Regularly Scheduled Practice

Today marked the start of the 'normal' practice schedule, for which I am very grateful. Breakfast ran from 7:00AM-8:05AM with a team meeting at 8:30AM. Offensive/defensive meetings followed and we wrapped it up with positionals thereafter.

Practice itself began at 10:20AM and, although slightly longer, seemed nearly identical to the sessions we've been having for the past week. Nothing exceptional to report there. We continue to install new defensive calls every day, but other than that each practice is similar to the previous. I played pretty well today and make a few decent pass rushes, but I still need more work there. My job, if I make the team, will be to simply rush the passer. I really need to focus in on my passrush moves now that we have extra time during the day.

A few of the other defensive linemen and I made it into the weightroom finally after a long hiatus. It's very important to keep lifting during a season, if only to prevent injuries. A defensive lineman's shoulders are particularly susceptible to injury if he doesn't stay strong. Afterwards a few of the veterans invited me out for an all-you-can-eat sushi deal at a local restaurant. It was great to eat something besides the same old camp food. I was impressed again by the genuine kindness of the veterans and their willingness to help or accommodate the rookies. We really have a lot of great guys on the team.

It turns out that my prediction last night was correct. After this morning's practice about 10 players were cut. Why they waited until AFTER practice I couldn't say. Seems strange to make a guy practice when you know you're going to cut him right afterwards. I don't know why they do it that way... The staff must have known exactly who they were cutting last night at the latest because the lockers were cleaned out during today's practice. It was eerie and a bit scary to walk into the locker room and simply see empty spaces where teammates used to be. No real chance for goodbyes for the most part. Men just disappear and everyone is left wondering who will be next to go. If you do happen to see a released player the encounter quickly becomes awkward. What do you say? You feel badly for the man, but you are also glad it wasn't you. This is truly a business environment.