NFL Capsules - AFC: Colts may give new training camp host needed boost
ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) — At 83, Carl Erskine is making the biggest comeback of his life.
He's now the de facto ambassador for his hometown.
The former Dodgers pitcher, who returned to Anderson after retiring in 1959, is tapping the connections he built during his career as a local businessman to help the struggling city. He ditched his long-held disdain for Yankees fans to form a bond with Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian, a relationship that helped Anderson score its biggest coup in decades — getting the Colts back for training camp.
"We're downsizing, the automotive industry has kind of dried up, but the Colts coming back is a piece of the puzzle," Erskine said. "It's not the saving grace, but it is a positive piece."
City residents can't remember the last time they heard such promising news.
Unemployment in the Anderson metropolitan area was 11.6 percent in June, higher than state and national averages. The city that once had the highest per-capita income in Indiana, had its own professional basketball team and gained national attention for its 9,000-seat high school gym is now struggling to survive.
Abandoned businesses and vacant homes can be found throughout the city. The Guide taillight factory, once one of Anderson's largest employers, has been razed, and the 27,000 high-paying automotive jobs that made up a centurylong love affair with the auto industry are a distant memory.
In their place are entry-level jobs in the hotel, food service and retail industries. There aren't enough of those to help undo the damage.
Residents are leaving the city, which expects the 2010 Census to show the fourth population drop since 1970. The city's two high schools are being consolidated into one, and local officials continue to debate whether to close the landmark gym, the Wigwam, to save money.
Those who remain struggle to stay afloat. Nearly 15 percent of Madison County residents — and 21.4 percent of children under 18 — lived in poverty in 2008.
"Jobs are next to impossible to find," said Anna Sykes, a 24-year-old hotel worker who moved to Anderson when she was 2. "People with college educations are going to McDonald's to work because that's the only place they can get a job."
Colts center Jeff Saturday has seen the plight himself.
He works with Anderson's fire rescue house mission, a charity that provides temporary housing for families who lost houses in fires. The mayor's brother, Skip Ockomon, a firefighter, helped start the organization after two children died in New Year's Eve fire two years ago.
Saturday thinks teammates and coaches can identify with what Anderson and its citizens have endured.
"I'd say 99 percent of all football players come from the lower or middle class, so these are our families, these are our neighbors, this is what we all were raised around," Saturday said. "I play a kids game and get paid well for it. But this is where we were raised."
It's those blue-collar roots and working-class teams, like the Colts, that Anderson embraces with such vigor.
Signs are strewn all along the five-mile stretch of State Road 9, leading from Interstate 69 to Anderson University, the Colts' home for the next two weeks. Hoteliers and restaurateurs hope the projections of 40,000 visitors for training camp will hold up and that those people spend money in town.
And just maybe those company executives looking to relocate — and hire workers — will realize the city that lost the Colts, General Motors, Delphi and Guide over the past 11 years is changing.
"The morale part of getting the Colts here is huge," Mayor Kris Ockomon said. "This city was really in dire need of that. It's taken the morale to a whole different level."
Fixing things will obviously take more than a 2½-week training camp. City officials must find the kinds of jobs that existed here before the automotive companies walked away.
Colts owner Jim Irsay promised Monday to find some way to help Anderson, where the Colts trained from 1984 to 1998.
"Driving up, I was thinking about the economy here," Irsay said during the team's first training camp practice. "Being back is a real positive for this community. You can feel a real spirit in town. When you drive by things and you see they're shut down, it really gets to you. But there's a lot of people here with a lot of fight."
Anderson hopes to use the Colts to its advantage, like Indianapolis did a quarter-century ago.
Before the Colts arrived in 1984, Indianapolis was nicknamed Indiana No Place. Getting an NFL team and the ascension of the Pacers in the late '80s and '90s gave the city a major-league image that brought in big conventions, the NCAA and other national and international championship events.
Mayor Ockomon is looking for a similar boost.
There are already signs of a rebound. Nestle has opened a sprawling plant on the south side of the city, and Ockomon is trying to draw other businesses. Residents grasp at rumors that Indiana native and two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart plans to buy the grass field where the Guide plant once stood and turn it into a dirt track.
But the Colts' return may be the biggest help of all.
"I think the numbers will be good, and the exposure is a huge thing for Anderson," Ockomon said.
That the Colts moved back to Anderson is a vote of confidence in the city's future, Erskine said.
"The Colts are smart," Erskine said. "They look at a variety of things, but they have to look first at what's good for them, and that's a great compliment for Anderson. You can't buy that."
Colts adjust to storms, Manning's visor
ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) — Peyton Manning showed up for Tuesday morning's practice wearing a dark visor under his facemask as protection for his irritated eyes.
Maybe it was just to keep his vision clear in the rain.
It's not the first time Manning has donned the Darth Vader-like look at training camp. He did it at least one other time when the Colts were still training in Terre Haute.
Coach Jim Caldwell downplayed the significance of Manning's eyewear.
But a thunderstorm in Anderson forced the Colts to wrap up practice about 30 minutes early. Caldwell said more rain could force the team to move Tuesday's special teams workout inside.
Titans look for big improvement with new returner
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jeff Fisher insists he's learned his lesson.
The Tennessee coach, a punt returner himself when he played in the NFL, started off training camp taking full responsibility for the Titans' struggles of 2009 when both the punt and kickoff return units ranked among the league's worst. A fumbled kickoff and a muffed punt cost them the third game in their 0-6 start.
"I didn't address that adequately enough, but we will do that this year," Fisher promised.
So far, Tennessee seems to be repeating at least one step that led to those problems — counting on a rookie who's missing practice with an injury.
It was Ryan Mouton and his left ankle in 2009, and now it's Damian Williams and his right hamstring. The Titans also are looking at rookies Marc Mariani and Bobby Sewall for punt returns.
"We've got guys that have done it in college and done it consistently and been productive at it, and so far there are no issues fielding balls, making decisions and those kinds of things. I think with, regardless of who we decide on, we've improved," Fisher said.
It would be hard for Tennessee to be much worse than 2009.
The Titans ranked 25th in punt return average with 6.7 yards per return with the longest an 18-yarder. By the end of the season, Fisher often just had defensive back Kevin Kaesviharn sit back and catch the balls as the team finished with 22 fair catches compared to 33 punts returned.
Tennessee was even worse on kickoffs, ranking 29th with an average return of 20.5 yards. Kenny Britt led the team with 24 returns for 523 yards and a 21.8-yard average. He also had a 56-yard return in December against Indianapolis, but the receiver and top draft pick of 2009 is far too valuable to use on special teams.
The low point came against the Jets in Week 3. Mouton, who had limited work due to spending part of the preseason in a walking boot, had his only kick return go for 14 yards before fumbling on Tennessee's first chance at the ball on offense. He muffed the punt in the second half. The Jets scored four plays later and won 24-17, sending the Titans to their third straight loss.
Fisher immediately brought back veteran Mark Jones, who had been released in the final roster cuts. But Jones re-injured a hamstring and wound up on injured reserve. The Titans brought in Alvin Pearman, but he watched as many games as he played due to needs elsewhere on the team on game-day.
The Titans drafted Williams in the third round out of Southern California and Mariani in the seventh round. Williams handled 44 punts for the Trojans, averaging 14.2 yards per return with two touchdowns. Mariani handled punts for three years and kickoffs as a sophomore and junior at Montana.
Williams, who hurt his hamstring at the end of the team's organized team activities in late June, started camp on the physically unable to perform list. He said Tuesday he's hopeful of coming off that list within a few days and is eager to get busy rather than watching.
"You've got to be mentally tough to do it because a lot of the special teams act is based on being able to take the actual physical reps, being able to see what the hole looks like, getting the timing right, catching the ball and taking off. Standing there and not being able to participate is definitely different from the learning aspect," Williams said.
"And just being a player I want to be out there with the team."
Being able to return will be key for earning a roster spot for Williams, Mariani and Pearman. Williams and Mariani are looking up at receivers like Justin Gage, Nate Washington, Britt and Lavelle Hawkins with the team likely to keep only six receivers. Pearman is behind Chris Johnson competing with running backs Javon Ringer and rookies LeGarrette Blount and Stafon Johnson.
And Fisher is working to get them as many chances to field punts every day.
"There's no substitute for live reps, but I expect them all to be productive," he said.
-- Teresa M. Walker
Jaguars' Alualu has plans for $17.5M signing bonus
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tyson Alualu has big plans for his big signing bonus.
The 10th overall pick in April's NFL draft and a cornerstone of Jacksonville's revamped defense, Alualu wants to use part of his $17.5 million signing bonus to create a better life for his parents and eight siblings in Hawaii. He also intends to build a new church for his father's congregation in Kalihi, an underprivileged neighborhood in Honolulu. He already has a piece of land picked out.
"I'm going to use it to help my family, my parents and also the community," Alualu said Tuesday. "Building a church is important for me so that others can have the opportunity to worship God. We'll see how it works out."
The Jaguars selected Alualu so high partly because of his character and work ethic. They also believe he can play, confident he'll slip right into the starting lineup and offset the loss of two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle John Henderson.
The 6-foot-3, 304-pound Alualu arrived in Jacksonville early Tuesday, five days into training camp and one day after agreeing to a five-year deal worth $28 million. He signed his contract during the morning practice, met briefly with coach Jack Del Rio in the hallway and then headed to position meetings.
He got his left eyebrow shaved off in the locker room a few hours later, then showed little rust during his much-anticipated debut in full pads.
His first real test — the "Oklahoma drill" against fellow Hawaiian Vince Manuwai — is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
"We're pleased to have him in," Del Rio said. "Think he's going to be a good player for us. Like the rest of his teammates, it's time for him to get to work. We'll ease him in a little bit, get him some action."
Ease him in?
Del Rio threw first-rounder Eugene Monroe into three one-on-one matchups the night he arrived following a 12-day holdout in 2009. The left tackle from Virginia dominated the competition, getting the best of defensive ends Julius Williams, James Wyche and Derrick Harvey.
When Monroe heard about Alualu's extra time, he took his concerns straight to Del Rio.
"He said, 'Wait a minute. I didn't get any time. You threw me straight into the drill,'" Del Rio said. "I said, 'Yeah, but you were different. You held out a long time and made a lot of people angry.'"
Alualu may have to wait a day, but he's eager for his matchup with Manuwai.
"Oh yeah. That's all I've been hearing these past couple of days, even back home just because we grew up in the same neighborhood," Alualu said. "I'm just excited to be here. I love the contact. I love the physical part of the sport, so I can't wait to get out there and have fun with my teammates."
Alualu welcomes the challenge of being a high pick and being counted on to immediately bolster a defense that missed countless tackles last season and ranked last in the NFL with a franchise-low 14 sacks.
"The pressure on me, being the 10th pick, I got a lot to do to meet those expectations," Alualu said. "All I got to do is do my best. That's what I plan to do, just go out here, practice hard with my teammates and give it my all."
Alualu's wife and two children will join him in Jacksonville on Thursday. He's already buying a house from former Jaguars guard Chris Naeole. His next major purchase likely will be back in Kalihi.
"I knew from the get-go that when I got picked here that God has a purpose for me and the money that I'm going to get," Alualu said. "I have to use my wisdom from Him to spend it wisely."
-- Mark Long
Steelers coordinator: Roethlisberger never better
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — If Ben Roethlisberger's offseason troubles are bothering him, Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians certainly hasn't noticed.
Less than a week into training camp, Arians' assessment of his quarterback: Never been better.
Arians can't remember Roethlisberger being in such good shape or throwing the ball this well so early during any of his previous six camps. He has yet to be intercepted during team drills, and Roethlisberger has gone entire practices without throwing an incompletion.
"He's in the best shape I've ever seen him," Arians said Tuesday. "His arm is live and he has no interceptions and very few incompletions unless they were dropped. This may be the best I've ever seen him right now."
Roethlisberger is quickly alleviating any Steelers worries that he might be distracted or preoccupied with the offseason accusation that he sexually assaulted a Georgia college student. He was not charged following the March incident, but was suspended by the NFL for six games — a punishment that could be shortened to four games.
Roethlisberger admittedly was worried before camp opened how the fans would react to him, given the intense criticism he received following the accusation. So far, there been no sign of hostility at Saint Vincent College, no booing or discernible anti-Roethlisberger sentiment.
"You can tell he's been working to improve himself," wide receiver Hines Ward said.
Instead, Roethlisberger has looked so sharp, Arians is focusing more time on figuring out what the Steelers will do offensively during the suspension.
The answer: Probably not as much as they could if Roethlisberger played a full season.
Byron Leftwich, all but certain to start while Roethlisberger sits out, possesses an intimate knowledge of the offense and throws the deep ball well, but is not as mobile.
Dennis Dixon, the third-year quarterback from Oregon, runs better than any Steelers quarterback since Kordell Stewart but has a single game of starting experience. He'll likely begin the season as the starter only if Leftwich gets hurt.
Arians is so encouraged by how Roethlisberger looks, he believes the offense can be as good as it was last season, even though Roethlisberger can play no more than three-quarters of the season. Roethlisberger threw for a career-high 4,328 yards in 15 games and Hines Ward and the now-departed Santonio Holmes each had more than 1,000 yards receiving.
"We want to improve the running game, but we damn sure don't want to step back in the passing game," Arians said. "We want to have another 4,000-yard passer and two 1,000-yard receivers, and I don't care who they are. Now put the running game back to where it belongs, and I think we're pretty potent offensively."
Returning the running game back to a Steelers-like level — Pittsburgh ranked an uncommonly low 19th in rushing last season — was believed to be a major priority. But the necessity of preparing two starting quarterbacks in camp, one to start the season and the other to finish it, is shifting some attention away from that.
Arians and coach Mike Tomlin still aren't saying how much Roethlisberger and Leftwich will play during the four exhibition games, beginning Aug. 14 against Detroit. Because the starters rarely play past the first quarter, except during the third preseason game, there probably won't be enough snaps available for both quarterbacks to play with the starting line.
Regardless, Arians dismissed the speculation that Roethlisberger would play only with the starters to avoid injury.
"We did that (played the starters longer) two years ago and the guys wore out," Arians said. "It's a fine line. And I like our backup line. That whole second group, I don't mind putting anybody out with them. ... We're not afraid to throw the football because somebody might get hurt. We'll wait and see, but I would not see us giving our first team offensive line extra snaps."
Roethlisberger cannot practice during his suspension, so the only work he'll get with the offense until October will be during camp and in the preseason games.
"He's still driving the bus, and he wants to be good in every drill — and when we get competing, that's Ben," quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner said. "He's competing at a high level right now because he knows the importance of the carryover he'll have for later."
-- Alan Robinson
Steelers can't pay Woodley the money he deserves
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — The Steelers are giving pass rusher LaMarr Woodley every opportunity to match or surpass the 13½ sacks he had a year ago, nearly all of them during the second half of the season.
They're designing alignments that take advantage of Woodley's proven pass-rushing skills. They're surrounding him with players who can create lanes to the quarterback for him and outside linebacker James Harrison. They're keeping him on the field during most downs.
What the Steelers aren't giving Woodley is the money they know he deserves.
The Steelers told Woodley they can't negotiate a new contract until after this season, when he'll earn $550,000 in the final year of the four-year contract he signed as a second-round draft pick in 2007.
That's a far-below-value contract for a player who had 25 sacks the last two seasons, plus six more in the playoffs, but the Steelers have few options.
The NFL's labor contract contains a provision that went into effect this year that no new contract can pay a player more than 30 percent of what he made in base salary the previous season. Thus, Woodley couldn't make more than $598,000 this season even if he signed a new deal.
"It's part of the game, part of the business, and you just have to understand it," Woodley said.
That's of little consolation to a player who might make $35 million or more on the open market — Harrison, for example, signed a $51.75 million, six-year contract last year. The Steelers could circumvent the provision by handing out an enormous signing bonus, but a team known for managing the salary cap wisely traditionally doesn't do contracts that way.
For now, Woodley must wait to see how he is affected by a new NFL labor agreement, whenever it is reached.
"When I'm out on the field, I don't think about it. When I'm in my room, I don't think about it," Woodley said. "The only time it comes up is when the players joke around. But I don't keep up with other people's salaries. I don't go online looking at other people's salaries."
One more season like the last two, and the 25-year-old Woodley likely will. He is tied for fifth in the league in sacks during his two seasons as a starter.
Woodley isn't alone in Steelers contract limbo, either. The team also told injured right tackle Willie Colon, kicker Jeff Reed and cornerback Ike Taylor it won't hand out any new contracts this season.
By not negotiating, the Steelers are risking they can designate Woodley as their franchise player even if they can't reach a new contract with him.
To player representative Charlie Batch, it's simply a case of the contracts running out at the wrong time, during an uncapped season at the end of a labor agreement.
"Is it affecting their contracts? Absolutely," Batch said. "Would LaMarr like a deal, does he deserve a new deal? Absolutely. But they're still going to have him for another two years. There's no possibility of him leaving after this year, that's not going to happen. ... It's just a matter of doing what's right."
Woodley appears determined not to let his contract status affect his playing, especially with the Steelers coming off a 9-7 season that left them out of the playoffs.
"The contract's not going to motivate me. I was motivated from how we played last season," Woodley said. "I've been motivated since the last game in Miami, when we found out we weren't in the playoffs."
-- Alan Robinson
Cleveland has options on defense
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Shaun Rogers waddled up within range of the machine that hurls practice passes to wide receivers and set his feet.
Footballs came off the machine at a frightening speed, and Rogers was just a few feet away. But he would dip one of his mammoth hands into the path of the ball and snag it, like King Kong grabbing a plane circling a skyscraper.
So far in training camp, that's the only action that Rogers has seen for a Browns defense that will count heavily on his intimidating presence on the front wall. Rogers is on the PUP list with a leg injury. It's just another point of concern for a team trying to tamp down as many question marks as possible.
"We want to turn the page on last year, but we want to carry the same mentality as we had at the end of the season," veteran linebacker David Bowens said. "Right now in camp we have the mentality that we're attacking. We're coming out in September and we're attacking. Teams are going to have to beat us. We're not going to find ways to lose games."
The Browns were good at doing that a year ago.
In nine games the offense didn't even surpass 12 first downs, an alarming lack of production that left even less margin for error on an already stressed defense. The Browns lost another game by a point at Detroit after time expired because of a defensive interference penalty.
But a four-game winning streak to end the season left them at 5-11. Now the defense feels it's ready to reach for something more.
"I've talked to fans, just at a restaurant or at the airport. They do seem optimistic. True fans, they've been through the highs and lows. It's time to give (some success) to them," linebacker Chris Gocong said. "Just looking at our defense, it's so much skill. If we can put it all together, I think we've got a real good chance."
Rogers may be the key up front. Even when his injury mends, he could be suspended for bringing a loaded weapon into an airport. But on the field, he can disrupt an offense by clogging the middle with his 350-pound frame and pushing linemen into the backfield. He'll likely be flanked by tackles Robaire Smith and Kenyon Coleman, making for a solid first line of defense.
Linebacker may be where the Browns are deepest and best. The front office pulled off some magic by plucking outside linebacker Matt Roth off the waiver wire from Miami and signing free agent Scott Fujita, who played at New Orleans last year. Gocong and D'Qwell Jackson will likely hold down the inside linebacker spots, with Bowens moving around wherever needed in the front seven. Eric Barton will also be a factor.
Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has a world of options.
"Some are going to have to play on special teams, so that's going to be a component of it," coach Eric Mangini said. "Some may play in the sub-suited defenses: nickel and dime, goal-line, short-yardage and more run-specific defenses. There could be a lot of roles for a lot of different people — and meaningful roles."
Jackson said all those experienced linebackers will not only improve each of the parts but also the whole.
"The more the better," he said. "With the competition, it's only going to make myself better, it's going to make Eric Barton better, it's going to make Chris Gocong better. And it's going to make the team better."
On the back end, Eric Wright and Sheldon Brown will battle for cornerback spots with first-round draft pick Joe Haden. Abram Elam and T.J. Ward fill the safety spots.
Ryan has been drawing up plays in the coaching room like a mad scientist, scheming up sets that may get more active athletes, more playmakers onto the field.
For a change, Cleveland appears to have some choices, not only in personnel but also in what that personnel can do.
"It doesn't matter who's on the roster, it doesn't matter who plays what," Bowens said. "That guy is expected to do a job. Everyone has evolved in the understanding that ego is all set aside. Everyone's here to do their job. That's how we're approaching it."
-- Rusty Miller
Patriots rookie Mesko only punter in camp
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Zoltan Mesko impressed the New England Patriots so much that they made him the first punter drafted this year. And now he's the only player at that position in the team's camp.
The job seems like his to lose, but he sees it as his to win.
"The NFL is a business, so you never know when your job is on the line, and I haven't made the team," Mesko said Tuesday. "I feel I've improved, but there's still a lot of work left to be done."
There's no doubt about his ability to send punts far down field. He averaged 42.5 yards per kick in four seasons at Michigan and 44.5 yards as a senior.
Now he has to work on kicking the ball exactly where his coaches want it — out of bounds, very high to force a fair catch or over the head of the returner.
"It has to be quality over quantity," Mesko said, "because in the game you're called for one punt and you've got to deliver and I'd like to deliver for this team."
The Patriots would like to keep a punter for more than three years.
The last one they drafted, Pat O'Neill in 1994, stayed only two. He was followed by Tom Tupa (three), Lee Johnson (two plus), Ken Walter (two plus), Josh Miller (three), Walter again (four games) and Chris Hanson (three) seasons. Hanson is a free agent after the Patriots didn't re-sign him.
So New England spent a fifth-round pick on the 6-foot-5 son of a former professional bowler from Romania who moved to the United States at age 11, spent a year in New York then relocated in Ohio.
"He goes out and punts the ball, which he has to do. That's his number one job," Patriots special teams coach Scott O'Brien said. "Now it's 'What's the situation? Where do we want the ball? How do we want the ball? What is everybody else doing?' It's easy to talk about, but that's learning to be a professional and that's part of our evaluation on him."
Sometimes that evaluation comes in harsh words from O'Brien or coach Bill Belichick.
Mesko is learning not to get discouraged when that happens. He's getting help from placekicker Stephen Gostkowski, the placekicker taken the earliest in the past five drafts. Gostkowski was chosen in the fourth round with the 118th pick in 2006.
"I'm not going to teach him how to punt, but I'm going to help him if Scottie gets onto him or Bill gets onto him," Gostkowski said. "Just tell him we've all been there, tell him how we've dealt with it, tell him how other guys have dealt with it and just try to help him through the process of being a rookie."
The key, he added, is not to get too high after a great punt or too low after a bad one.
"You've just got to be able to stay even keel and be able to do your job for 60 minutes," Gostkowski said, "and then get excited after the game."
Mesko usually is among the first players on the practice field. At Monday night's practice for season ticket holders inside Gillette Stadium, he was on the field in full pads more than an hour before it was scheduled to begin.
That's part of his adjustment to the pros.
"It involves a lot of hard work and you definitely can tell the difference between a college camp and an NFL camp," said Mesko, who has been booming punts this summer. "It's more of a mental game now. All the offseason conditioning tapers off during the season and now it has to be focused on technique. Just like golfers, not always the strong guy wins the tournament."
At Michigan last year, Mesko was the first special teams player in school history to be named a captain. In April, he became one of just 22 punters drafted over the past 10 years. Only eight of them were picked earlier than Mesko, the 150th overall choice.
"It's definitely a position the fans really don't notice, but the coaches do value in the way a punter can switch the field position," he said. "So there's definitely, I guess, a justification for" drafting a punter.
But he was surprised that he was that punter.
"I never thought I could get to this level," Mesko said. "So, with hard work, it can be achieved."
Slack off, though, and no job is assured, even for the only punter on the team.
"These coaches, they don't put it out there that anything's guaranteed. So not having the complacency develop is key," Mesko said. "If you have that complacent mindset, that's when things start falling apart."
-- Howard Ulman
Tomlinson recharged, motivated with Jets
CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) — The menacing dark visor is still there, hiding LaDainian Tomlinson's determined eyes.
The logo on the helmet is different these days, but the desire to be great remains.
For everyone who thinks he's a shell of the player he once was, the New York Jets running back can't wait to burst through the line and show that you're wrong.
"I just want to prove that I'm not done," Tomlinson said Tuesday. "I still can make plays and I'm still a valuable part of the team. That's what it's about and I'm eager to do that."
At 31, Tomlinson is on the downside of his career, but he and the Jets are convinced he can help them in their quest to win the Super Bowl.
"Oh, he's still quick," second-year running back Shonn Greene said. "He's still got that quick step and he's very versatile. He can do a lot of things, line up in the slot, outside. I think he still has it."
That's what the Jets were banking on when they signed him to a two-year deal in March. Granted, Tomlinson is coming off the worst season of his career after rushing for 730 yards and averaging 3.3 yards per carry for San Diego. He also struggled against the Jets in the playoffs when he had 24 yards on 12 carries.
"The thing, honestly, about Tomlinson is if he's coming down, he's coming down from the very top of the mountain," coach Rex Ryan said. "It's not like he was three-quarters of the way coming down."
The 2006 NFL MVP is eighth on the league's career rushing list with 12,490 yards, but was cut by San Diego in February. Once one of the NFL's most dynamic players, Tomlinson is expected to back up Greene and do whatever he can to help an offense that ranked first in rushing a year ago.
"This is my first time going live in practice in all my years and I love that because it's football, and you're going to get hit," he said, smiling. "The quicker you get acclimated to getting hit and being on the ground, it's better for you when the games start."
Tomlinson routinely would see limited action in the preseason with San Diego, not playing much — if at all — during games. He'd like that to change this summer.
"I want to play," he said. "I want to be with the guys. Everybody else is going to play and I want to be a part of that."
Tomlinson insists he has always been a good teammate, despite what some Chargers players might say. A few recently told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Tomlinson often wanted things his way.
"We all had a great relationship and I never put myself in position to be bigger than the team," he said. "I mean, I never act like that. So, it was surprising, but, it is what it is and guys are going to feel differently and I'm moving on."
That means he's focused and committed to the Jets now, recharged and ready to go. Need proof? Look no further than Tomlinson's right calf, which sports a Jets logo — matching the Chargers logo tattooed on his left calf.
When the team took its conditioning test Sunday, trainers advised Tomlinson not to take it because he tweaked a hamstring a few days earlier.
"I said, 'Guys, listen: There's no way my first day here I'm going to sit out and not run and take this test. I want to be with everybody else and do it,'" he said. "They asked me if I was sure, and I said, 'Yeah, I know my body.'"
Sure enough, Tomlinson passed and has looked solid on the field through three practices.
"He had a bounce today," Ryan said, "that I was like, 'Wow!'"
Tomlinson acknowledged that it's a bit surreal practicing with the Jets' defense after playing against it for so many years.
"It's kind of weird," he said, grinning. "I've always said, 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.'"
One lasting image Jets fans might have of Tomlinson is when he made a vicious cut that froze Ty Law in his tracks in a game at the Meadowlands in 2005. Asked if he could still pull off one of those ankle-twisting plays, Tomlinson laughed.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely," he said. "If you ask those guys, I think they'll tell you that I've still got some of that in me."
NOTES: Backup QB Kellen Clemens (left calf) practiced for the first time after starting camp on the active-physically unable to perform list. DT Kris Jenkins (hamstring) is still not practicing. ... Ryan raved about K Nick Folk: "I'm officially not worried about our Pro Bowl kicker anymore." Folk, a Pro Bowl selection in 2007 with Dallas, was shaky through the offseason workouts and Ryan acknowledged he was concerned about his performance.
-- Dennis Waszak Jr.
Jets CB Revis still a no-show at training camp
CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) — Three days of camp, and still no Darrelle Revis.
The New York Jets' All-Pro cornerback missed a second day of practice Tuesday while holding out in a contract dispute.
"Nothing really to report," coach Rex Ryan said after the morning practice.
The team said Monday that owner Woody Johnson told general manager Mike Tannenbaum to reach out to Revis' agents to reiterate their willingness to talk. Johnson again offered to be a part of any meeting.
Agent Neil Schwartz told The Associated Press that Tannenbaum called him "extremely late" Monday night. Schwartz would not discuss the conversation.
Revis is to make $1 million in the fourth year of his six-year rookie deal but wants to become the league's highest-paid cornerback. He's seeking a deal higher than the three-year, $45.3 million extension Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha signed last offseason.
Revis is being fined $16,523 for each day he misses, starting with when the Jets reported for camp Sunday.
The possibility that it could be a long holdout isn't out of the question. Revis' uncle, former NFL defensive lineman Sean Gilbert, sat out the entire 1997 season in a contract dispute. Gilbert, whom Revis confides in, ended up getting traded from Washington to Carolina and got the big payday he sought.
"I know Darrelle is close with Sean," Ryan said. "It's who he's being advised by — his agents and his family. That's what you want to surround yourself with when you make a huge decision about your future. You bring your family in, your agents and things like that. That's what you pay those guys to do, and you do what's best for you."
Until Revis shows, the Jets continue to work without him. Ryan added that the Jets' goal to be the No. 1 defense is still in place — with or without Revis.
"We're blunt-force trauma," Ryan said. "We admit that if Darrelle's not here, it's going to be more difficult. That's an obvious fact. You're taking the best corner in the league out of your defense. But by no means does that mean we're not going to still get it done. We will still get it done on defense."
-- Dennis Waszak Jr.
Kaeding moves past missed field goals in playoffs
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nate Kaeding knows he has no choice but to move forward.
It's been a somewhat painful six months for Kaeding, who missed three field goal attempts in the San Diego Chargers' embarrassing 17-14 playoff loss to the New York Jets.
They were hardly the only pratfalls that day for the one-and-done Chargers. Still, they were shocking because Kaeding, who made The Associated Press 2009 All-Pro team, is the NFL's most accurate kicker of all time in the regular season.
Kaeding continues to take responsibility for the misses. He also plans to use training camp to try to learn from them.
"It made for an awful long offseason," Kaeding said. "You get anxious to get back in here. The hardest thing is to kind of be patient right now, too, just focus on what you've got to do today, work on your game.
"As much as I want that first regular-season game to be tomorrow, it's not for another month and a half. Shame on me if I don't take the opportunity to get better this month and a half."
Entering his seventh season, Kaeding has become the most accurate NFL kicker ever by making 87.2 percent of his regular-season field goal attempts — 150 of 172.
He also has a streak of 63 straight field goals from 40 yards or less — again, in the regular season.
Having become so automatic, that's what made his misses against the Jets so stunning.
Kaeding was wide left on a 36-yard try in the first quarter, sending murmurs through the crowd. With the Chargers leading 7-0, he was short from 57 yards as the first-half clock expired.
The third miss, wide right from 40 yards, came late in the fourth quarter with the Chargers trailing by 10 points. Jets coach Rex Ryan pumped his fist and smiled.
What made that miss stand out is that even though their face-plant was almost complete, the Chargers did score a touchdown with just more than two minutes left.
Unlike some of his teammates, Kaeding didn't hide from the media that day.
He won't shy away in August, either.
"I really feel like as bad as that game went, I picked up some lessons that next time I'm in a situation like that, it's going to help me be successful," Kaeding said. "Obviously that's just words right now and it doesn't mean anything until you put the ball between the uprights, but I feel I took some valuable lessons and we'll see how I apply them down the road."
Kaeding knows kickers are going to miss field goals.
"The biggest thing for me was not being able to come back and make that last field goal," he said. "I just felt like it was a thing where I didn't respond to the first miss and I wasn't able to come back and execute at the end, for a variety of reasons.
"It's easy to say you can put the miss behind you and move on but I was unable to do that on that given day. That's a lesson you learn from and the next time I miss in a game, just say, 'Hey, no point sitting here thinking about it, let's go move on and make the next one.' "
Kaeding said he "just flat out missed the first one, which is going to happen every now and then. But you've got to come back and make your next opportunity. That was the disappointing thing for me, was not being able to do that."
The misses were extra haunting for Kaeding because as a rookie, he was wide right from 40 yards on a wet field in overtime in a home playoff game against New York following the 2004 season. The Jets moved down the field and won it 20-17 on Doug Brien's 28-yard field goal.
Quarterback Philip Rivers, whose locker is next to Kaeding's, is confident the kicker can bounce back.
"He's dealing with it in the right way, you know — 'I can't change it by telling everybody I'm working on it, I'll just go out and keep going,' " said Rivers. "And much can be said about every one of us. He hasn't played his best in the playoffs, I haven't played my best, we all haven't played our best, and that's why we've lost."
In eight career playoff games, Kaeding has made just 8 of 15 field goal attempts, or 53.3 percent.
Kaeding was voted to the Pro Bowl last season but injured his groin during the first practice.
"That was a bad ending to a bad couple of weeks," he said. "It probably wasn't the No. 1 place in the world I wanted to be at that given time after the playoff game, but I kind of arranged it in my mind, like 'Let's go down here and get back on the horse and start kicking again.'
"I went down there, jacked my leg up and then had to go through a few months of rehab. But this isn't a business where you can sit there and feel sorry for yourself very long. So I just went back at it, got myself right and now it's time to get ready for the season."
-- Bernie Wilson
Heyward-Bey hopes extra work pays off in Year 2
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — Nearly every day after practice, Oakland Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey stays late to get some extra work in against Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
The Raiders' best player and one of their most disappointing from a year ago work on getting off the line of scrimmage, getting separation and other key details a receiver needs to master to succeed in the NFL.
"It's helping me out a lot," Heyward-Bey said. "With him being the top DB in the league, picking his brain is key. When you go against those other guys from the league, if I can figure out Nnamdi and he can help me out, it's going to work out for this team."
Just about nothing worked out for Heyward-Bey and the Raiders during his rookie season a year ago. Oakland drafted him seventh overall ahead of more accomplished college receivers like Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin in a pick that was widely mocked at the time as a typical Raiders choice of speed over production.
Nothing Heyward-Bey did as a rookie silenced those critics. He struggled to hold onto the ball in practices and that carried over into the games. He finished his rookie year with nine catches for 124 yards and one touchdown before missing the final five games with a foot injury.
If one play was emblematic of Heyward-Bey's season it came late in the ninth game of the season at home against Kansas City. With Oakland driving for the potential winning score in the final minute, a pass from Bruce Gradkowski hit Heyward-Bey in the hands, bounced off the receiver's knees and fell into Mike Brown's hands for a game-sealing interception in the Chiefs' 16-10 win.
"I'm not thinking about last year," Heyward-Bey said. "I'm thinking about the next play, thinking about making plays. That's all I'm thinking about."
Heyward-Bey put in extra work in the offseason. He put on about 10 to 15 pounds of muscle in hopes that the added strength will help him break tackles for big plays, put in extra work with the quarterbacks to improve his hands and did what he could to put the disappointing rookie year behind him.
While he claims to ignore the criticism, it was almost impossible to escape.
"It hurt him what happened last year," Asomugha said. "Naturally he didn't feel good about the things that were said, whatever. It's not like it was a secret. He knew that he didn't play well. That hurt him. This year it looks like he's had a different purpose. He's going out and doing well."
Asomugha had a similar experience coming into the NFL, although not at quite as high a profile. Like Heyward-Bey, Asomugha was considered a reach when the Raiders selected him 31st overall in the 2003 draft.
He also struggled early before having a breakthrough year in 2006 with eight interceptions. He has been to three Pro Bowls since then and signed a three-year, $45.3 million contract before last season that made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.
Asomugha said he talked with Heyward-Bey about dealing with those expectations last year but has kept this year's focus on the positive. That's where the extra work comes in.
"I told him the first day before we even had practice that after every single practice that we're going to get some work on the things that he needs to work on," Asomugha said. "Because even when he's getting the work, I'm getting the work and doing extra stuff. So we'll come aside after practice and I'll ask him what is it today. He'll be like, I need work on this, I need work on that. We just go out and do it."
The improvement has been obvious in offseason practices and at training camp. Coach Tom Cable said he sees a very different player from the struggling rookie of a year ago, who would let one drop ruin an entire practice.
New quarterback Jason Campbell has also been impressed. Campbell said as soon as he joined the team he stressed to Heyward-Bey the importance of putting in extra work to improve his hands. Campbell likes what he has seen so far.
"He's a guy who wants to work," he said. "You have some guys that don't want to work and put the time in to be good. He wants to be good. After practice, he catches passes. He asks a lot of questions and he goes hard each and every day in practice. You can't ask any more."
-- Josh Dubow
Chiefs have yet to address problems with front 7
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — In a busy offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs went after just about everything except what many fans think they lacked the most.
They picked up a 1,000-yard rusher to go with the 1,000-yard rusher they already had and drafted a speedy wide receiver, a tight end and a guard.
Except for Eric Berry, a badly needed safety drafted in the first round, they didn't do much for a defense that finished a laughable 31st against the run. Everybody is back on the front seven — everybody who had a hand in enabling journeymen running back Jerome Harrison to rush for 286 yards and erase the great Jim Brown's Cleveland team record.
If fans were surprised that Berry was the only significant pickup on that side of the ball, they were not alone.
So were the players.
"It's a boost to know they have confidence in us and they believe we're going to get it right," said lineman Glenn Dorsey. "We've got a lot of chemistry and we believe we can get it done. And it's good to know they think so, also."
Harrison was one of only six rushers who went over 100 yards against the Chiefs' newly installed 3-4 defense. So rather than a bunch of new faces or an overhaul, management's mandate to the mostly young, underachieving front seven is clear: Get better.
"As I've said before, you can't get everything that you want or you may think you need," said coach Todd Haley. "In the NFL, the way I know you can have continued success is to develop the young; the first, second and third-year players you have on your team. That is mandatory. If you're not developing young players on your team, you probably have very little chance of success."
And the Chiefs will have little chance of success without a big improvement on the defensive front. One reason for hope is that everybody is more familiar with the defense. A year ago, a new coaching staff took players who were acquired and trained in the 4-3 and switched them to the 3-4. Growing pains were obvious.
"A lot of it was technique," said defensive end Tyson Jackson, the third overall selection in the 2009 draft.
While the players remained the same, that cannot be said of the coaches. Former Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel was brought in as defensive coordinator and Tim Krumrie was replaced as defensive line coach by Anthony Pleasant, a 15-year veteran. Crennel's specialty is the defensive line and he's been giving that element extra attention.
Another new wrinkle is the presence of grandmaster Joseph Kim. The taekwando expert is working with the pass rushers, teaching them how to use their hands and hips as he's done with several other NFL teams, including the Cowboys, Dolphins, Browns and Bills.
"It's going to help a lot," said lineman Glenn Dorsey. "At first you think some of the things he tells you to do don't seem natural. But they are."
Getting better hardly seems like much to ask of the Chiefs' front seven. Dorsey, Jackson, and linebackers Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson were all first-round picks. The Chiefs have invested more money in that part of the team than any other.
But they have yet to get full value in return.
"I cannot stress it enough — those are the guys that have to take that next step, whether they're backups that become starters, starters that become stars or third-teamers that become backups," Haley said. "Those guys have to take steps and have to make that next step, and that will help us."
Dorsey, drafted No. 5 overall in 2008, believes it will happen.
"Everybody's got a better grasp of what the coaches are asking for this year," he said. "We realize we lost a lot of close games last year and we're concentrating this year on not making the same mistakes we made then. We challenged each other this year. We've been through that hard season and we're determined to get better. We're confident in each other."
-- Doug Tucker
