Let me cover the biggest story from this morning's practice first, in case you weren't following on Twitter: Colt Brennan is NOT dating Jessica Simpson, despite what the gossip columns are apparently saying.

"My life coach Chris Cooley told me to neither confirm nor deny," Brennan said, before denying the rumor. ("Oh, she's not dating Colt," center Casey Rabach said, "she's dating Chad Rinehart." I hope you'll all forgive me for not trying to chase down Rinehart for comment.)

On the football field, the word was "healthy". The only people who did not practice were Scott Burley (quad), Anthony Alridge (foot), and rookie Robert Henson (birth of child, as announced on Twitter -- congratulations to Robert and his family).

Practice was in shorts and shells, and -- while Jason Campbell looked sharp and it was great to see Carlos Rogers back out on the field -- I mainly found myself watching a few of the guys who had a rough time in Thursday night's game.

Maybe it was just me, but something about today's OTA felt lugubrious, like everyone was moving through syrup or something. Not to say that it wasn't energetic -- it was as lively as anything we've seen -- but it seemed somehow slow. Not onfield for the session were LaRon Landry (as you'd expect), James Thrash (ditto), Clinton Portis, and Mike Williams. Williams was presumably absent because of the knee he jammed into the ground on Monday; word is that Coach Zorn will have more details on it tomorrow.


Of the folks who were there, it was these two guys who I found myself paying the most attention to: rookie cornerback Kevin Barnes, and fomer practice squad wide receiver Marques Hagans.

The reasons to pay attention to Barnes were obvious. After excitedly telling me on Monday that he had gotten his first interception, the third-round draft pick tallied two more today, one each off of Todd Collins and Colt Brennan. There's no point in attempting to make something that takes place during June OTAs into more than it actually is, but both of these interceptions were the kind the team could've used last year: made on the run, at speed, with open field in front. Nice to see. I guess those half-sleeves are really making a difference for him.

As for Hagans, the reasons that he was interesting were a little less specific.