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- During the morning practice session players practiced in the indoor facility, but when the afternoon session came around the practice took place on the outdoor fields. Also, players were in pads throughout both sessions today.
- Six players were placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list today. Boss Bailey, Dan Campbell, Tyrone Hopson, Teddy Lehman, Scottie Vines and Stanley Wilson are all injured currently. Some are very close to being healthy enough to get into training camp, but as of right now that won't be happening. One player was placed on the Non-Football injury list (Matt McGhghy).
- Former Los Angeles Rams and Southern Cal head coach John Robinson was in attendance today as a guest coach. Marinelli had once served as the defensive line coach at USC under Robinson in 1995.
"Rod and I worked together and have been friends for many years. I always thought that he was the most unique coach I'd ever been around. He could motivate one of these blocking dummies into becoming a player. I've never been around a man who could get into another man's face and demand things that the guy would say that he couldn't do that, and then the guy wound up loving him after he did it. I have an enormous amount of respect and affection for him. When you look at football, we all get caught in the sophistication of the NFL or whatever level it's on. However, the real sophistication is the fundamentals and the toughness and being aggressive. Any of the great coaches in history if you plopped them up here, whether it's Vince Lombardi or whoever, they would sound a lot like Rod. They would talk about goals, fundamentals and toughness. So it has been a treat to watch."
Those are some very great compliments to be receiving from a former veteran coach like John Robinson. I'm sure many different techniques that Marinelli uses were picked up from his days serving under Robinson at USC.
- Mike Williams has got to be careful about those fines as I have said many times before. Already he may be looking at some trouble. He weighed in just a few pounds over the limit. Although the exact numbers weren't specified, he is very close to making weight, so it's not something to be too worried about.
- Since we're on the whole weight thing, let's talk about Charles Rogers. Rogers was around 210 pounds last season and that was a little high for him. Now, he's down to a slim 195, which will help him increase his speed. Here's Marinelli's take on the weight:
"Sometimes it's not about the weight, it's about the fat. You might be a nice looking trim 150, but you really might be fat. It's body fat percent that we're looking at and that's when you have great endurance over a long period of time. That's what I'm trying to get, endurance and conditioning. You want to get the fat off these guys and get them lean. As you watch, we run a lot at practice."