It was a fun experience today getting to be at training camp as a member of the media. Being that close to the action was awesome, and having the opportunity to talk to some of the guys after practice in the locker room was a lot of fun. The highlight of the locker room experience was when Chris Johnson was talking to a huge group of the media, and Nate Washington hopped up and started yelling about a CD that had CJ on the cover.
The offense looked a little rusty today, but I guess that is to be expected on the first day of camp. Chris Johnson looks a little thicker than he did last year (in a good way) and it didn’t appear to affect his quickness. I was a little worried about what his conditioning level would be after not being here all offseason, but he looked ready to go.
Most of the stuff that they did today was pretty vanilla. CJ motioned out into a receiver spot a few times, but there was no option or anything fancy like that. The defense got the better of the offense for most of the day. Vince Young was off the mark a lot today, but again that is to be expected on the first day. Dominique Edison looked really good today. He caught everything that was thrown to him and had more catches than any other receiver. Kenny Britt also looked good but was out at the end of practice because of some cramping.
Ryan Mouton worked opposite of Cortland Finnegan for most of the day, but there were some times where Jason McCourty was out there.
A few observations after the jump.
Gramsey’s boy Alvin Pearman and Marc Mariani were the ones back catching punts during the special teams portion of practice. I would imagine Damian Williams will be in that mix, but he was placed on the PUP list because of the hamstring injury he suffered at the end of OTAs. He said after practice that he was close, but the team hadn’t given him a time frame for taking him off that list.Derrick Morgan remains unsigned, but he is in Nashville and anxious to get in camp according to Williams who said that Morgan has been living in his house. D Will said Morgan was jealous when Williams left to sign his contract last night. Fisher said after practice that he believes the Titans and Morgan are close. Jim Washburn is easily the most vocal of all of the coaches. It is easy to see why he gets the best out of the guys that play for him and why they love playing for him so much. Tye Hill didn’t spend much time on the practice field today and was spotted on the sideline with ice on his leg. Fisher said after practice that it was precautionary, but who really knows.
Again, Edison was very impressive today. I had a notebook that I was writing names down in every time they did something impressive, and I have his name written down with 4 marks beside it.
Rusty Smith has what I would call a live arm. The battle between him and Chris Simms will be an interesting one to watch. Smith appeared to be one of those guys that "can make all the throws."
Britt did have a nice leaping catch on a ball from VY before he went down with the cramps. Jared Cook had one play where he made a false start and then got hit in the face by the ball. He also had a ball go off his hands that friend of the site Alterraun Verner then intercepted.
Stephen Tulloch made his first appearance at Baptist Sports Park since the end of last season. He was on the field as the middle linebacker in the base defense and stayed on the field with Will Witherspoon in the nickel packages.
Check back later because I will have some quotes from Fisher, VY, CJ2K, Tulloch and our friend Jacob Ford.