Bernstein Blog- Busy Wednesday
During Senior Bowl week, Wednesday is usually the busiest day as everyone is looking to make their final impressions on the media and scouts as most teams evacuate on Thursdays. Come spend the day with me.
7:45 a.m. (or thereabouts)- I awaken to the sound of the human in the hotel room next to me showering. A less than stellar start to my day.
8:40 a.m.- Internet at the hotel is down so I’m headed over to Panera to get some signal and a bagel. Both were excellent.
9:15 a.m.- Headed to the stadium to watch the North Team practice for the final time. Upon my arrival I find my friends Michael Lombardo and Chris Steuber, as well as Adam Caplan. We shoot the “stuff” for a bit and then begin watching practice, hopeful that someone will catch our eyes.
9:45 a.m.- Tony Pike has a strong arm, but his passes flutter. Dan LeFevour has good presence and mobility, but I’m not sure if he can be anything more than a mediocre starting quarterback. Sean Canfield throws a nice touch pass, but little else.
10:10 a.m.- Jacoby Ford has had a nice week of practices. He is lightning fast and catches the ball pretty easily. LeGarrette Blount continues to impress as he does a great job of finishing runs. Fresno State running back Lonyae Miller has some running skills and burst.
10:30 a.m.- Corners Chris Cook, Devin McCourty and Brandon Ghee have been impressive. Cook, standing 6’2” is the new, bigger type of corner who could be very effective against taller wideouts.
10:45 a.m.- Linebackers Sean Weatherspoon and Daryl Washington have really stood out as the best backers on the North squad. Arkansas State defensive end Alex Carrington is a beast today as well.
11:05 a.m.- Practice is finished and I head to the field to get some interviews. Cal defensive end Tyson Alualu, Idaho lineman Mike Iupati, and Virginia corner Chris Cook were some of he lucky players who got to speak to me.
11:30 a.m.- I head to O’Charley’s for some lunch, and make the mistake of keeping my ESPN credential visible. Now everyone is a football expert and wants to talk to me instead of serving me my food. They tell me how Tim Tebow really gets the team going and how that will translate over to the NFL. Unfortunately, his inability to take a snap and his god-awful throwing motion will also translate.
1:15 p.m.- Head back over to the stadium for “Tebow-palooza 2010.” This was clearly the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at a Senior Bowl practice and there were people actually tailgating outside. Today is going to be a long day.
2:00 p.m.- Tony Sparano has the team practicing special teams drills.
2:20 p.m.- Finally done with special teams, but now they’re stretching again.
2:45 p.m.- Some one-on-one stuff with the QB’s and WR’s. Shea Hodge is a seamless route runner who is doing a great job of getting open. It’s too bad the quarterbacks can’t get him the ball.
3:00 p.m.- I’m convinced that Jarrett Brown of WVU is the best quarterback on the South team, and it isn’t really even close. Brown is a solid athlete who stands tall in the pocket and he has a really nice arm. He has the highest upside of any quarterback on either roster.
3:15 p.m.- Riley Cooper just dropped another pass. He started off the week very good, and now he’s dropping like an anchor. Dexter McCluster is an absolute stud. He can’t get 25 touches per game, but he will be able to score touchdowns. Percy Harvin 2.0.
3:35 p.m.- More special teams drills? Seriously Tony?
4:00 p.m.- Practice is finished. Tim Tebow was horrible with the exception of a very nice touch throw down the sideline. Jarrett Brown had a few misfires, but was good overall. Zac Robinson is so bad that he almost makes Tebow look like a quarterback and not a shot-putter. Eric Norwood continues his fine play, and Cameron Sheffield from Troy really flashed.
Interview time- I grab Shea Hodge, J.D. Walton and Matt Dodge.
4:00 p.m.- I’m doing my radio show at the same time as this stuff. Not easy.
5:20 p.m.- I arrive at the team hotel for the press conference. Apparently, Timmy is still ducking the media, but I did talk to Javier Arenas, Mike Iupati (again), Sean Weatherspoon and Jimmy Graham.
7:15 p.m.- Mike Lombardo and I decide to hit the town and try to find food. We end up landing at some hole in the wall fish place and I eat crawfish for the first time. I had the waitress de-shell the poor creature and she showed me how to eat it. She was talking about sucking the head and the adolescent in my couldn’t really stop laughing.
7:45 p.m.- We’re done eating. Food was good, but I have a sneaky suspicion that I may be getting ill from it. Oh well, my fault.
8:30 p.m.- Back at the hotel after filling the rental car up with fuel. I’m going to talk to the spouse, shower, then finish writing. I’ll update you guys tomorrow.
