Morning Practice – Marko Mitchell Looks Good; So Does Randle El
Posted by Matt Terl on August 20, 2009 – 12:19 pm
This morning’s practice — the last morning practice of “training camp,” meaning that the guys in the hotel will be heading home — seemed a little sluggish to me, as if guys are starting to feel the grind of the last three-plus weeks. It was a shorts-and-shells practice, and the big story afterward was Marko Mitchell.
Mitchell had a couple of nice catches during the practice, although probably not enough to start a post-practice media firestorm. To do that, you need a good old fashioned inflammatory quote — like this one from Clinton Portis, talking to the TV cameras (as transcribed by Dan Steinberg):
“Marko Mitchell is killing Carlos Rogers in practice. I’m talking about, he can not stop him. So y’all make sure y’all pump Marko up on TV, because Carlos is in trouble. He in trouble. He ain’t stopped him yet this whole camp.”
Coach Zorn was a little more reserved in his praise, but it was still unmistakeably praise. “I would describe his camp as ‘continuing to improve’. He really has been conscientious about studying and is getting what we’re asking to do. He’s lining up correctly. He’s been more explosive off the line of scrimmage than when he first started. So I would say he’s gaining more confidence as he goes along. He made a nice snag out here today — which sparked everybody — against Carlos Rogers, so I think everybody got excited about that. “
Yes, that’s safe to say. Of course, this would appear to move the rookie into a very similar position to where Marques Hagans found himself before the previous game — and we just heard Hagans’s thoughts on that.
But in all the chatter about Mitchell and Hagans and Keith Eloi and Trent Shelton around the fifth receiver spot, and about Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly trying to make up for last year, the fact that Antwaan Randle El is having a terrific camp has gone somewhat unnoticed. “Finishing up real good,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting this last one in, then the mock game, and getting ready for Saturday.”
Randle El, of course, downplays the idea that he’s being pushed by Thomas and Kelly and gives the credit elsewhere. “There’s a lot of talk about the two young guys; I’m driven by my god, by pleasing my god. I’ve had opportunities since I came into the league, and I’ve always asked him, ‘I’ll do all I can with the skills and ability you give me,’ and give you all the glory for it. And in doing so, I know he’s gonna take care of me. So that’s my drive. Me getting better, me making plays, me getting yards and catches and even going to the Pro Bowl, that still turns right back around and gives glory to God. And that’s a good thing.”
But there’s another, much more corporeal element to Randle El’s current success: his short shorts. They’re not freakishly short, but definitely not in the modern style of guys like Santana Moss and Fred Davis. And he wears them that way for a reason.
“The shorts? I don’t like shorts that touch my knees when I run. Like in a game, I make sure that I have my pants above the knee. So in practice I’ve got a pair of shorts that’s cut as high as I can get. I have ‘em cut really, really short. You see those shorts London Fletcher’s got on?” Fletcher is wearing shorts that reach down to the admittedly high top of his socks. “I can’t do anything with them.”
And, of course, he gets roundly mocked for this. “Yeah, all day long,” he says. “They talk about me looking like I’m from the forties or the sixties. But hey, I’m comfortable when I run.”
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