Two sessions today. The p.m. will be in full pads.

I'm out at Baptist Sports Park all day today. My report on the morning session should be up soon.

If anyone has any questions, or something they want me to look for this afternoon, leave it here and I'll check back often. I'll be hanging around between practices today.

SUMMARY: In the hottest day at Titans Training Camp so far, the heat index was 93 degrees by 9 a.m as players wore shorts and shells. This is one of the days the franchise allows goTitans.com to attend training camp so this report is coming in live from the media room at Baptist Sports Park.

Practice started out with punt team work. Chris Carr, Chris Davis and Brandon Jones were back to receive the punts. Chris Johnson worked in the rotation as a gunner.

View full article (http://www.gotitans.com/artman2/publish/article_00_2633.shtml)
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Tennessean morning report:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/SPORTS01/80729032/1027

White is gone due to a scheduled court appearance in Denver.

Titans sign Taylor to replace Winkler:
http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=61748

Ingle was 10 for 14 on FGs this morning, and made a 52 yarder... it would be funny if him having that ability got him a spot on the roster rather than the PS.

I'm not hearing anything around here yet on Bironas. He'll be day-to-day based on what was reported late yesterday.

We had our 1st round pick working as a gunner? Is that common?

griffin was a gunner last year and he was pretty damn good at it too.

http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/warehouse/storage2/2007-w46/img.71715_t.jpg

fumble!

jeff, can you keep an eye on young while they're running play-action?

i've heard he's been doing much better throwing on the run, but his passer rating last year was TERRIBLE on play-action.

SUMMARY: In the hottest day at Titans Training Camp so far, the heat index was 93 degrees by 9 a.m as players wore shorts and shells. This is one of the days the franchise allows goTitans.com to attend training camp so this report is coming in live from the media room at Baptist Sports Park.

Practice started out with punt team work. Chris Carr, Chris Davis and Brandon Jones were back to receive the punts. Chris Johnson worked in the rotation as a gunner.

View full article (http://www.gotitans.com/artman2/publish/article_00_2633.shtml)
What do you think about this story? post your comments below.

Nice article but who's Reynaldo Williams? :D j/k just thought i'd mention it if you wanted to fix it.

:) Yup. Got in a hurry.

i've heard he's been doing much better throwing on the run, but his passer rating last year was TERRIBLE on play-action.
Will do.

When Young moves out-of-the-pocket, he seems more effective to me so far.

So far, it sounds like Vince Young's problem wasn't Chow either. Maybe he just will never be competent from the pocket? I know it's early, but it seems the same things keep showing through. I hope he figures it out.

He's a QB in development. He's going to be inconsistent. What I think is realistic is to expect steady improvement and have less of the major brain cramps we saw last season.

I'll post the same thing here that I just posted on TOMB.

VY has looked really good in practice up until yesterday and apparently this morning. He threw a lot of perfect throws when i was there.

so keep in mind that this is where training camp starts to get tough for players. they've been at it for 5 days now... 2-a-days are starting. they're all sore and tired and just gotta push through it.

its how he responds that matters.

I don't think Young will ever be efficient from the pocket unless he changes his release. You just can't keep the nose of the ball down releasing side-arm. Let's use his strengths.

I've not seen a single batted ball on Young so far in camp. I don't think the release is the issue.

Where I am seeing the problems are with the mid-range and deeper passes when he's holding onto the ball too long.

I don't think Young will ever be efficient from the pocket unless he changes his release. You just can't keep the nose of the ball down releasing side-arm. Let's use his strengths.

Still going to the PM session? Let us know what you see.

And if you can do me a favor and keep an eye on how much pressure they're getting on VY to see if that's having any effect on his recent play.

I've scheduled tomorrow PM. It's about 100 miles-so I'll check the weather before heading up.

I hope it is pressure and a strong D that is making VY inconsistent.

I just can't help but believe that he would have much more confidence in the pocket if his release came from the top. The advantage his height provides gets totally neutralized with his sidearm release. It doesn't matter nearly as much when he's out of the pocket because the passing lanes are more open in the flats.

Anyway- it is what it is. Dinger knows much more than I do and I'm sure he'll put Vince in the best positions to make plays.

Can't wait for the "pads report".

Typically qb's don't look great in training camps no matter who it is. Training camp is the time where our qb and receivers begin to get on the same page. Just out of curiosity how many throws does vince make in a typical practice?

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky
NASHVILLE -- I kept a close eye on Vince Young (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=7752) at two practices today, and he looked a lot like he has in the past -- inconsistent, mixing some great moments with others where you wonder what he was seeing. On Day Five of camp, we should not read a whole into that, however.
Â*http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0729/nfl_a_young_200.jpgÂ*AP Photo/Mark HumphreyÂ*Titans QB Vince Young looks inconsistent in training camp. I've been saying I'd be curious to see how he responds to the first bit of adversity after everyone was happy about everything in the offseason.
On Monday, he threw three picks and my reporter friends here said he was defensive when he fielded questions about them.
This morning he was five-for-eight in my unofficial count during seven-on-seven, which was in a 2:00 drill setting. In a team period later, rookie linebacker Stanford Keglar dropped an interception and Young put Brandon Jones in a bad spot on one throw where Jones would have gotten walloped if things were live.
He also threw a beautiful deep ball with just the right arc for a huge gain to Biren Ealy (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10993), who found space between conversing defenders. (Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was quick to point out that Jevon Kearse (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=1767) would have had a sack on the play.)
As Young did during OTAs, he was pulling it down and running more often than he did last year.
I talked with offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger between practices. Because Young has often hung his head and had trouble letting things go in the past, I asked how he was bouncing back from a bad play or bad series.
Here is what Heimerdinger said about what looked like a bad day for Young on Sunday and on how the QB responds to such things:
"Two of the picks (Sunday) were on me and the other one he just forgot what route he had, it was on him. But the other two picks were on me. So we really didn't discuss it. I've just got to do a better job of explaining some situations for him. But he was fine. He's mad because he didn't want to throw the picks...
"He's doing better with that, I think he's got to let it go. Any quarterback, even Steve (McNair), if he threw a pick, he carried it for a while and didn't let it go. And then that's my job to get him back on track somehow, some way, to get him settled down. So that comes back to me. I don't know what to compare him to, because I wasn't here last year.
"I have to find a way to get him back (at those times), I have no choice, that's my job. We're installing a lot of things, we're throwing a lot of plays at him. As we go, I mentally make notes of what he's comfortable with. If we had a game tomorrow, I would do these things and these things. But as far as I am concerned he's done a nice job right now of turning to me and saying, 'That was my fault, I screwed up,' and he hasn't hung his head and he hasn't done any of that.
"So I haven't seen that, I don't know that part of him. The biggest thing now is if you throw a pick in two-a-days at practice, to me, it's learn from it. You don't want picks. But if you throw one, as long as we learn from it, then it's OK as long as we learn from it. We still haven't given a trophy for practice yet. I'm more concerned that he learns so he doesn't do it again when he gets that same look."
The late practice was in full pads and featured a lot of run-game work. With Kearse getting a rest, Jacob Ford (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10647) worked as the first left end. In one-on-one pass rush drills, he jumped offsides three times in a row, and coaches finally ran the play to be snapped on the first sound. David Stewart (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=8527) stonewalled him. Later in team periods the defensive line was very twitchy, following Ford's lead. D-line coach Jim Washburn accepts a certain degree of that as a byproduct of aggressiveness, and I suspect in this setting he didn't mind their eagerness.
In a goal line nine-on-seven run period, the defense fared very well against Chris Johnson (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=11258), Chris Henry (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10494) and Ahmard Hall (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=10188). (LenDale White (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=9631) was excused to be in Colorado for a court appearance.)
Team period highlights: Kyle Vanden Bosch and Eugene Amano, the starting right guard for now, had a big buildup and finally came to blows, with a KVB swipe taking off Amano's helmet. They had a second go a bit later... Nick Harper had a fantastic pass break up on the right sideline, closing from behind and leaping to get a hand in, knocking away a pass from Young intended for Justin McCareins.
Henry continues to do the same thing that got him in trouble last year. He'll slow up or even stop, as if waiting on things to open up, and then get stacked up. On one goal line play he might have scored if he put his head down and tried to wiggle forward rather than showing so much -- too much -- patience.


More... (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/0-2-110/Titans-practice-notes--with-an-eye-on-VY.html)

SUMMARY: The afternoon session saw the Titans players in full pads for the first time this training camp. Add in a heat index around 100 and both the tempers and intensity was high at Baptist Sports Park this p.m.

Jevon Kearse didn't practice this afternoon. Word is that it was a coaches decision and nothing about his foot injury was mentioned. Kearse came up gimpy in the morning session due to someone stepping on his foot but he did return later in practice. Jacob Ford took his place with the first team this afternoon.

View full article (http://www.gotitans.com/artman2/publish/article_00_2635.shtml)
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"Nick Harper had a nice play by slapping a pass away from McCareins. As much heat as Harper gets, he closes fast on anything thrown in front of him."

too bad he can't do that during games.

The Tennessean report:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/SPORTS01/80729159/1027

NCP report:
http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=61758

I attended this afternoon's practice and it was beyond hot. I really don't know how the guys can practice in that heat.

I posted some pics from the practice.

http://www.gotitans.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=79

I really don't know how the guys can practice in that heat.

I don't either, but it's not as bad as last year. Bulluck credited last years camp heat to helping them kick Jacksonville in the opener. The Titans were better conditioned.

http://www.gotitans.com/gallery/files/3/21_629708.jpg

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/brown/archives/bardem.country.jpg

VY has this year and next to show he can be a starter in the NFL. after that, the Titans should move on.

Fisher's interview:
http://www.titansonline.com/news/titans_news_detail.php?PRKey=5859

From TitansOnline:
http://www.titansonline.com/news/titans_news_detail.php?PRKey=5860

“We’re on South Beach, Murphy, look!” Tony Brown said to his teammate.

:ha:

Still not sold on Vince, nothing I am reading is good. The comparisons to McNair are invalid because Steve was "AIR" McNair in College, not "Legs". Vince hasn't shown any consistency being anything close to "Brains" either, which means we may be in for another 9td,18int year.

I must have watched a difference vince in college i guess. Its weird you say vince was all legs and mcnair was all arm but vince rushed for only 100 more yards than mcnair in their last year and that included 200 in the national championship. The guy was 3rd in the nation in passer rating and was around top 10 in tds and just a reminder only one of his receivers from that team got drafted i believe. I'm assuming you're either an aggie or sooner and just hated watching him play in college. I don't think he's a good passer in the nfl by any means but to say he couldn't pass in college i think is a bit ridiculous.

Its not hard to have a high passer rating when you run around everyone, find a receiver that isn't moving, and hit them for 10 yds.
I never had any faith in Young, as I saw him as Akili Smith pt 2, but I'm still waiting for him to prove me wrong.

I'm assuming you're either an aggie or sooner and just hated watching him play in college. I don't think he's a good passer in the nfl by any means but to say he couldn't pass in college i think is a bit ridiculous.

I'm a Red Raider, enjoyed watching him play in college, but this isn't College and the Tommy Frazier's, spread options guys of the college world don't succeed in the Pros. They aren't the best athletes on the field anymore, if they can't pass, they can't play NFL QB. Just because someone has a good passer rating doesn't mean they will translate that to the NFL, the system may have a lot to do with it, and so may the defensive schemes or lack of.


Nobody has to defend Vince Young, he was an extraordinary College football player. However he remains a bottom teir NFL QB, and only he can change that, it doesn't take me or RollTide or Gloat or anyone to disprove this, it takes Vince playing like a capable QB without throwing little temper tantrums every time he throws an interception.

Whoa, damn second here.

I think vince is a mid tier QB. His legs plus his 17-11 record make that so. If he can get that rating up to 80 he can crack the top 10. I'm not part of all this gloom and doom this early in the year.

The legs are the difference because while his passing rating is comparable to the lower tier starting QBs or an average back up he gives us that 31 yards rushing a game that means an extra 2 first downs most QBs can't get.

As far as the akili smith comparison? Vince's career passing rating to this point is 18 points higher and he is a significantly better runner. No comparison at all.

No question the pressure is on. Vince has been given 3 gifts, dinger, crumpler and CJ. This is year 3 and he has 28 starts under his belt. Development time is over.

I'd agree with that RT... Vince as a passer so far has been bottom-tier at worst and mid-tier at best. Picking up a few extra 1st downs with his legs is a great advantage - and is extremely frustrating to a defense. He's a middle of the pack QB right now, and that's ok for a 2nd year QB.

It's funny, the reports I'm seeing on Vince so far are encouraging. He's inconsistent, yes. But he's also making some throws he wasn't really able to hit last year. He's working on his footwork, which is probably the reason behind both his improvement and his inconsistency. I've heard he's stepping up into the pocket now with some confidence instead of drifting back and dancing around. Those are good signs. There have been bad signs, too - brain freezes where he throws to no one, off target easy passes. He's going to do that in games this year and that's ok as long as we see it happening less and less often.

It's a slow improvement but an improvement nonetheless.

For example, yesterday, the team was in 7-on-7 working in the red zone. Young took the snap and looked left. It looked to me like he had the safeties moving that direction. He then turned and fired the ball quickly to McCareins on the right corner of the endzone.

To me, that shows some maturity for Young. He used to stare down receivers and take off if that first or second read wasn't open. Now I see him working through the progressions better and making smarter decisions with the football.

He seems hesitant to throw the football downfield unless the WR is clearly open. This may be because he feels getting the ball to the TE or RB for a short gainer is better than risking the INT or even an incompletion.