NFL Capsules - NFC: Swollen knee keeps Haynesworth from taking test
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Albert Haynesworth came to work Saturday morning with a slightly swollen knee, forcing him to scrap his latest chance to pass the Washington Redskins conditioning test and keeping him exiled from practice for yet another day.
The two-time All-Pro defensive tackle arrived early at Redskins Park and told the team he had some irritation in his left knee. Doctors recommended that he not take the test and instead ride a stationary bike and get treatment.
"Here's a setback already," coach Mike Shanahan said. "His knee's a little bit swollen. Hopefully it's not too bad."
Shanahan is requiring Haynesworth to pass the test, which consists of two timed 300-yard shuttle runs, before taking part in practice. Haynesworth is the only player required to do so because he skipped the team's offseason conditioning program.
Haynesworth failed the test Thursday and Friday, and it's uncertain when he will try again. He had been undergoing specific training to help him pass the test, which might have contributed to the knee problem.
Haynesworth did make his first appearance on the field during a practice, albeit briefly. Wearing his No. 92 jersey for the first time at this training camp and holding a piece of paper in his hands, he stood to the side and watched the defense walk through some plays for about 10 minutes. He stood next to defensive line coach Jacob Burney, who kept pointing to the other players to help explain the terminology of the team's new 3-4 defense.
After practice, Haynesworth emerged again to walk through some plays individually with Burney and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, as he has done after every practice so far during camp. Haynesworth was also an on-field observer during the afternoon team walkthrough, then remained on the field for more work with Burney and Haslett.
The switch to the 3-4 is the main reason Haynesworth did not want to stay in Washington, but the Redskins did not bow to his wish for a trade after he accepted a $21 million bonus in April.
Now he has to learn the defense, but he is getting taught without actually practicing it. In addition to observing the workouts, he is attending the regular team meetings to learn the schemes and terminology.
"Even though he's not in pads," Shanahan said, "he's still getting the work in."
Redskins see Shanahan practices as 'pure football'
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The music is gone. So are the Z-shades. As well as the crazy sight of huge equipment pads being thrown at quarterbacks.
For the purist, there's something refreshing about watching a Washington Redskins practice under new coach Mike Shanahan. It's just football. No gimmicks. No fluff. Not even very many drills. Just lots and lots of plays.
"A lot of the extra (stuff) is out of the way," receiver Devin Thomas said. "It's just pure football, back to the basics and do what we got to do."
And, after going 12-20 over two seasons under the quirky Jim Zorn, this might be just want the Redskins needed.
"We need focus," Thomas said. "We don't need all that extra."
Three days into training camp, the spectators flocking to Redskins Park are seeing workouts that neither looks nor and sounds the same. It's less like Chuck E. Cheese, more like C-SPAN. Zorn brought in Z-shades to give players a break from the sun, but the last eye-rolling straw might have come when he installed huge speakers to the field to play music during in-season workouts.
"It actually was annoying sometimes," defensive lineman Kedric Golston said.
Golston said Shanahan wants a practice with no distractions.
"He just wants football, football, football while we're in this building," Golston said. "He likes to have fun with the best of them, but while we're on this field he just wants it to be football."
Shanahan puts the players through a long morning practice, lasting up to 2½ hours. The players wear shoulder pads and shorts, which Shanahan considers to have the same effect as full pads — especially because players are told to hit without tackling. Much of the time is spent running 11-on-11 plays at a high tempo.
"I've been very impressed by the way we practice. I couldn't ask for anything more but for us to just go out there and run a ton of plays," tight end Chris Cooley said Saturday. "It's unbelievable how much of our offense we've installed being here in two days. We probably ran 100 plays out there today. There's something that can't make up for actually running the plays and seeing them work against the defense.
"I know that a lot of teams work on individual drills and tackling drills and all kinds of things, but we're pros and we should be at the point where we can just run plays, and I think this is the best way for us to mesh as a team."
Shanahan did the standard 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 drills during the non-contact spring practices, but he said he's not using them now because he has found they often lead to injuries.
Concern about injuries is also the reason Shanahan has only one full practice per day. The afternoon session is a walkthrough, more of a mental exercise in which the players get a look at schemes used by other teams.
Shanahan said he would "lose a bunch of players" if he had full two-a-days, something that might have been OK when the training camp rosters had 90-plus players. Now teams are limited to 80.
"I don't think I have to have a second practice to just kill them every day," Shanahan said. "To schedule two practices, in my opinion, and go at the speed we go, all I would be doing is tearing guys down."
Note: WR Malcolm Kelly was held out of practice with a slight hamstring pull. He hurt the hamstring while working out with QB Donovan McNabb in Arizona, and it got worse after two days of training camp. Kelly has been working with the second-team unit but hopes to compete for a starting job. "Any time you miss reps, you're giving somebody a chance to win a position," Shanahan said.
-- Joseph White
Saints' Jenkins pushing for time at safety
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Darren Sharper was an All-Pro last season, set an NFL record with 371 return yards off interceptions and was some voters' pick for defensive player of the year.
He might not even get his job back when he returns from offseason surgery on his left knee.
The New Orleans Saints free safety is on the physically unable to perform list and could miss two weeks before being activated, and second-year pro Malcolm Jenkins is making his move.
"One of the things that motivates Darren Sharper to work real hard in rehab right now is how well Malcolm Jenkins is doing," New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said Saturday.
"That's just a fact. He sees it. I see it."
Jenkins, the Saints' first-round draft pick in 2009, finishing with 55 tackles while starting six games at cornerback as a rookie. He shifted to free safety in the offseason, and is sharing reps on the first-team defense with fourth-year pro Usama Young.
Jenkins provided the highlight of the first practice of training camp, flipping wide receiver Lance Moore on his head with a huge hit.
"He is someone that obviously has a real good skill set, and he's also very intelligent," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "When you get a smart player that has good talent, that's a good combination."
Williams said he always envisioned Jenkins as a safety, but originally thought it would be three or four years before he was ready to change positions. The free safety is the quarterback of the secondary, telling the corners where to line up and making quick verbal adjustments when receivers go in motion.
That timetable has accelerated.
"I'm preparing to be a starter," Jenkins said. "That's what I want to do, but we'll see how this camp comes out. Depending on how Darren's injury works out, I'm just trying to get all the experience I can so if I do get in I can replicate what he did."
Sharper, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who was supposed to be on the downside of his career when New Orleans signed him, played a pivotal part in the defensive turnaround that helped propel the Saints from 8-8 two years ago Super Bowl champions.
In 2008, no Saints safety had more than two interceptions. Sharper matched that total in the season opener against Detroit, finished with nine to tie for the league lead, and returned three of them for touchdowns.
That resurgence did not translate into a fat contract, though. After seeking a three-year deal on the open market, the 34-year-old Sharper re-signed with the Saints for one season with a base salary of $1.5 million, slightly less than he earned in 2008.
His age and questionable knee hurt him, but Williams said he hasn't soured on his value.
"We invented a couple things last year I had never done in 30 years of coaching because of his unique skills," Williams said. "If Darren is ready to go, then we'll find another place for Malcolm to play because he's a good enough player that he needs to play as many snaps as he can."
Sharper won't get a free pass, though. Regardless of what he did last year, he will have to prove his health in training camp.
"It's foolish to think you can walk in and play full speed without practice," Williams said. "The only guy that can do that is Brett Favre."
Notes: Payton said RB Reggie Bush looked sharp in practice and was much healthier than at this time last year, when he entered training camp with a balky knee. Bush is coming off career lows for rushing yards (390) and receiving yards (335). ... FB Heath Evans (knee) practiced in the morning after missing the opening day.
White: Vick did nothing wrong in hosting party
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Roddy White hopes Michael Vick never has another brush with law enforcement.
White, who was a guest at a 30th birthday party for Vick that ended with a shooting, thinks his former Atlanta Falcons teammate did nothing wrong by hosting the June 25 event.
"That was a bad thing that happened over there," White said Saturday. "He got out of it, and everything's good."
White, a two-time Pro Bowl receiver, says he and Vick left "about the same time," which, according to a prosecutor in Virginia Beach, Va., occurred before the shooting at a restaurant.
No charges were filed because police could not identify the shooter and said they received no cooperation from victim Quanis Phillips and other witnesses in their investigation.
Phillips, who was shot in the leg, was a co-defendant in the dogfighting scandal that resulted in an 18-month federal prison sentence for Vick.
White, though, believes Phillips was not invited to the party and that Vick is working hard to distance himself from those contributed to his sordid past.
Considering that the NFL did not suspend Vick, White thinks commissioner Roger Goodell might agree. Vick is entering his second season as a reserve quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.
"I'm just happy for him that he didn't get suspended or anything like that," White said. "They didn't give him any time off."
White, who added that neither the NFL nor Virginia Beach police contacted him after the incident, has long supported Vick.
The two became friends quickly in 2005, when the Falcons drafted White 27th overall and Vick was about to begin his third Pro Bowl season in Atlanta.
Vick had the NFL's richest contract, but White was impressed that he was genuinely interested in a rookie. He has never hidden his support of Vick.
Just a few hours after Vick was sentenced in December 2007, White tried to honor his disgraced teammate in a home blowout loss to New Orleans. After White scored an early touchdown, Atlanta receiver Joe Horn pulled up the bottom of White's jersey so the Monday Night TV audience could see his "Free Mike Vick" T-shirt.
The NFL fined White $10,000.
White stayed in touch with Vick while his friend was behind bars in Leavenworth, Kan. Following Vick's release, White says they began contacting each other three or four times a week.
"I talked to him right before he went to training camp," White said. "When I seen it on the NFL Network or whatever that he wasn't going to be suspended, I talked to him, and he was like, 'Yeah,' but it never should've gotten to that point. He didn't do anything wrong."
At the start of training camp last year, White held out the first week to earn a bigger contract, and Vick was among those he consulted. When the Falcons signed him to a new six-year deal worth with $18.6 million guaranteed, White told Vick he'd "always have his back."
White didn't care that Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while he was in prison, claiming approximately $20 million in debt.
"Yeah," White said. "That's my boy, man."
The Falcons believe White has the potential to improve even though he's coming off a Pro Bowl season that included 85 catches for 1,153 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns.
Third-year coach Mike Smith is impressed that White has not missed a workout session, voluntary or involuntary, since the end of March.
White last year became the first Falcon with at least 80 catches and 1,100 yards receiving in three straight seasons, but Smith says the team has even higher expectations for quarterback Matt Ryan's No. 1 target.
"I think he's in the best shape he's been in since I've been here," Smith said. "I don't know about the time prior to when I was here, but he's in very, very good shape. He looks very explosive."
Just as Vick was friendly with him, White has rededicated himself to helping young players such as rookie Kerry Meier, a fifth-round draft pick, adapt to the demands of the NFL.
"I want to be more of a veteran leader," White said. "This will be my sixth year going into the league, and I just want to be a big part of our team. I love being in that locker room and sharing things."
Notes: WR Brian Finneran and S Matt Giordano missed the morning session of training camp with back spasms. ... TE Colin Peek was out with a knee injury.
-- George Henry
Panthers, NFL's third youngest team, wants leaders
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Chris Gamble feels old at 27. Jordan Gross was struck by all the new faces in the stretching lines at practice. And Jeff King knows the few veterans remaining must take on much larger roles.
After an offseason roster purge, the Carolina Panthers are left with the third youngest roster in the NFL and an urgent need at training camp to fill a leadership vacuum.
"This game is a young man's game," coach John Fox said Saturday. "There's transition, there's change every season. With both free agency and the draft, there's going to be change. We kind of just hit it that way this year."
Did they ever. In an effort to begin a youth movement and shed payroll ahead of possible labor unrest next year, the Panthers rid their roster of starters Jake Delhomme (35 years old), Muhsin Muhammad (37), Brad Hoover (33), Keydrick Vincent (32), Julius Peppers (30), Damione Lewis (32), Maake Kemoeatu (31), Na'il Diggs (32) and Chris Harris (27).
"Me and Travelle (Wharton) are like the only guys from my (2004 draft) class that are still here," said Gamble, a starting cornerback. "I feel kind of old."
On this roster, he is. According to STATS LLC, the average age of Carolina's 80-man unit is 25 years, seven days. Only San Diego (24 years, 195 days) and Green Bay (24-274) are younger.
"Even in team stretch line and team takeoff and all that, you look to your left and right and definitely some familiar faces are gone," said Gross, the starting left tackle. "But it's good, there's more energy."
And numerous questions for a team that went 8-8 a year ago.
Matt Moore's eight career starts are eight more than the other three quarterbacks on the roster combined. Untested fullback Tony Fiammetta must replace the veteran Hoover. A rookie could start in Muhammad's old spot at receiver. The defensive line will have three new starters, and there's shuffling at linebacker and safety.
With only five players 30 or older on the roster, guys like King, a 27-year-old tight end, suddenly are being looked up to.
"Hopefully it doesn't just come down to I'm the last guy left on the island, one of those situations," King said. "You try to come out every day and lead by example. That's the one thing that a lot of those guys taught me, whether it be Jake or Kris Mangum or all the guys that when I got here that were on their way out."
Gross, 30, an offensive captain with Delhomme last year, will help guide the offense.
"I feel that leadership role a little bit," Gross said. "I'm definitely one of the more familiar faces for everybody around here."
Others, such as 27-year-old running back DeAngelo Williams may have to contribute, too.
"I'm not really much of a talker. I am a joker, though," Williams said. "I kind of try to lead by example by just working my butt off."
On defense, Peppers was a captain last year despite his quiet nature. While two-time Pro Bowl pick Jon Beason commands respect, the quiet Gamble knows he must become more vocal toward the rookies in the secondary after Harris was traded to Chicago.
"Harris is like the leader back there. He was always talking and things like that," Gamble said. "I feel like it's my time this year to step up and be a leader."
Of course, leadership is just part of the challenge for a team where the oldest position player is 31-year-old Steve Smith. The Panthers must get a roster full of inexperienced players to plug four starting spots on offense and six on defense, after Thomas Davis suffered what may be a season-ending knee injury in June.
"I don't think our odds in Vegas are probably very good to win the Super Bowl. But that's fine with me," Gross said. "I like where we're at. There's not a lot of eyes on us nationally and I think that's good with the young team we have. There's not a lot of extra attention. I think we can use that to our advantage."
-- Mike Cranston
Henderson works way back from gruesome injury
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — When E.J. Henderson's left femur essentially snapped in half in a game against Arizona in December, the gruesome nature of the injury shook the Minnesota Vikings and reduced some of the toughest guys around to tears after the game.
The vision of their defensive captain's leg flopping grotesquely to the turf was devastating, and some wondered if he ever would play again.
Less than eight months later, Henderson is back on the field and his stunning recovery is having an equally strong effect on the team in the first few days of training camp.
"I know it was a bad injury and I know some of those injuries can be career-ending," defensive end Jared Allen said. "So to see him back running, to see him back with a helmet in his hand, to me is awesome. It's inspiring."
The quiet Henderson is not a Ray Lewis, fire-and-brimstone type of leader. He smolders in the huddle, quietly and calmly making the calls with a style that is perfect for this veteran unit. There is no more respected player in the locker room than the middle linebacker, who is battling back from his second serious injury in the past two years.
Henderson missed the last 12 games of 2008 after a freak foot injury and was finally appearing to return to his dominant form in 2009 right around the time he collided with safety Jamarca Sanford while running down Cardinals running back Tim Hightower.
He was in incredible pain on the field and was carted off while younger brother and teammate Erin held his hands.
"It's been a long seven months. But then again it's only seven months," Henderson said. "I've played football a long time. I've been here a long time. I just look at it as a little journey I took. Seven months and I'm back at it."
So how did he do it? How did Henderson go from his career being in jeopardy to expecting to be in the starting lineup on Sept. 9 against the New Orleans Saints in such a short period of time?
Doctors placed a titanium rod in Henderson's leg during the surgery, and now Henderson said he does not feel any pain while running or cutting.
If Brett Favre is the Vikings' Iron Man, let's call Henderson their Titanium Man.
"From the first day he told me, 'I'm going to change the protocol with the way this injury is rehabilitated,'" coach Brad Childress said. "He has had his jaw locked right from the beginning. Obviously it is a painful injury. He has been religious about his rehab, almost to the point where you have to hold him back."
Henderson has been on the field with the first team for significant stretches over the first two days of camp. But he is not yet participating in some of the heavier contact drills as the Vikings ease him back into the fold.
In many ways, Henderson said this process was easier than returning from a back injury he suffered in college at Maryland.
"I would definitely put it in the same classification," he said. "But when a femur breaks, it was a clean break. I've got a titanium rod in there so it's not like anything is going to happen to it. In that aspect it was a little easier."
Rookie Jasper Brinkley filled in admirably in Henderson's absence last season, with veterans Ben Leber and Chad Greenway taking on more of the heavy lifting to help the Vikings reach the NFC title game.
Henderson, of course, watched that gut-wrenching loss at New Orleans from the sideline, feeling helpless as Drew Brees drove the Saints into position for the winning field goal in overtime.
"He's been on the verge of what I would say would be a Pro Bowl season, and then devastating injuries have happened," Allen said. "I just want to see him get back, have a full year under his belt. That is one player that I can say without a doubt will help us win a championship."
The Vikings begin the 2010 season right where the 2009 season ended, and Henderson is determined to be on the field this time.
"It's healed. It feels good," he said. "I think once I get back out there and get in the swing of things, catch up on some reps, I'll be ready to go."
-- Jon Krawczynski
No deal, but Bigby committed to playing for Pack
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Atari Bigby's decision to wait until this week to sign his restricted free agent tender offer from the Green Bay Packers didn't accomplish its intended goal: getting a long-term contract from the team.
And Bigby acknowledges that he is concerned about a nagging ankle injury that caused him to fail a physical when he reported to training camp. When practice opened Saturday, Bigby was watching from the sideline.
Now he says it's time to get healthy, get back on the field and return to his role as one of the team's starting safeties — even if he has to win the job back from rookie Morgan Burnett.
"The way I look at it, as soon as I step on the field, I'm a starter," Bigby said. "Regardless of what the coach calls me, I have to perform like I'm the starter. So regardless of where I am on the depth chart, on paper, it doesn't matter to me."
That might not happen right away, as it remains unclear when Bigby might be back.
"We are gathering more information on Atari Bigby," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "There are some tests that will be done. We don't have all of the answers right now, and that will probably go into next week, to be honest."
The left ankle injury dates back to the preseason in 2008, and has bothered him to varying degrees over the past two seasons. But Bigby said he felt fairly good in the offseason, so he was surprised when he couldn't pass a conditioning test on Friday.
"It just flared up, I guess," Bigby said. "(I) twisted it a certain way that it shouldn't have been twisted."
Bigby, a former practice squad player, became a starter during his breakout 2007 season. He provided a hard-hitting presence in the secondary as the Packers marched to the NFC title game.
But he hasn't looked like the same player since then, perhaps in large part because of the ankle and other nagging injuries. Now that his ankle is bothering him again, he can't rule out the possibility of surgery.
"I don't know at this point," Bigby said. "We're still getting scans done, we're still in that process. So after we gather all that information I'll have a better understanding."
It's safe to say this isn't how Bigby envisioned returning to Green Bay.
A restricted free agent, Bigby declined to sign his tender offer right away and spent the offseason working out on his own. Bigby said there were talks between the Packers and agent Drew Rosenhaus, but they didn't lead to a deal.
Was that disappointing?
"Very," he said. "Extremely, extremely disappointing. But, you know, that's the business of it."
But Bigby said he wasn't willing to sit out training camp to put additional pressure on the team.
"My goal was to be, (at) the start of the season, to be here on time with everybody else," Bigby said. "I felt like I took it as long as I could. I took it right up to the wire. And holding out during training camp wasn't something that I wanted to do."
In Bigby's absence, Burnett — a third-round pick out of Georgia Tech — spent most of the offseason working with the Packers' first-team defense. The rookie was back in the same spot Saturday.
"Now with the full pads, the tempo's a little faster and the intensity is a little bit higher," Burnett said.
Burnett said he did "all right" in his first training camp practice, and credited veteran teammates — Bigby included — for helping him out.
"If you ask me a question, I'm going to help you," Bigby said. "If you need help, I'm going to be there no matter what."
And once he gets healthy, Bigby doesn't think coaches will hold his offseason absence against him.
"It's nothing personal," Bigby said. "I'm not saying anything bad about the Packers. I still love the Packers. This is my team. But of course I'm going to try to get what I feel like I deserve."
-- Chris Jenkins
Hester predicts breakout year
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (AP) — There is no hesitation from Devin Hester, which is no surprise given the way he darts down the field, only this time he was not sprinting by a defender. He was meeting questions head on.
Does he see a Pro Bowl receiver on the Chicago Bears?
"Yes, I see one," Hester said.
The most likely candidate?
"I'm going to say myself," Hester said. "That's just the mentality I've got to have, you know? To go out and compete and be the best."
One more thing.
"I'm going to break out this year," Hester said.
Always confident, Hester seems even more emboldened after working with former Pro Bowl receiver Isaac Bruce and picking his brain on new offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
It's a critical season for the Bears after a 7-9 finish last season and third straight playoff miss, one that could determine the future of coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo. The Bears made a big splash in free agency, landing Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Pepper and running back Chester Taylor, and shook up the coaching staff.
But for all those moves there are several areas of concern. That includes a young group of wide receivers that has shown some promise but remains unproven.
"We have a great group of talented receivers," Johnny Knox said. "We all work hard. We're all confident."
Do they have a No. 1? Hester anticipates a more even distribution. As for the skeptics?
"It just builds a bigger chip on our shoulder, to prove to ourselves that hey, we can be one of the elite receivers in this league," Hester said.
The Bears have been waiting for him to emerge since they started to convert him to a wide receiver three years ago. They gave him a four-year, $40 million contract extension in July 2008, hoping he would become a top target, but it's been a slow process.
Whether it's coincidental or related, he has struggled on special teams the past two years after two record-setting seasons in which he returned seven punts and four kickoffs for touchdowns. He has none since then and is mainly handling punts, but he showed some promise on offense last season. He had 757 yards receiving and three touchdown catches before missing the final three games with a calf injury and is looking for more.
Martz has a successful track record. He also has a more intricate system based on the quarterback throwing to spots and the receiver getting there. That could be difficult for someone who's still new to the position, but Hester at least made the effort to grasp it.
He kept watching video of Bruce and Torry Holt during offseason sessions and asked Martz to put him in touch with Bruce, who like Hester is from South Florida. Hester wondered if they could work out together, and Bruce said yes. So four days a week for about a month that's that they did, usually on a track in Fort Lauderdale.
Conditioning was a big part of it, with sprints and running up and down stairs, but so was the mental aspect. One of the knocks on Hester was that he wasn't always in the right spot and wasn't good at running routes.
"Who says that?" receivers coach Darryl Drake said. "Who says that he's not really a route runner? Who does? That's what I'm asking you. When did they say that? I guess it's people that haven't been out there watching him run a route, watch his body control. If somebody says that, that tells me how really non-visual football that they are. It really does. When people say he's not a good route runner, boy, that is ignorance at his highest level."
Yet even Hester acknowledges issues in that area, issues Bruce helped him resolve. He also realized one other thing.
"Every route is not meant to be run fast," Hester said. "Certain routes, you run at a controlled speed and set up opportunities for yourself. If you run a route too fast, you get a misread on the quarterback. You set up routes, you come out of your breaks better and get out there."
In the past, Hester said, he was always going full speed.
Another point of emphasis was confidence. Bruce kept stressing that, would make Hester say "I'm the best receiver in the league."
"What do they say? If a liar lies so much, he starts believing his lies?" Hester said. "So if you start telling yourself you're the best, you're the best, eventually you're going to be the best. And you're going to play like the best."
That would be best for the Bears.
-- Andrew Seligman
Pete Carroll all smiles at start of Seahawks era
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Pete Carroll's fists were pumping to the blaring rap of Jay-Z.
He was clapping, smiling and running with the thumping music and through the morning fog. He led his Seahawks in bounding joyfully over blocking pads in a rousing drill he calls "The Bags," as defensive players whooped it up behind him.
He threw passes to the secondary in an interception drill. Later he got too involved, pushed away by a lineman who was trying to get into his stance.
After it all, after he had offensive players running laps for fumbles and botched snaps, the 58-year-old coach exchanged high-fives with some of the 1,500-plus fans who watched the start of training camp.
Later he signed footballs, flags, caps, his new book "Win Forever" and T-shirts — including scarlet-and-gold, USC one with "Fight On" printed across the front. He smiled at that, then signed his name across the young woman's shoulder.
Carroll didn't just conduct his first practices as Seattle's frenetic new coach on Saturday to start his first NFL preseason since 1999.
He lived them.
"It's so much fun," Carroll said following more high-fives in the evening practice. "I feel very fortunate. Feel a bit like a little kid out here playing around and having fun with it.
"I'm having a ball."
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck became Seattle's starter in 2001 and has played for three head coaches since. The three-time Pro Bowler said he was called to a meeting with Carroll this week — on the one-hoop court Carroll had installed beside the team's headquarters.
"We talked over a game of one-on-one basketball," Hasselbeck said. "And he was in flip-flops.
"Pete came in and said he wanted to change the culture ... and this culture that he's trying to establish here is so much different," Hasselbeck said of a team that was 9-23 the last two seasons. "There's just a different feel to the start of this training camp. There's a different feel every day you come to work. Not that the old one was bad, it's just very different. And it's working."
Carroll's idea is the same as it was at Southern California, where he built a dynasty for a decade then left for Seattle in January, before the NCAA slammed the Trojans with sanctions. He wants to make it ultra competitive, yet fun for his players every day.
He had a huge black scoreboard with the mandate to "ALWAYS COMPETE" painted on it installed this week. It hovers ominously over the northeast corner of the practice field to keep score during drills.
Even in July, Carroll wants practice day to simulate game day.
"Whenever you are out there stretching there is music — he's trying to make it feel like a game," Hasselbeck said. "The energy we feel off the crowd is real."
Leon Washington was running with Carroll. The recent Pro Bowl kick returner with the New York Jets participated in individual drills and was held out of team scrimmaging nine months after a compound leg fracture put his career in doubt.
"It's just great to get to accomplish one of my goals, which was to get back on the field for the first day of training camp," Washington said, grinning. "With all the energy out there, I wanted to jump right in there."
At one point in the morning, Carroll was talking excitedly inside the defense's huddle. As it broke, 325-plus pound Red Bryant grabbed Carroll and just about threw him out of the way as the tackle scrambled to get into his stance before the offense snapped the ball.
Carroll just laughed, regained his balance and backpedalled away.
"Coach Carroll, I feel like he wants to put the pads on," Bryant said about a half hour later. "He's so energetic, so I was not surprised he was in there.
"He be everywhere."
Former USC receiver Mike Williams is getting a second chance at an NFL career with his old college coach. How does this camp compare to Carroll's with the Trojans?
"It's better," Williams said. "It's a lot of fun. ... You know, players reach just like everyone else and (we know) not a lot is expected in the first year for a team going in a new direction. But we've collectively bought in, man."
His reputation as a players' coach is growing. Carroll is giving his guys the day off from practice on Wednesday, just the fifth day of camp. Five days later they have another rest.
Carroll says it's to preserve the players for the season, and to make these practices more intense.
He had them out in shoulder pads and thumping each other to the turf on the first day.
Cornerback Kennard Cox hit Louis Rankin into the sideline with a shoulder drop at the end of a running play. Starting linebacker Leroy Hill put wide receiver Deon Butler into the boundary after a catch, drawing "oohs" and hooting from teammates, coaches and fans.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh is in his 10th NFL training camp. Seattle's leading receiver said this was the first time he'd been in shoulder pads on the first day of camp.
"This might be the best I've ever been a part of," he said. "With the players' schedule he's made, you have to work hard — but they are taking care of you."
Houshmandzadeh says he and his teammates are stoked.
"With Coach Carroll everything is just like it is in a game. Really," he said. "The head coach is running around, I see him throwing the ball around in drills.
"Now, it's just a matter of next week, can we maintain this energy?"
Carroll conquered that challenge at USC, and intends to again in Seattle.
"Sure," he said of the task of maintaining this. "But this is the way we do it. It's something we are going to try to champion."
-- Gregg Bell
Leinart "fully prepared" to take over at QB
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Finally, Matt Leinart gets to step out of Kurt Warner's long shadow with a chance to show he indeed can thrive as an NFL quarterback.
The former Heisman Trophy winner emerged from the Arizona Cardinals' first training camp workout Saturday smiling and expressing confidence that he is "fully prepared" for the job.
Cheered on by a big, enthusiastic crowd at the team's practice fields at Northern Arizona University, Leinart seemed in perfect timing with lead receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston, the result he said of extensive summer practice.
"This is my fourth year in this offense," Leinart said. "I haven't played significantly for three years now, and I got a chance to learn and just kind of pay my dues and be patient and I do feel just mentally so far ahead. I just feel like I'm mentally there. Now it's just taking it to the field when games come, and that's what I'm most excited about, just to get out there and play ball."
The left-handed quarterback enters his fifth NFL season knowing some already have written him off as a bust. He says he understands the pressure is there, but doesn't feel it.
"I'm just excited to play again," he said. "You know, it's been a long time but I feel like I've learned so much. Honestly, I think I can tell myself I feel like I'm fully prepared."
Leinart lost the starting job in the 2008 training camp and preseason, then watched as Warner led the team to an NFC West title and a stunning run to the Super Bowl. He was on the sidelines again a year ago, when Warner directed Arizona to a 10-6 record and another division title. He saw Warner complete 29 of 33 passes for 391 yards and five touchdowns in a 51-45 overtime playoff victory over Green Bay.
Leinart said the right things all along and never complained in public, never hinted that he might want to be traded.
"I think that's a process that young quarterbacks have to go through sometimes," coach Ken Whisenhunt said, "and I think it helps them ultimately become good football players. It's not easy, especially when you've had the success that he had and the attention that he's had. And it's very difficult when there's a lot of negativity about him, which there has been. So I know that he's excited to get that chance to show that he can do it and be a good player."
When Warner retired after last season, Whisenhunt gave the job to Leinart, who faces pressure from within the Cardinals' organization, as well as from those watching from the outside.
Leinart signed a six-year, $51 million contract after Arizona selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 2006 draft. He is due about $13 million next season, and will have to prove he is worth that kind of money.
The Cardinals signed free agent Derek Anderson to push him, something Whisenhunt always has felt Leinart needed.
Anderson and Leinart have known each other since high school and were competitors in the Pac-10, Anderson at Oregon State and Leinart, of course, at Southern California.
"We've been buddies for a long time," Leinart said. "He's a great quarterback. He can throw the ball as good as anybody. So for me, it's great. I love the competition. He's pushing me to get better. That's the way I look at it. It's nice to have him here."
Leinart started 11 games as a rookie under coach Dennis Green and the first five games when Whisenhunt took over the next season. He was sharing time with Warner, though, and five games in to the season, Leinart went down with a broken collar bone. He has started once since then, in last year's 20-17 loss at Tennessee when Warner was out with a concussion.
Leinart's party boy image has been shed along the way, and he is basking in his new opportunity.
"I've had the mindset that I've worked really hard this offseason just to prepare for this, and now it's here," he said. "Now it's fun, though. This is what I've been waiting for, just to go out there and play, and be myself."
-- Bob Baum
49ers bring optimism to training camp
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Patrick Willis reported for training camp Saturday morning with a gleam in his eye and a glow reflecting from his hairless scalp.
Starting nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin didn't report at all.
Franklin, the anchor of San Francisco's 3-4 defensive scheme, is seeking a new contract and did not participate in any of the team's offseason workouts. The 49ers designated Franklin their franchise player earlier this year, but he's yet to sign a one-year tender of $7.003 million and may opt to miss the camp grind well into August.
His absence didn't damper the optimism surrounding camp, though.
"Aubrayo is one of a kind," Willis said. "If I could snap my fingers and make Aubrayo be here, I would. But at the end of the day, we have to work with who we have here. I know everything is going to work itself out, but right now we have to keep going forward."
In fact, Willis is so ready for a fresh start in the 49ers second training camp under coach Mike Singletary that he shaved his head.
"I just wanted to come into camp with a different look," the All-Pro linebacker said. "So I shaved it all off."
The 49ers have gone a franchise-worst seven consecutive seasons without a winning record or playoff berth, but the outlook is different this year, with many forecasting San Francisco to win its first NFC West title since 2002.
"It all looks good right now on paper," cornerback Nate Clements said. "Across the board, we've definitely got the talent. The key is applying that to the real deal. We just have to make it happen now. That's what we're here for in training camp, to jell and mesh and to improve and compete together as a team."
Willis and Clements are key starters on a rising defense that led the way to San Francisco's 8-8 finish last season. That defense is set with seasoned starters at most positions.
The 49ers are eager to build on their 4-2 finish of last season, a stretch during which their defense limited opponents to nine points or fewer four times.
That defense figures to be improved this year with the return of Clements, a former Pro Bowl selection who missed the final nine games last year with a fractured scapula, and the continued emergence of youngsters like free safety Dashon Goldson.
After an inconsistent first half last season, Goldson came on as a playmaker over the final two months. He finished the season with four interceptions and three forced fumbles, and is one of several rising talents that has people talking about the 49ers as a team to beat.
"I'm real anxious to get started," Goldson said. "Everybody's excited. We have a lot of guys back together in the same system, and everybody was on the same page in the offseason. That's why everybody's excited about us. They know what we have."
Willis knows perhaps better than anybody.
"Opportunity is always around, but great opportunities only come every so often," he said. "This year is a great opportunity for us. We're mature now as a team, and we can get it done. We just have to go out and get it now."
Contract done, Bradford on field with Rams
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sam Bradford is doing his best to ignore the big contract numbers. Sighting a handful of Oklahoma jerseys in the crowd watching his first practice with the St. Louis Rams helped keep him grounded.
"That's great," Bradford said after a 1½-hour workout. "It obviously made it a lot more comforting, knowing I did have some fans behind me.
"I think it just made today a bit easier."
The No. 1 overall pick signed his six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million in guarantees, most ever in the NFL, on Saturday afternoon.
About an hour later, the business finally concluded, the centerpiece of the franchise's rebuilding plan hit the field for the first full-squad workout in shorts and light pads.
And left thoughts of that bulging wallet behind.
"If you start worrying about all those other things, then it can really affect your performance," Bradford said. "I have very high expectations for myself and this team, and I think that's what's going to drive me to succeed."
The Rams did their best to act as if Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, was just one of the guys.
"What number?" coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "He's No. 8. I only deal with jersey numbers."
Running back Steven Jackson carried a struggling offense on his aching back last season.
Bradford said Jackson, the team's lone Pro Bowler in a 1-15 season, need only be himself.
"I would be naive to say he doesn't feel he has something to prove right away," Jackson said. "The only thing can do as a veteran that's been in those shoes: Play football the way you know how.
"He's not the No. 1 pick for no reason, so I'm pretty sure as the season goes on and as his career goes on, he will blossom."
Bradford stayed in Oklahoma City during negotiations, anxiously waiting while getting periodic updates from his agents. From Tuesday on, Bradford was on call to head to St. Louis.
"Not as many as you think, and I think that was what was really nerve-racking," Bradford said. "It would be four or five hours and I'm doing nothing but looking at the phone."
Bradford kept ready by working out every day and throwing to freshman Oklahoma wide receivers or even team managers. He missed three workouts for rookies, quarterbacks and veterans coming off injuries, but thought he threw the ball well in his first practice because he was not rusty.
"I felt really comfortable, more comfortable than I did in OTAs, which is a positive sign after taking four or five weeks off," Bradford said. "I felt like it was a good day."
Bradford and Jackson, who has rebounded from back surgery in April, lined up in the backfield a handful of times. Jackson felt extra excitement heading into the first workout, his first since dealing with back pain the past five or six games last season.
"I was preparing for practice today like it was a game," Jackson said. "I was not nervous, but really excited to hit the field with my teammates."
As for Bradford: "I was just relieved he was here. But that's the business of it."
Spagnuolo, was relieved too, even though he maintained he hadn't watched Bradford much. When the deal was done, Spagnuolo said he had a "big hug" for Kevin Demoff, the team's contract negotiator and then said, "'I'll take it from here.'"
Notes: DT Darell Scott, a fourth-rounder last year, injured his right hamstring during morning conditioning testing and is day to day. ... S Darian Stewart (right shoulder sprain) might be out longer after getting hurt on Friday. ... DB Moses Harris was released to free a roster spot for Bradford.
-- R.B. Fallstrom
