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Saturday, August 12, 2006
Storybook start for Shockley
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Say it’s baseball. The Falcons go to their “closer,” and he not only saves the game, he’s the winning pitcher. Such was opening night as a professional quarterback for D.J. Shockley, accompanied by a din of “woofing” that raised the woof of the Georgia Dome.
Preseason games are just that. Baseball calls it spring training. Nothing counts, but a fellow from the lower level of the roster can build up points. Others will be playing the last game of football they’ll ever play. It’s just that, preseason and back to the car wash or gas station. Some guys have their pictures in Reggie Roberts’ press guide, but they never make it to the game. Gone before they played a game. Cut, the most depressing word in sport.
Some may or may not have played against New England, but their picture is in the back of the book. They can always be listed back home as a “former professional football player.” There’s one guy from Finland, Klaus Alinen, force-fed through through the farm league in Europe. There’s Chris Reis, a defensive back from Georgia Tech. Strange, not a lot of local players get a call from the local pros. There’s the son of the coach at Iowa, Brian Ferentz, a center with academic credentials. No car wash for him.
You know this, you can’t prejudge these fellows. Whoever would have thought that Patrick Pass would find work in the NFL? The former Bulldog is now in his seventh season with the Patriots, though he was out of action Friday night. On the other hand, last time I saw Heath Evans, he was a fullback at Auburn and having a blowout night in the same Dome. A can’t-miss future, I thought. Well, he got lost in Seattle, then Miami, now making his third stop with New England.
But, back to what it’s all about. All four quarterbacks performed nicely, though Michael Vick made no more than the required cameo appearance, as did Tom Brady. Each threw three passes, then retired. Matt Schaub, Bryan Randall and Shockley followed in that order for the Falcons. The Patriots turned to Matt Cassel, and the rest of the evening was his.
This fellow Cassel has had a peculiar career living in the shadows. He was backup to two Heisman Trophy winners at Southern Cal, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, and now to a Super Bowl champion at New England. You think D.J. Shockley had it bad at Georgia? He only had to back up David Greene. Now he’s applying to become the backup to a backup with the Falcons.
Some Falcons had good evenings, some fair, some ordinary, but a caveat goes with all this: While some were matched against grade-A personnel, others were on the field against some of those who’ll be back at the car wash. As for those “woofers” in Red and Black, makes no difference who Shockley was matched against. They liked his cool, they liked his game management, they liked the results he put on the board. It was really storybook stuff for a hometown kid.
He came on the field for the crucial series just before the two-minute break and quickly made himself at home, starting at the Falcons’ 22-yard line. The key play was a third-down pass to Kevin Youngblood, a second-year aspirant from Clemson, his second catch of the game. When they reached Michael Koenen’s 40-yard range, this utile guy came out and kicked the field goal that broke the tie and won the game, 26-23, as time ran out. Winning pitcher: Shockley.
You look back on such games and feel you’ve watched some emerging futures. The Patriots broke out an impressing running back from Minnesota, Laurence Maroney, and a solid tight end from Texas, David Thomas. For the Falcons, Jerious Norwood from Mississippi State showed bursts of speed that left you agape; Youngblood, big and rangy, might be the wide receiver they’re missing with Brian Finneran gone; and they probably found the field goal kicker they’ve searched for right under their noses. Koenen, who punted as a rookie, last year kicked a 58-yard field goal, kicked off, punted and took orders for dinner. And then there’s Shockley.
In all cases, remember, it’s still August.
Permalink | Comments (93) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Furman Bisher, UGA / SEC
QB race suited to a T
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Athens — Joe Tereshinski III has been around Georgia football since birth. His grandfather played here and made second-team All-SEC. His dad played here and won an SEC title and has worked in the program since before Joe T. III was born. Now Joe T. III, who rejected offers to sign with other colleges because, his father says, “They just weren’t Georgia,” is listed as the Bulldogs’ No. 1 quarterback.
Nice homegrown story, right? Well, maybe.
Many on the dispassionate periphery consider his status temporary, the belief being that Joe T. III is merely warming a seat for one (or more) of the three younger quarterbacks. Tereshinski rejects the notion. “I have to consider myself on top,” he says. “It helps with the leadership role, and it helps with my confidence.”
Via his longtime access to the program, Tereshinski has seen quarterback competitions already. He remembers coming to practice with his dad in 1991 — Joe T. III was in grade school — and watching Greg Talley duel Preston Jones and a hot freshman named Eric Zeier, whom Tereshinski would come to regard as “the quote-unquote hero of my generation.”
That said, neither he nor anyone else can cite a precedent to this four-way struggle. Says Mark Richt, who’ll be the ultimate arbiter: “This is the tightest race I’ve been involved with. I’ve seen two guys competing for a job, but not more than two.”
Because Tereshinski is a fifth-year senior and the most seasoned among the other three is a redshirt sophomore, conventional wisdom holds that the current depth chart is more a reflection of seniority than ability. But Joe T. III, having long dreamed of doing as Zeier, with whom Tereshinski played catch after practices, did, isn’t inclined to yield to anyone. Here’s his stance: “I’ve been here four years, and this is my job.”
Says Joe Tereshinski Jr., Georgia’s assistant strength coach and its video coordinator: “I’ve never met a kid who’s happier when he’s competing than Joe T.”
Come Sept. 2, the day Georgia opens against Western Kentucky, Tereshinski figures to be the first quarterback deployed. When in doubt — and clearly Richt is — coaches tend to err on the side of seasoning. But a Bulldogs historian might recall that, even though Zeier didn’t start the first five games of his freshman season, he played so much he was essentially the No. 1 quarterback. And after Zeier engineered a famous victory over sixth-ranked Clemson, he displaced Talley, who was a team captain, as the starter and went on to become the hero of Joe T. III’s generation.
Might such a thing happen again? Would a bad series against South Carolina — or a big relief performance from a younger guy — in Week 2 render Joe T. III a latter-day Talley? “I don’t think it’d be a bad series and out,” he says, “but if you’re making the same mistakes, you could definitely find another guy in for a while.”
Two other bits of history are more in his favor. First, Georgia hasn’t entered a season with a non-Georgian — the three others are from out of state — as its quarterback since James Ray in 1970. And the last fifth-year Bulldogs quarterback to wait his turn wound up being the MVP in the SEC championship game. Is D.J. Shockley’s example a source of inspiration?
“Oh, definitely,” Tereshinski says. “He pushed himself hard and competed every day, and he rallied his team.”
Tereshinski started the Florida game when Shockley was injured last season and didn’t do so badly. (He didn’t throw a touchdown pass, but he caught one.) He did mop-up duty in five other games, and that measure of familiarity with big-time college football could well be the first determinant in this hairbreadth race.
“You’ve got to be able to manage the job,” Tereshinski says, “to set up the team and keep it running.”
A fifth-year senior should be more suited to managerial duty than a freshman or a sophomore, but this is one of those cases where nobody really knows anything. The four quarterbacks have been given no timetable as to when a decision might be made. (Indeed, Richt has joked that Georgia could settle things by letting each play a quarter.) Says Tereshinski: “They’re judging everything, every throw. That’s the reason you have to compete every day. You can’t take an hour off.”
An affable sort, Tereshinski doesn’t flinch when asked to rate the other quarterbacks’ assets. He says Joe Cox has “a very strong arm” and that Matthew Stafford “loves the game. … He can tell you what any player throughout history has done” and that Blake Barnes “gives everything he has.” And the Tereshinski guy?
He smiles. “I’m more of a pocket passer,” he says. “I’ve got some experience under my belt. I’m the most physical of the guys. I might be able to stand in a little longer and make a throw.”
Joe T. III has waited all his life for this moment to arrive, and he doesn’t foresee himself wilting under the heat, figurative or literal. Being the first name on the depth chart, he says, means “I have to be on point every day. If I’m No. 1, I have to maintain the lead. … I have to keep a lot of pressure on myself just because I’m up there.” Then again, being No. 1 “might add a little pressure.”
And that makes sense. The other three will have other years. For Joe Tereshinski III, a Bulldog born and bred, there’s only this one.
Permalink | Comments (42) | Categories: Mark Bradley
A win and no injuries
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
It’s the first series of the first exhibition, and there’s somebody hanging onto Michael Vick’s ankle. Oh joy. My kingdom for the bubblewrap.
“My first year I was here was the year after Mike got hurt [and missed most of the season], and I’d say that was the hardest preseason I’ve ever been through,” Falcons general manager Rich McKay said Friday night. “I knew how much it affected everybody in Atlanta. But I’m really not thinking about that now. At least I wasn’t. You may have just put them back in my head, actually.”
Vick and less significant Falcons made their exhibition debut Friday against New England. The game may forever be remembered for the loudest cheers ever heard for a fourth-string quarterback.
“I stopped during the break and thought, ‘Is that barking I hear?’ ” D.J. Shockley said later, and of course he knew the answer. Shockley, playing his third straight game in the Georgia Dome (SEC title game, Sugar Bowl, pro debut), led a late drive to a field goal in his practice pro unveiling in the Falcons’ 26-23 win over the Patriots.
Also, the Falcons stayed upright. Isn’t that always the primary objective in these things?
Run a few plays, don’t break a leg.
Try a few blitzes, don’t wreck a knee.
Return some punts, don’t crack a rib.
Win. Lose. Whatever.
McKay insists it’s slightly more significant than that in the eyes of an NFL general manager. But then, the man has to say something. His league still charges full retail for games that don’t count.
“The regular season is all about team and result and who wins the game,” he said. “The preseason is 50 percent that and 50 percent how individuals do, particularly the young guys. How do they react to the pressure? How do they react to being in the Dome and playing games? How do they play within our scheme? Do they play as well as they look in practice? And how do they match up against the opponent, because some of the young guys in practice are only going against our twos or our threes?”
Too many questions.
Try this one: Are they breathing?
The last time the Falcons were in the Dome, they looked like extras from “Dawn of the Dead.” Carolina plowed through them with a Winnebago, winning 44-11. The Falcons’ season ended with three straight losses and a 2-6 second half. Some were left questioning the fragility of the roster and the direction of the franchise.
So the initial objective against New England, other than maintaining clean X-rays, should have been to rebuild bridges with their fan base. In some areas, they succeeded. Others, not so good.
Rookie running back Jerious Norwood, who has been impressive in camp, was even better in a game. His 37-yard gain on a screen pass from Matt Schaub and 34-yard touchdown off a short toss from Bryan Randall gave more reason to believe T.J. Duckett should start packing his dishes.
Coach Jim Mora’s impression of Norwood: “He runs fast.”
Sometimes, deep analysis isn’t necessary.
Vick played only one series. He survived Mike Vrabel’s ankle-grab sack, completing three of four passes (26 yards), and added a 16-yard run on third down. But the Falcons were forced to settle for a field goal after having a first down at the Patriots 20.
The bad moments in NFL exhibitions often are more significant than the good ones. For example, it’s more significant that Duckett had a weak 1-yard carry against the Patriots’ No. 1 defense than the fact he had a 20-yarder against the No. 2 defense. While No. 2 receiver Michael Jenkins had a nice grab for a 21-yard touchdown in the first quarter, No. 1 receiver Roddy White had a drop on the first series and allowed cornerback Asante Samuel to knock the ball out of his hands on the second series.
Also not good: The supposedly upgraded run defense was dented for 82 yards in the first quarter. Pats rookie Laurence Maroney (55 yards on six attempts in the first quarter) was left with the impression that the NFL isn’t nearly as tough as the Big Ten.
“It’s not what you want, because [improving] the run defense is a priority of ours,” McKay said. “But when you’re not scheming against them in practice all week, it’s hard to judge a team’s success.”
Otherwise, Friday was a success. Everybody walked away.
Permalink | Comments (44) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
