Attended training camp this morning, and here's what stood out:
- I've been to multiple training camps for all 3 of the previous head coaching tenures (Andy, Chip, Doug) and the HC is almost always walking around and observing, taking notes, talking to the coordinators and position coaches, and giving direction to the staff that keep practice moving and the players going from field to field or drill to drill. Sirianni is not like that. He was vocal (and loud) the entire 75 minutes and in the middle of everything either coaching up someone, or some unit, the entire time. I heard him yell something about "fundamentals" or "details" at least 10 times each. At one point he stopped practice because the 2nd team was so sloppy, pulled the entire roster in and gave them a "lecture". Not in a scolding way, but more like a teaching way. Couldn't hear most of it, but he definitely said something about learning from having a bad start and turning it around.
- Most of the vets had a "rest" day (Kelce, Graham, Slay, Lane, Cox, Ertz, etc.) but even though they weren't participating they were either with their position groups pumping up the guys that were, or were hanging in a "vet" group to watch the 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 work. But there was one exception: Zach Ertz. Never saw him with the TE's and when all the vets were together, he was a few steps away, almost isolated/alone and not really interacting or getting caught up in the offense versus defense outcomes. His body language was definitely "Why am I still here? I can't wait to move on."
- DeVonta Smith looks like a vet out there. Runs routes smoothly and correctly, hauls in everything, adjusts his body when needed to make the catch, and his speed looks effortless. His legs, however, do look like tooth picks and made me nervous every time I looked at them while he was running, so I had to make myself stop fixating on them. He was obviously getting 1st team reps, but he was also getting 3rd team reps more than a few times. I'm sure extra reps will be good for the rookie.
- Joe Flacco is definitely as advertised: past his prime. He sailed multiple passes and threw check-down after check-down. For some reason, there was a called bootleg for him that went nowhere. Nick Mullens looked surprisingly sharp and outplayed Flacco.
- Steve Nelson didn't look bad, per se, but for sure looked to be new to a team/defense and seemed to be shaking some of the rust off.
- Hurts seemed to be mostly ok. Only saw one "wow" play for him. In 11-on-11 red zone he scrambled away from a defensive lineman that came through untouched and just when it looked like he was going to run it, he pulled up and hit Jason Croom in the corner of the end zone for a TD. Later, Davion Taylor should have had any easy INT off Hurts but was a bit slow to react and go up for it.
- Miles Sanders didn't really stand out. Had a drop that was on a bad throw from Hurts that he still had plenty of time to adjust to, but didn't.
- Saw at least 3 dropped punts by the punt returners, but don't know who exactly dropped them as they were fielding punts on the other side of the field from where I was standing. I did see more than a few shanks by Siposs, but hard to tell if he was working on directional kicks or not.
- Funniest moment of the day was seeing Tyree Jackson (at 6-7, the tallest guy on the team) taking passes from the Juggs machine while Boston Scott (the smallest guy) stood close by waiting for his turn. Reminded me of this.
ETA: another funny moment was when Mike Quick tried to cut across the corner of the practice field (which only media can do, fans have to stay behind a certain line all around the field) and not one, but TWO, of the event staff tried stopping him because he didn't have his media credential showing. By the time they yelled at him, he was already off the field and where he needed to go so he just gave them a dismissive "Yeah, yeah" gesture and nod. The fans nearby were incredulous that neither of the "security" people recognized/knew him and ribbed them about it. Their stance was, "I don't know him, but even if I did and it was the CEO of the team (who they also didn't appear to know by name or sight, either), if they don't have a pass I'm not letting them step on the field."