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http://news.bostonherald.com/blogs/patriots/
August 2nd, 2007
Picking it up
Posted by Albert Breer at 7:57 pm
This camp clearly hasn’t been the bruising affair that last summer was. But the team did pick it up a notch, probably spending about 70 percent of their early evening workout in full-team scrimmage. And some things, of course, came out of that. Here are a few. …
– CB Ellis Hobbs may not be All-Pro. But he wants to be. Bad. Real Bad. So bad that after Reche Caldwell caught a 4-yard out hard against the boundary on him, Hobbs pounded the turf and yelled. Outside of that — which, let’s be honest, wasn’t really a big deal — the corner was outstanding today. Early on, he was locked on to Jabar Gaffney, lined up at the X (split end) and running a deep post. Hobbs stuck with him stride for stride and when the ball, well-thrown from Tom Brady, started descending, the corner accelerated and leaped over the the top of Gaffney to knock the ball away. It actually looked a lot like a play Hobbs made on a ball in the end zone on Reggie Wayne in the AFC Championship Game.
– RB Kevin Faulk continues to show what type of weapon he’ll be, newcomers or no newcomers. With the offense backed into the red zone, Faulk came out of the backfield and flared toward the sideline. As he got downfield, he was looking back to his inside and, somehow, when the ball came he was able to one-handed with his outside arm. Later, Faulk ran a streak up the seam, coming out of the backfield, and extended out to tip a slightly overthrown ball back into his chest while efforting to catch up to it. Faulk’s one of those guys that, one way or another, you have to find a way to get the ball to.
– WR Bam Childress might not make the team, but the generously-listed 5-10 receiver is making the most out of the chances he’s getting. On two occasions in the practices, Childress caught passes in tight quarters between two defenders, one down the sideline and the next 50 yards down the middle of the field. Both showed great concentration and fearlessness too.
– CB Brandon Meriweather has been matched up quite a bit with WR Wes Welker in the slot. It’s usually not straight man situations, but Meriweather’s been charged with sticking with Welker quite a bit. And he’s gotten his lunch eaten from time-to-time. But it says here that the rookie couldn’t have a better guy to try and play against — a polished route-runner with the short-area quickness to test Meriweather’s technique and burst, and a guy who understands coverages and knows how find holes in the zone, which will work to teach Meriweather more about the defense he’s playing and where it’s soft spots are.
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