Day 2 is in
the books and after spending around 9 hours in Mankato I have plenty of info to
give my fellow Purple diehard fans.
I will start
out with sights that I found interesting and intriguing and at times head
scratchers. It starts out driving down Madison Avenue as I am heading towards
campus. We drove by a Pizza Ranch that had a sign that said “First Round
pickers and ex-Packers” all you can eat buffet here. I love the ex-Packers
part.
The morning
walk through I witnessed a woman who had an Aaron Rodgers jersey on. The
Vikings mascot, Viktor was walking towards the fans when this woman got off her
seat and went to try and get a picture with Viktor. It was so comical because
she kept trying to pose with Viktor yet he kept backing up meanwhile fans were
booing her. In the end Viktor did pose with her and put the number 1 sign up in
front of the woman.
The walk
through practice was on going when I noticed Blair Walsh, Cullen Loeffler and
Jeff Locke on the sideline just hanging out. I turned my attention to the field
and then back to the sideline and what do I see. Walsh is long snapping to
Loeffler. I must say Blair was pretty accurate.
Today was
another cold day with a high temp in the 60’. I was looking around the crowd
and noticed a feel people with winter gloves. This is July and I am seeing
people dressed in winter gear.
The last
thing I will mention was as I was leaving the afternoon practice I noticed 2
gentlemen with the same numbered jersey. I see plenty of jerseys over there but
these one really had me take a double look. They both had the number 19 jersey,
Troy Williamson. I honestly do not know if I have ever seen anyone where that
let alone 2 at once.
These are
just some of the fan related instances from Saturday July 27th.
The
practices themselves had morning walk through from 10:30-11:30. I like to use
this time to get some good pictures of the guys who do not wear helmets. I make
my own yearbook by trying to get one picture of every player. I got almost the
whole team in one day.
The other thing
I accomplish in watching this is which player lines up in 1st
string, 2nd string and so forth. I watched as Cordarrelle Patterson
was the number one man in kickoff returns. Josh Robinson and AJ Jefferson also
took turns. It is really an uneventful time as it really is a walk through. I
just spend time watching the players and getting to know what they look like
without a helmet. I use this so I can know the name and properly as this player
for a picture with him. It is better than saying hey you can I get a picture
with you. I would like the chance to say Cordarrelle, could I please get a
picture with you.
The
afternoon practice was from 2:45-4:45. It remained cool temp wise. The players
are not permitted to hit as of yet but they do run plays and drills.
I love the 7
on 7 drills. I also enjoy the one on ones with defensive backs taking on
receivers. I saw a great match between Greg Jennings and Chris Cook. The second
contest Jennings put an unreal move that had Cook fall to the ground.
I am
witnessing in 2 days Greg Jennings running great routes and does not seem to
drop much.
Cordarrelle
Patterson is a crowd favorite. He is truly a joy to watch run and catch. This
will be one part of camp I am going to look forward to.
I thought
the receiver of the day today was Joe Webb. He was like a vacuum cleaner out
there. I left Saturday so impressed with him. I saw his leaping ability and the
hands. I have met him and shook his hand. I can assure you that his hands are
huge.
The
quarterbacks today I thought struggled more than I would like to see. It is
only day 2 so I will just chuck this day to the side and will come back Monday
and see how they look.
Erin
Henderson and 2nd year defensive back, Bobby Felder each took an
interception to the house. Felder’s came
on the last play of practice and to celebrate he went up to dunk over the cross
bar. One problem is he came up just short which brought laughter from the
crowd.
The
quarterbacks were not all bad as I did see some nice balls. It just seemed the
quarterbacks and receivers were having a hard time connecting.
I am
confident Ponder will get the job done but I am also gaining comfort in knowing
we have a solid backup in Matt Cassel.
In other
sightings, I watched Mr. Cannon Leg, Blair Walsh look strong as ever if that is
possible. I was trying to figure his field goal distance at time since the
field he was on was farther away. It looked like he was having no problem from
60-65 yards. He also had kicked off on the field right in front of us. In 3
tries in a row he put one through the uprights, hit the goal post and through
the uprights all on kickoffs.
That’s all
or now. I am bummed out no practice Sunday, but I will be ready Monday morning
to make the return trip to Mankato.
Thanks for
reading
Purplestick
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