TRAINING CAMP: DAY 8

NOTES AND NEWS FROM DAY EIGHT OF TRAINING CAMP:

Another day, another injury…

Like Holdman’s terrifying neck injury, the team was rocked today when their #1 draft pick, Jarvis Moss, fell to the field screaming in pain and holding his left knee.

Like Holdman, Moss was loaded onto the team medical cart and driven away from the grounds to a hospital to be checked out.

And like Holdman, the news from the doctors was a welcomed relief. In fact, so good was the news that Jarvis returned to the afternoon practice to watch his teammates complete the day’s work and to let them know he was OK.

“Everything checked out. It kind of scared me for a minute. I felt like it was something real serious, but I’m fine. I’m going to go rehab tonight, and hopefully I’m ready to go in the morning.”

— Jarvis Moss 8/6/07

So, with that little scare behind everyone, we can get back the really important news this Monday — OFFICIAL DEPTH CHARTS! That’s right, today Shanahan posts the first official depth chart for the team.

OK, that’s a bit over-dramatic… These camp depth charts don’t mean all that much. I mean they don’t stay the same for long, and by tomorrow it could be well outdated. But it’s still a great way to gauge who the coaches have their eyes on. So, on with the juicy news!

OFFENSE
QB: Jay Cutler, Patrick Ramsey — No surprise here.

RB: Travis Henry, Cecil Sapp — Sapp remains on the RB chart at #2, not on the FB chart.

FB: Kyle Johnson, Troy Fleming — Kyle is no surprise, but Fleming must have impressed to be running #2.

WR: Javon Walker, Brandon Stokley, Brian Clark, Domenik Hixon — Go Stokley, it’s your B-day! :)

LT: Matt Lepsis, Ryan Harris — No surprises at the LT slot.

LG: Ben Hamilton, Chris Myers — Ditto at LG

C: Tom Nalen, Greg Eslinger — Eslinger must be improving in the coach’s eyes.

RG: Chris Kuper, Montrae Holland — Kuper captures the #1 slot… but LOSES it today after allowing 3 sacks!!!

RT: Erik Pears, Adam Meadows — Pears has been running with the 1st Team, so no surprise here either.

TE: Daniel Graham, Stephen Alexander — No Nate Jackson!?!

DEFENSE
LE: John Engleberger, Tim Crowder — Engleberger has been a ROCK at camp this year — I’ve been VERY impressed. Also, the rookies began running with the #2 Team this week, so no big surprises here.LT: Sam Adams, Jimmy Kennedy — Kennedy could easily be listed as a backup for either Adams for Warren as he has been spelling both.

RT: Gerard Warren, Marcus Thomas — Good for Thomas… Needs work, but the coaches are letting the rookies run on the 2nd Team (usually against the 1st Team Offense) which can only make them better.

RE: Ebenezer Ekuban, Jarvis Moss — Moss was injured today, but wants to return and fight for this #2 slot.

WLB: Ian Gold, Wesly Mallard — Mallard!? Really? Well, I guess Holdman hasn’t been cleared to come back yet. :)

MLB: D.J. Williams, D.D. Lewis — I’m kinda surprised Webster didn’t make this #2 slot, but I’m guessing that the staff would rather see Webster fight for the SLB slot than not see the 1st Team behind DJ. I still think Webster makes the final roster either at SLB, or as a backup to both SLB and MIKE.

SLB: Louis Green, Nate Webster — Louis Green? With Lewis and Webster rotating at SAM, I’m a bit surprised by this one.

LCB: Champ Bailey, Karl Paymah — Paymah has had a great camp, so I’m not surprised here at all.

RCB: Dre’ Bly, Domonique Foxworth — Foxworth will be playing as the extra Nickel back, so he’ll see plenty of playing time.

SS: Nick Ferguson, Curome Cox — No major surprise here.

FS: John Lynch, Hamza Abdulllah — I’m very happy to see Abdullah running behind Lynch.

SPECIAL TEAMS
P: Todd Sauerbrun, Paul Ernster — No surprises.

K: Jason Elam, Brandon Pace — Ditto.

KO: Todd Sauerbrun, Paul Ernster — Todd handled some of this when he was here before.

PR: Domenik Hixon, David Kircus — Hixon is no surprise, but I’m happy to see Kircus listed this high.

KR: Quincy Morgan, Domenik Hixon — No surprises.

PC: Mike Leach, Chris Kuper — This can only help his shot at making the final roster.

H: Todd Sauerbrun, Paul Ernster — Well , I don’t know if I prefer a kicker doing this or someone with faster hands. Elam talked at length about how he misses Jake Plummer’s fast hands while Plummer filled the holder slot with the team. He says that building a relationship with the holder is what’s most important, so whoever they get, they need to decide quickly and stick with it.

ATTENDANCE:

In addition to Jarvis Moss being out part of practice, WR Marquay McDaniel and WR Glenn Martinez were both still out. LB Louis Green was sidelined by a bruised knee. Brandon Marshall, Tony Scheffler, Rod Smith, Lamont Reid and Doug Niehuis were all still on PUP.

Marcus Thomas returned to practice today after sitting out on Saturday. Travis Henry, Ben Hamilton, John Lynch, Champ Bailey, Nick Ferguson, Matt Lepsis, Tom Nalen, Stephen Alexander, Sam Adams and Ebenezer Ekuban all practiced in the morning, but sat out the afternoon while Brandon Stokley and Adam Meadows only practiced in the afternoon (all of this group are on one-a-day schedules).

OFFENSIVE LINE UPS: MONDAY

Wide Outs:
Brandon Stokley ran with the 1st Team in the afternoon only.
Tight Ends:
No real change from the last few days.
Running Backs:
No change: Travis Henry, Cecil Sapp running second. Mike Bell, Andre Hall and Young following behind.
O-line:
1st Team O-line was unchanged: LT Matt Lepsis, LG Ben Hamilton, C Tom Nalen, RG Chris Kuper and RT Erik Pears.

MORNING NOTE: After Kuper gave up three sacks, Shanahan replaced him with Montrae Holland.

AFTERNOON NOTE: With several of the veterans sitting out this afternoon, Meadows slid over to LT, while Chris Kuper played LG and Chris Myers played Center. RG Montrae Holland and RT Erik Pears remained in their slots.

DEFENSIVE LINE UPS: MONDAY

D-line:
* 1st Team D-line stayed the same as the last couple of days: DE’s Ebenezer Ekuban and John Engelberger, DT’s Gerard Warren and Sam Adams.

MORNING NOTE:Jimmy Kennedy filled in for Adams in the morning.

AFTERNOON NOTE: Elvis Dumervil filled in for Ekuban in the afternoon.

DIME PACKAGE NOTE: Changed up a bit with: Elvis Dumervil, Kenny Peterson, Tim Crowder and and Ekuban.

Linebackers:
* 1st Team LB’s were: Webster filled in for starter Louis Green at SAM today, D.J. Williams still impressing at MIKE and Ian Gold at WILL.

AFTERNOON NOTE: Both D.D. Lewis and Webster played with the 1st Team in the afternoon.

Secondary:
No changes here as CB’s Champ Bailey and Dre’ Bly and Safeties Nick Ferguson and John Lynch played on the 1st Team. Foxworth was their Nickel back and Cox joined the 1st Team during work on the Dime Package.

AFTERNOON NOTE: Curome Cox and Hamza Abdullah filled in for Ferguson and Lynch in the afternoon.

SPECIAL TEAMS LINE UPS: MONDAY

Kick-Off Return Team:
Domenik Hixon, David Kircus, Jeff Shoate and Brian Clark all fielded punts at the end of practice