Thursday Practice

[votb]

I did attend this morning's practice, which was outdoors at ICCU field. I can't say that I can remember when almost all of one practice was spent on special teams/kicking game, but today was. They ran a few standard offensive drills, but most of it all dealt with kicking.

I was skeptical at first when Mike said in Park City he was going back to the traditional drop-back punt, but I didn't see one roll-punt practiced today. I saw fake punts, but no roll-punts. Also, It looks like Sean Cheney is starting to get into a groove. He kicked a couple of "flat" balls today but by far, most of his kicks had a hang-time of 4.3 secs or more. Of course, that's all academic if he doesn't get the kick away in time, but it looks like he's been working on that, too.

One other positive I saw today was kickoff/return practice. Even with three kids kicking off (Cheney, Zak Johnson and Freshman Cougar Couburn from Arco), I would say most of the kickoffs (by design) we inside the 5 yd. line or deeper. Some just made it inside the 10, but most were to the 5 or deeper, and there was a LOT of work on kick coverage.

Really, after last year's results kicking the ball, it's refreshing to see so much time spent on that aspect of the game.

GO BENGALS!

 

[Reborn2010]

What do the the rest of the players do while the special teams are practicing the whole practice? Are they just standing around watching? To have so many players doing nothing but watch seems futile. If were a player spending the whole day just watching a kicker kick off, I think I'd get pretty dang bored. I also have never heard or seen a team spend the whole practice on special teams.....and it does seem odd to me.

 

[Tacoma5]

From what I understand it's special teams specific practice. Only if your on ST will you be there. Rest of the team doing R&R until workout or at meetings.

 

[Skippy]

What do the the rest of the players do while the special teams are practicing the whole practice? Are they just standing around watching? To have so many players doing nothing but watch seems futile. If were a player spending the whole day just watching a kicker kick off, I think I'd get pretty dang bored. I also have never heard or seen a team spend the whole practice on special teams.....and it does seem odd to me.

Believe me anybody who has watched the Bengals the last few years will understand why this is a good thing.

 

[up for the challenge]

What do the the rest of the players do while the special teams are practicing the whole practice? Are they just standing around watching? To have so many players doing nothing but watch seems futile. If were a player spending the whole day just watching a kicker kick off, I think I'd get pretty dang bored. I also have never heard or seen a team spend the whole practice on special teams.....and it does seem odd to me.

Believe me anybody who has watched the Bengals the last few years will understand why this is a good thing.

Your statement is too funny Skippy as we have seen too many special team errors over the years. You remember last season when we set up to kick a field goal to win the game against Montana? Rocket Man hikes a 100 mile fast ball over the the holder that flew to mid field and after scramble for the ball a Montana player lateraled the ball to another Montana player and he returned the ball for a TD with no seconds on the clock to win the game. That was the craziest special teams play I saw last season.

 

[Tacoma5]

What do the the rest of the players do while the special teams are practicing the whole practice? Are they just standing around watching? To have so many players doing nothing but watch seems futile. If were a player spending the whole day just watching a kicker kick off, I think I'd get pretty dang bored. I also have never heard or seen a team spend the whole practice on special teams.....and it does seem odd to me.

Believe me anybody who has watched the Bengals the last few years will understand why this is a good thing.

Your statement is too funny Skippy as we have seen too many special team errors over the years. You remember last season when we set up to kick a field goal to win the game against Montana? Rocket Man hikes a 100 mile fast ball over the the holder that flew to mid field and after scramble for the ball a Montana player lateraled the ball to another Montana player and he returned the ball for a TD with no seconds on the clock to win the game. That was the craziest special teams play I saw last season.

As a new fan to this team, that is just a kick in the walnuts!! Let's hope the tides are a changin'. :shock:

 

[PBP]

I've always been surprised at the way Mike has felt about special teams and their impact on a game. Much like his philosophical changes on the defense (4-3), rugby punt and his offense (slowing down a little, huddling up at times and promoting a running game) it appears he is adapting things on special teams too.

And that is a good thing since they have cost the team dearly over the last several seasons.

PBP

 

[votb]

One of the things I noticed today was that special teams wasn't just kicking and receiving, for most of the practice they worked with full kick and return teams...two-to-three deep, running plays over and over and over again, substituting liberally.

Let me ask a question here. If special teams play likely contributed to more lost yardage, opponent scores, and possibly actual losses than any other aspect of our game last year, who considers it a waste of time to work hard at making it a strength of the team instead of its Achilles heel? Doesn't getting measurably better at that part of the game improve the situation for every other player on the team? How selfish would players have to be if they're on the sidelines watching half the rest of the team trying to get better at kick coverage, blocking schemes and overall execution and they think they're just wasting their time? Is that how the kickers are supposed to feel while the offense and defense are getting most of the time and attention? If there are players on my team that think that way, I'm not sure I want them on my TEAM.

 

[votb]

From what I understand it's special teams specific practice. Only if your on ST will you be there. Rest of the team doing R&R until workout or at meetings.

From what I could tell, the entire team was there today, and everybody got some kind of work in.

 

[up for the challenge]

I think it is a good thing for the entire team to be on the practice field while special teams get their work in. Special Teams is a big part of the game and they sometimes make the difference in a game. I know Kramer wants good Special Teams play this season so I am sure this will be a priority.

 

[Reborn2010]

One of the things I noticed today was that special teams wasn't just kicking and receiving, for most of the practice they worked with full kick and return teams...two-to-three deep, running plays over and over and over again, substituting liberally.

Let me ask a question here. If special teams play likely contributed to more lost yardage, opponent scores, and possibly actual losses than any other aspect of our game last year, who considers it a waste of time to work hard at making it a strength of the team instead of its Achilles heel? Doesn't getting measurably better at that part of the game improve the situation for every other player on the team? How selfish would players have to be if they're on the sidelines watching half the rest of the team trying to get better at kick coverage, blocking schemes and overall execution and they think they're just wasting their time? Is that how the kickers are supposed to feel while the offense and defense are getting most of the time and attention? If there are players on my team that think that way, I'm not sure I want them on my TEAM.

Thanks for the explanation. This makes a lot of sense. Players weren't just standing around "watching." They were actively participating.

Go Bengals!!!