and Warrick Dunn.
Robinson admitted that yesterday, his hamstring injury was on his mind throughout the whole practice. After a chat with Petrino, Robinson is moving on.
“I hated missing practice, I felt terrible,” Robinson said. “It’s still a little tender, but that’s part of being tough and playing with injuries.”
As for Forney, he confirmed that the back is something he’s been dealing with for awhile. But, like Robinson, he’s soldiering on.
“You know, it’s alright. I still have a little bit of stuff but I’m working through it,” Forney said. “It’s just one of those things — just like any injury in camp, you just have to get over the hump.”
One final note — Petrino was asked if he was nervous about making his rookie debut as a NFL coach on Friday. The straight-laced coach cracked a smile, and said he thought he’d be okay.
“I hope I don’t hyperventilate like some of those rookies do,” he said.
One last practice day before New York
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today will be the last day of blogging from training camp before Friday’s preseason game against the Jets. The Falcons travel to New York on Thursday so there won’t be any player availability then.
Demorrio Williams said he was fine yesterday after diving after a tipped ball and hitting the ground hard, we’ll see if he’s out there today. We’ll also monitor the Laurent Robinson injury. Petrino said he wasn’t 100 percent yesterday, but added this after yesterday’s practice: “I think he’s going to be fine by Friday. He took a lot of reps today. He is a tough young man. It is not his first injury so he will be able to fight through it and go. We definitely are going to get him some work on Friday.”
Kynan Forney is another player to keep an eye on. He didn’t practice yesterday after his back tightened up during a morning meeting. It’ll be a good sign if he’s back at it today. Alge Crumpler continues to ease back into action after a frustrating setback last week. Yesterday he worked the stationary bike outside pretty hard, we’ll see if he does any more than that today.
Back sidelines Forney
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Guard Kynan Forney didn’t practice today because his back tightened up a little bit during a meeting this morning.
“[Forney] worked real hard yesterday, I thought he was going to be able to go today,” Petrino said. “It’s going to be a work in progress, but it’s in better shape than it was a year ago, so that’s a good thing.
While Forney suffered a minor setback, Petrino was encouraged with the return of Laurent Robinson, the rookie wideout who is having a strong camp. Petrino said he’s still not 100 percent after tweaking his hamstring over the weekend.
One of the more interesting stories of camp is the play of Noriaki Kinoshita, who has held his own out there. The rookie wide receiver from Japan will get some playing time on Friday and has caught Petrino’s eye.
“He’s been getting more and more reps each day,” Petrino said. “He’s starting to learn what he’s doing. He’s done a nice job working hard.”
Petrino was also asked about what he’ll be looking for in his first preseason game with the Falcons. He spoke about the usual things on defense — everybody getting to the ball, solid tackling etc. Offensively, it’s all about tempo.
“I want to see our tempo in and out of the huddle, how we do at the line of scrimmage. I’d like to have zero times when we’re in trouble with the clock,” he said.
Lastly, I got confirmation that Demorrio Williams was fine after hitting the ground hard while diving to pick of a D.J. Shockley pass. It’s becoming pretty obvious that Williams only knows one speed.
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Shockley throws a pair of INTs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
D.J. Shockley struggled his way through a 7-on-7 session just now. He threw a pair of interceptions and Demorrio Williams just missed another when he dove after a tipped ball.
Cornerback Antoine Harris got the first one and Allen Rossum the second.
Bobby Petrino has been saying all camp that the challenge with Williams is slowing him down. Here’s a guy who had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle, and he’s stretched-out diving to pick off a pass during a passing drill. But he got up okay and didn’t seem to show any signs of injury.
Another quick note before they wrap up here, CB Brent Grimes was practicing. I haven’t seen him out there all camp, so that is a positive development for a promising young DB. Also, Kynan Forney isn’t practicing. I’ll let you know what the word on Forney is after Petrino addresses the media.
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Harrington working on short game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just wanted to jump on here real quick and give you an injury update. Looks like a lot of the crew that missed yesterday’s a.m. practice is back at it. The most notable is rookie wide receiver Laurent Robinson. Robinson missed time with a tweaked hamstring suffered during Saturday’s morning session and is on the field today.
Robinson looked good in the first practice session, taking a short Joey Harrington pass over the middle and turning on the burners.
Speaking of Harrington, he completed five of six passes during a session I just finished watching. He wasn’t exactly stretching the defense however, most of the passes were short, quick-hitters. Here’s the breakdown:
- 1-for-1 after a 10-15 yard out to Adam Jennings, who made a nice catch.
- 1-for-2 after an incompletion that was way off to Roddy White. Looked like a miscommunication between Harrington and White because the ball was sailing toward the sideline while White was running downfield.
- 2-for-3 after a dump-off to Dwayne Blakley, who by the way, is huge.
- 3-for-4 after the short completion over the middle to Robinson.
- 4-for-5 and 5-for-6 — quick completions over the middle to Michael Jenkins.
It’s worth noting that those passes weren’t against the No. 1 defense.
After that they broke into special teams. Nothing too earth shattering to report there. Jennings and Allen Rossum took turns returning kicks with the first-team kick return. But truthfully, the most impressive person out there was Ovie Mughelli. Rossum has to be looking forward to running behind him when returning kicks. He’s a load, and the last thing I’d want to see is him coming at me with a 30-yard head start.
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