The media went wild talking about appearances made by former Ohio State Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, former Browns defensive coordinator Dave Adolph, and members of the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office. Their presence doesn't reflect what went on with the players during practice, so let's get to that part after the jump...
TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 18 (8/16/11)
- Hardesty's Second Day Back: After returning to practice on Monday, second-year running back Montario Hardesty had a wrap on his left calf but still participated in drills fully. I don't think the coaching staff has revealed if Hardesty will play this Friday against the Lions or not, but I'm guessing that we could see him in action.
- Norwood Ahead of Little? According to Tony Grossi, wide receiver Jordan Norwood received more reps with the first-team offense in the slot position than Greg Little did. Little reportedly came in when there were four-receiver sets. Norwood supposedly caught several passes during practice, solidifying his chances of making the final roster, while Little reportedly dropped a pass from Colt McCoy when he was "wide open."
- Partially Back at Safety: Never fear, Browns fans: Ray Ventrone was removed from the starting lineup, thanks to T.J. Ward returning after having an appointment with the dentist on Monday. Safety Usama Young was still held out with a hamstring injury.
- Linebacker Depth Still Thin: With starters Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong still held out of practice, for the second day in a row, Kaluka Maiava and Brian Smith ran with the first-team defense in place of them. In other injury news, tight end Benjamin Watson and wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi were held out.
- Does Aggressiveness Win a Spot? I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but when linebacker Steve Octavien has the opportunity to make a tackle, he seems to really hammer someone. I've already seen in on three different days -- once in person at a training camp session, twice at the Family Day practice, and once against the Packers. In the ABJ's recap today, Nate Ulrich noted that Octavien "grabbed [wide receiver] Juan Nunez by the shoulder pads and slammed him to the ground." I'm not sure if the aggressiveness will win him a spot, or make him look like a prick for going overboard in practice.
- No Replacement for Cribbs: Some fans might have been surprised to see Jordan Norwood field punts from the get-go against the Packers instead of Joshua Cribbs. Head coach Pat Shurmur insisted after practice that Cribbs will remain the team's return man. Cribbs had a nice sideline diving catch during practice while Joe Haden was covering him.
- Seam Pass to Smith: This must have been one of the plays of the day, considering several members of the media commented on it: covered by linebacker Brian Smith, quarterback Colt McCoy hit tight end Alex Smith on a 20-yard seam pass that was thrown nicely.
- Playing Time Against Lions: Head coach Pat Shurmur said that the first-teamers should play the entire first half against the Detroit Lions on Friday. That follows the standard that is usually set for the second preseason game.
- Wednesday Closed to Public: If you planned on going to camp on Wednesday, then don't. It will be closed to the public, meaning there are no remaining public practices this week.
- Brownies: With the retirement of offensive guard Billy Yates, rookie Jason Pinkston will have a chance to fill in at left guard...cornerback Joe Haden had a nice diving interception on a pass intended for Greg Little...tight end Jordan Cameron was involved in several passing plays.
Tuesday's Link Collection / Camp Sources
1. Greg Little shows some flashes of Braylon Edwards’ greatness. I hope he learns to catch the ball, then run.
2. I’m okay with Dr. Octopus’ aggressiveness (within reason). We could use some prickishness to counter our neighbors in pittsbugh. I’d prefer to see it in games against actual opponents.
discoinferno083 - August 16, 2011
Yeah it’s a bummer to read about Little’s drops. The silver lining is that Norwood seems to be stepping it up, which is good.
Maybe Octavien can be our Latimer. Just imagine what he will do when he makes the starting line-up!
Bernie19Kosar - August 16, 2011
Maybe Jim Tressel was sniffing around for a job?
duke4711 - August 16, 2011
(Holmgren points) “I already hired that guy, you’re too late.”
Chris Pokorny - August 16, 2011
Ah, that explains Tressel’s facial expression.
Well never mind, that’s actually Tressel’s default expression for everything.
Simmsinns - August 17, 2011
Ugh, just what we need. A proven regular season winner. Don’t rely on him for the big game motivation.
Granville74 - August 17, 2011
Yeah he never won any bowl games at OSU. Definitely not the last two he coached for.
notthatnoise - August 17, 2011
He totally
won the Sugar Bowl!rufio - August 17, 2011
He totally?
pwndabear - August 17, 2011
That was
an awesome gameHenryDawg - August 17, 2011
Hell, you could go as far as:
That
was an awesome gameSimmsinns - August 17, 2011
.
Dawg Nuts - August 17, 2011
.-—Villeslgr - August 18, 2011
Excellent recap of the Buckeyes 2010 season.
According to the Ohio State University.
Simmsinns - August 19, 2011
All that is, is money. Doesn’t mean crap unless you hoist that BCS trophy. 2006 & 2007—-both convincing losses in the big game
Granville74 - August 17, 2011
And 2003 the biggest college football upset of all time. He totally doesn’t know how to coach in big games. It wasn’t like they needed any motivation to win a game with a billion future first round picks on the other sideline, they probably just lucked into it.
Forget that one and the fact that in 2007 we backed our way into that game when Tressel himself was already aiming for the Rose Bowl until every Big12 team and some Big East teams decided to lose to each other in exactly the perfect formula for us to be the de facto #2 team.
Also forget the other BCS victories. Doesn’t mean anything at all. Only one team’s season means anything every year. Forget the Big 10 championships, forget The Game and Tressel’s record against michigan. I mean that’s not a big game at all or anything. Who cares about that rivalry? Nobody.
rufio - August 17, 2011
Ruf is spittin hot fiyah today.
North Coast Flea - August 17, 2011
I agree, I don’t care about any of that stuff.
Dawg Nuts - August 17, 2011
You don’t care for any of that stuff. It’s the Big 10, how could you not care? I care about Penn St. vs anybody.
rufio - August 18, 2011
You’re right, I exaggerated; I like all Big Ten teams to represent well against other conferences, I just don’t care about OSU vs. Michigan.
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
No, it doesn’t mean anything. 2003 was a great win for Ohio State. On paper they were not as good as Miami. They won, congratulations. So they won a few bowl games but they couldn’t win the big one anymore. Unless you are an Ohio State fan, you aren’t going to care about any of that. It is the BCS Championship that is recognizable. Look, I am a Michigan grad that hails from Ohio. We haven’t sniffed a championship game since 1997. I watched Rich Rod tear the program apart but I will be the first to tell you that I don’t care that we beat Florida back in 2008 in the Capital One Bowl. Whoopee!!! It will be interesting to hear the grumblings and excuses from the Ohio State faithful when they experience what Michigan did the last few years with all of their program problems.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
Well that explains about 90% of your nonsense.
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
I don’t see what that explains. That I went to Michigan? Does that make me incapable of reason? Does this make me incapable of common sense? It that education less reliable than the college eduaction you got?
I’ve seen what scandal does to a prestigious university. Remember, I went to school with the Fab Five. I had to watch banners being dropped from the ceiling because of greedy, only think of themselves athletes. I’ve seen how important one game is to a set of universities and how coaches are judged on that one game. In my day, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr had John Cooper’s number and they were judged on that. So where is my nonsense coming from? I lived all of this. I experienced first hand. I also know that for the winningest college football program in history it don’t mean jack unless you win a championship and beat Ohio State. You’ll see once the banners start dropping from Ohio State’s rafters for Pryor and Tressel’s BS how unimportant a Capitol One Bowl victory is when a program is dealing with scandal, has no scholarships, can’t beat Michigan, and is getting no championships because of it.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
your ridiculous bias that states that Tressel cannot win the big one but then Rufio points out when they won it in 2003. He is right too about 2007, they made it by default so their actual odds of when they “earned” a trip to the NC game is 50/50. Not all that bad.
oh, and you seriously think OSU is going to lose all their scholarships?
bross09 - August 18, 2011
No, I don’t think they will lose all of them, but they are going to lose some and will be ineligible to play for a National Championship. That is huge in a recruit’s mind.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
You can think all you want, it hasn’t happened yet and the odds are without a FTM or LoIC charge that it won’t happen.
rufio - August 18, 2011
even losing some is speculation and not even all that likely considering no “lack of institutional control” so far.
bross09 - August 18, 2011
1. You compared your win in the Capital One bowl to winning the National Championship.
I could stop there but I won’t.
2. You dismiss several BCS bowl wins as “a few bowl games.” Every other college hates us because we get into and win a lot of BCS gaames. We’ve done this almost every year.
3. You said the win in the 2003 NC didn’t mean anything, presumably because Miami was better on paper?!?
4. Beating your team 9 out 10 times apparently doesn’t mean anything.
5. Big Ten titles don’t mean anything.
By your standards, every coach in the country sucks steeler butt because they don’t win a NC every single year.
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
No, I didn’t compare the Capital One Bowl to a National Championship. I was simply stating that you won’t be remembered for winning the Capitol One Bowl—-Only a National Championship unless you are a fan of that team.
I do dismiss BCS bowl games because they are just bowl games unless they are for the National Championship. Bowls are so watered down now because of sponsorship money. Remember when there were just a handful for the elite teams?
I was referring to rufio saying all those other accolades such as Big Ten Championships, etc meant something and I said no they didn’t mean anything. I gave congratulation to the 2003 team for winning it. They were not better on paper. Look, I rooted for the Buckeyes in that game. If it isn’t Michigan, I will root Big Ten.
If anything is important to Ohio St./Michigan it is beating each other. 9 out of 10 times is awesome but Michigan had Cooper’s number I believe it was 2-9-2 against us. So that goes back and forth.
I don’t think big Ten titles meant anything without a playoff. We’ll see it this year.
I don’t think every coach sucks, except the ones that are expected to compete each and every year. I couldn’t put the same pressure on the Hawaii as I could on Tressel and Rich Rod. Ohio St. and Michigan are powerhouses and anything short of the top prize means squat.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
I guess we’ll just disagree but I was pretty damn happy after all those other bowl games too so you can say they don’t mean anything but they mean a lot to the players and fans. Who cares if most of the rest of the country forgets two days later?
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
We are F(*&KING WINNING BCS BOWL GAMES. THOSE ARE THE ELITE BOWL GAMES.
rufio - August 18, 2011
Apparently, yes.
Again: apparently, yes.
For the third time: apparently, yes.
Let me put this in context for you: UNC was a scandal. USC was a scandal. Miami is a scandal. 6 (possibly 7) players taking about a thousand bucks each and a coach not reporting it amidst a federal investigation is not a scandal. There is no FTM chage against Ohio State, there is no LoIC charge against Ohio State.
Right, so when I pointed out that Tressel not only DID WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP but also has made it several thousand days since michigan’s last victory over us, you said it still didn’t matter.
Fact: zero scholarships have been revoked because of the “scandal”. Fact: we’ve beaten michigan. A lot. In fact you only won one game while I was in school and you haven’t won since. Fact: we’ve won shares of six straight Big 10 titles. Fact: we won the 2003 BCS National Championship.
Maybe you should wait to open your mouth until your program actually does something.
rufio - August 18, 2011
I can tell you, as a Penn State fan, I still care that we won the Orange Bowl in 2006, and I’m damn sure still bitter that we lost the Rose Bowl in 2009. Also, it’s been 16 years since we went undefeated, had one of the greatest offenses in the history of college football, and got screwed out of share of the national championship, and I’m still severely bitter about that. How do you not care about stuff like that?
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
As a Penn State fan you would remember that game. You think the student from Maryland remembers that game? I betthey can tell you that Texas beat USC in the BCS National Championship game though. That’s my point. You aren’t rememebred unless you win the big one.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
So what? what the hell is your point? Most bowl games are going to be only remembered by the schools fans or because it was a big upset (BSU over OU Fiesta Bowl).
That doesn’t diminish the quality of the program or the coach one bit.
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
That student from maryland also probably doesn’t remember when tOSU lost to LSU in the NC game either, honestly. That game had the 2nd lowest viewership since 2002. Also no one remembers when USC beat Oklahoma (low ratings) but everyone remembers when OSU beat miami and when Texas beat USC, those games had ridiculous viewership.
the argument that people won’t remember is stupid, especially since you picked as your example the most watched CFB game of all time.
bross09 - August 18, 2011
He mentioned 2006—-I used the BCS game that year. I watch them all. I absolutely college football. Maybe I am just a different viewer and expect more from my team than a trip to the Papa John’s.com bowl. It means nothing to me.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
I absolutely NFL.
North Coast Flea - August 18, 2011
We’ve been consistently going to BCS BOWL GAMES under Tressel. You guys are the ones going to jackcrap.com bowls.
rufio - August 18, 2011
thats fine. I love CFB too. However to try to compare anything to that NC game is going to be skewed because the neilsen ratings are very high. It is is the most watched NCAA game since the ’80s. not every BCS NC is created equal and some are less memorable to the general public and less watched than other bowls.
bross09 - August 18, 2011
rufio - August 18, 2011
The point is that you said you don’t remember wins in Michigan’s history or care about them because they weren’t national championship games. I find that strange that you wouldn’t care about any of your team’s wins or losses aside from their championships.
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
In the Lloyd Carr and gary Moeller era when I was at Michigan it was easy to watch. Not just because of the success we had but because it was Big Ten smash mouth football. I loved watching that type of game. As soon as Rich Rod came in and ruined that with that crap spread game he played at West Virgina, I didn’t care anymore. Hard to sya that about my alma mater, but the evidence is in the loss to Appalachian State. We had a decent ywear that year, but it wasn’t Brian Griese/Charles Woodson Michigan football. Maybe I am spoiled to have seen a National Championship and expect nothing less from my team.
Granville74 - August 18, 2011
And then goes on to quote Lloyd Carr’s record against us. Unbelievable.
rufio - August 18, 2011
yep. weak effort.
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
So you are jealous of OSU/Tressel’s success is basically what you are saying.
Your program has been a joke, just like your comments about Tressel.
rufio - August 18, 2011
You just had to mention the Big East that year didn’t you!!!
Kimble_79 - August 18, 2011
Sorry dude, you guys should have just TCB and been in that game.
rufio - August 18, 2011
I hate Rutgers.
Villeslgr - August 18, 2011
We had names for guys that overplayed in practice. We called them Prep Team All-Stars. No one liked them and they never played on game day. Save the nastiness for the opponents, being a douche never got anyone a roster spot.
Onyx Lightning - August 17, 2011 via mobile
prep team all star… is that like a gym class hero? cus i was one of those.
troy145 - August 17, 2011
Ha! I was one of those too, always wanted to win no matter what we were playing at the time.
North Coast Flea - August 17, 2011
Ditto.
rufio - August 17, 2011
I was sick in gym class. Broke my arm hurdling a guy en route to the end zone.
rufio - August 17, 2011
Playing hard in practice got you on the field for my team. I wouldn’t want to play with guys who weren’t going all out in practice.
notthatnoise - August 17, 2011
If you hit too hard in practice you got benched at my school.
SpecialBrownie - August 17, 2011
I mean, we weren’t usually tackling guys to the ground, but if you didn’t go full go your ass would end up on the turf.
notthatnoise - August 17, 2011
No, you don’t understand. The scount team was doing semi – fake cuts and one of our starting G’s started whining about us touching them.
Yeah.
SpecialBrownie - August 17, 2011
LOL, that wouldn’t fly with the coaches I had in HS.
Kimble_79 - August 18, 2011
I understand. But, I also don’t want to accidentally give Octavien a bad rap. It’s not like he’s killing guys, and I have seen zero ill-will towards him on the field.
Chris Pokorny - August 17, 2011
Gotcha, my bad. I thought the inference was he was going after guys and being a jerk. I certainly never intended to say that practicing hard was bad or that hitting hard was for games only. But when you’re intentionally going after people and being a douche without ever having “earned” anything in the league or on the team, there’s no place for that. That’s what I thought he was doing based on the post. Sorry if I jumped to conclusions.
Onyx Lightning - August 17, 2011 via mobile
Ah, that makes a lot more sense.
notthatnoise - August 17, 2011
I left it open for interpretation, no need to apologize. Just wanted to make sure people didn’t think I thought he was a scumbag or anything.
Chris Pokorny - August 17, 2011
So you’re saying he’s no Ray Lewis?
Doc's Kid - August 17, 2011
I thought pinkston was a tackle?
mooncamping - August 17, 2011 via mobile
Colt loves the seam pass over the middle to the TE.
Any chance we keep 6 WR?
Robi
Mass
Cribbs
Little
Norwood
Carlton?
rufio - August 17, 2011
Is Holmgren like 6’7" or is Tress like 5’5"?
Les Fleurs Du Mal - August 17, 2011
Holmgren is a large human being, both in height and in width.
notthatnoise - August 17, 2011
height. width.
troy145 - August 17, 2011
Tress doesn’t look the same without the vest.
I find it sad that he’s signing “Go Bucks” on the autographs still. It’s bittersweet to look at my autograph now.
emily522 - August 17, 2011
Not to make excuses, but what he did is so minor in the grand scheme of things. If he wasn’t so successful this would barely be a story at all. At the end of the day, college coaches are stuck between the stupid rules of the NCAA and the stupid actions of entitled teenagers. Its a no win situation so I wouldn’t hold what happened against him too harshly. I am glad that he’s signing Go Bucks because I don’t want what he did here to be erased because of something so trivial.
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
Lying to the NCAA isn’t trivial. The violation may not have been that bad, but trying to cover it up is.
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
He didn’t lie to the NCAA, he just did not report an email he received claiming his players were doing something that could be a violation. An email! I’m sure JT gets hundreds if not thousands of emails a day from our idiot fans saying all sorts of stuff. He made at worst an error in judgement.
And yes, I will be the first to admit that OSU has a large and substantial amount of idiot fans.
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
Semantics. Your first paragraph is dripping with homerism.
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
It probably is, but its also the truth.
HenryDawg - August 18, 2011
Saying that failing to disclose is different from lying is technically true, but the intent by Tressel was the same: don’t let the NCAA find out about this.
Dawg Nuts - August 18, 2011
He lied. When they were first investigating he said he didn’t know about the violations. He might have forgotten, and he might have been worried about the federal investigation around that skeevy dude, but he definitely lied, and that’s definitely a big deal to the NCAA.
Mistakes were made, but I still think Tress is a good man and a helluva coach. People might disagree, but I’ll just point to his record, BCS bowl games, national title, biggest upset in history, record against michigan, etc. And probably to the University of Miami.
rufio - August 18, 2011
Exactly. I personally do not find the offense egregious but there is precedent in how they handled it. but that goes more to the way the heads of the NCAA act.
bross09 - August 18, 2011
exactly. Not because the act itself is so egregious (covering up small violations from the NCAA) but the NCAA hates not getting information and having information being withheld. Wasn’t it Dez Bryant who sat out a whole season because he lied about having spoken to Deion Sanders?
bross09 - August 18, 2011
i kinda wanna call up the NCAA and lie to them because they really dont mean anything to anyone anymore
pwndabear - August 18, 2011
Holmgren is just closer to the perspective of the fish in the foreground (or something like that).
JustBob - August 18, 2011
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