After a week off for the veterans and a week of workout/conditioning for the rookies, we were back to work for the second week of OTAs. The first day's practice was delayed as the effects of the tornado knocked out the power for the facility and it remained that way on Monday. There was also some damage to the fence surrounding the practice field and a lot of the trees around the grounds, but luckily that was the extent of the damage. The power was finally restored in the afternoon just in time to get a lift and condition in for the rookies. Coach Fisher continues to impress me with how he always keeps us, the players, in mind first and foremost in all situations including this one. If we had moved the OTA to Wednesday, that would have been four OTAs in a row. We might not have gotten as much out of them because of fatigue and no days in between for study and corrections. Instead he moved it to next week, where we will have no more than two practice days in a row each week. His reputation of being a player's coach seems to be correct so far!
Tuesday was OTA #4 followed by OTA #5&6 Thursday and Friday. The normal schedule for these days are all relatively the same with rookies starting around 7 am and getting done with everything around 5 pm. Starting with breakfast it continues on through meetings, practice, lunch, meetings, and finally lifting for the rookies. The day always starts out with a special teams meeting and this is a critical part of making the team for us rookies. This week we installed punt and a tentative depth chart was made for practice purposes. I am getting the opportunity to play the personal protector (PP) but am not the starter just yet (I'll try not and comment too much on depth chart and will leave that for the coaches to reveal). This position is critical as the protection and communication for the punt team is made by the PP on the field. I like this position of responsibility and have played it some in college although I didn't play much special teams then. This was because I started and the coaches did not want to use me in that way. I always learned the positions and was in every special teams meetings at Texas Tech as I was a backup just in case somebody went down. Now I look forward to wrecking havoc on special teams and will work my hardest to earn those starting spots.
Tuesday was OTA #4 followed by OTA #5&6 Thursday and Friday. The normal schedule for these days are all relatively the same with rookies starting around 7 am and getting done with everything around 5 pm. Starting with breakfast it continues on through meetings, practice, lunch, meetings, and finally lifting for the rookies. The day always starts out with a special teams meeting and this is a critical part of making the team for us rookies. This week we installed punt and a tentative depth chart was made for practice purposes. I am getting the opportunity to play the personal protector (PP) but am not the starter just yet (I'll try not and comment too much on depth chart and will leave that for the coaches to reveal). This position is critical as the protection and communication for the punt team is made by the PP on the field. I like this position of responsibility and have played it some in college although I didn't play much special teams then. This was because I started and the coaches did not want to use me in that way. I always learned the positions and was in every special teams meetings at Texas Tech as I was a backup just in case somebody went down. Now I look forward to wrecking havoc on special teams and will work my hardest to earn those starting spots.
Practice starts at about 10:30 and the weather was perfect... except for the occasional whiff of the landfill fire nearby, phew! The week off gives us fresh legs, but also makes it to where they get sore again for practice. But for the first day it was great as we got into the flow again without missing a beat. The playbook is now starting to sink in for the common coverage/calls and the communication continues to improve. But we are still constantly installing and adjusting our defense, so for us rookies it takes time and experience to make them become second nature. I was having a pretty good practice Friday when I was hit with a new play that I had gone over but never played before... let's just say I was confused about the adjustment rules and we messed up the play call twice in two different situations. But now I have it down and that experience has it in my head better than any playbook studying would. When you don't have to think and worry about the plays and adjustments is when you can play your best football. Overall, the rest of the practices went great and I even got a interception for my birthday on Thursday. The coaches are now coaching us harder as the expectations for the rookies continue to rise. Since we had the extra day of lifting/conditioning, we ended the week Friday with some Yoga for the rookies to help stretch and recover from the week of work. The last week of OTAs are on deck! See you then...
-Student of the Game
#RamsNation
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